Social Service Faculty Made Russian Connection

Tebb and Stretch ventured to Russia to lend their expertise to university and government officials in the Samara oblast. The province sits near Russia's continental divide between Europe and Asia and is located about 600 miles southeast of Moscow.

Though larger in size, the province mirrors St. Louis and Missouri. The Volga River runs on a path similar to the Mississippi, and the region is home to both an auto maker and an aircraft manufacturer. The city of Samara, a major community in the province of its namesake, is St. Louis' sister city.

The social service pair went to Russia on two different trips. Tebb went with her 23-year-old daughter and SLU alumna, Nealee, to the Samara province from May 31 through June 16. Stretch went there with his wife, Barbara, a former case manager at The Salvation Army, between June 28 and July 15.

"This was a great opportunity for the University," Tebb said.

While in the city of Samara, Tebb taught a course in supervision for administrators and employees of social service agencies. She also visited three different colleges to discuss the benefits of offering practicum opportunities for students. The Saint Louis University School of Social Service is known for its focus on practice and has more than 750 practica sites available for its students.

"As dean, what I came away with is the realization that we need to make opportunities for students to be able to go outside the walls of the United States if possible," Tebb said. "Going outside makes you realize that there are other ways to do things; that we don't always have the answers; and that we can bring some of the other ways people are doing them home and adapt them here."

Considering that St. Louis is becoming more international every day, Tebb said future social workers need new skills to help people from cultures very different from their own. Tebb hopes to establish Samara as a practicum site in the future.

"It will make our students better social workers in this world, which is getting smaller all the time," she said.

Stretch spent his time working with police officials, doctors and social workers in the nearby town of Oktyabrsk, also located in the Samara province. A more rural community, Oktyabrsk is experiencing an outbreak of social problems, including juvenile crime and drug abuse. It's a dilemma seen across much of the country, and Stretch stressed collaborative approaches to such social issues. Stretch also worked with the head of state department of education for the province, who is a proponent of progressive education.

The visit came out of a partnership with Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Through the Russian/ American Summer University (RASU) project, which began in 1994, SIUC has provided training opportunities for number of academic institutions and government agencies in the Samara province.

Several years ago universities in Samara requested that an institution in an urban setting and of similar size become involved in the RASU project. Illinois officials sought assistance from Saint Louis University. Since then, higher education officials from the province have visited Saint Louis University, including the director of the Togliatti Social and Economic College, who visited here earlier this year.

While Tebb and Stretch were tapped for their years of knowledge and experience, the pair did not travel to Russia merely to instruct. It was an exchange of ideas led by the SLU faculty.

"There is a great deal of respect for Western thought," Stretch said. "They said they were prepared for my lectures. Instead we engaged in a collegial discussion of their issues."

That dialogue will continue next year, when the RASU project will be supported by a $274,000 U.S. Department of State grant, which will help pay for the exchange of U.S. and Russian participants. Two other members of the School of Social Service faculty will travel there next year.

The Department of State also awarded a $128,000 grant to provide a month-long leadership seminar for eight Russian women, including a police chief and a mayor. Part of the training will be held at SLU next March. Once the dates are finalized, the University community will be notified and invited to participate, Tebb said.

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