Faculty News

LEO Lecturer Ayesha Ghazi Edwin has been appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to serve on the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission. The commission’s vision is to fully engage Asian and Pacific Americans in Michigan.

The Student IDEA Board – which includes Assistant Professor Shanna Kattari – received a  U-M Distinguished Diversity Leaders Award from the Office of the Provost and University Human Resources. The Student IDEA Board was created to assess the university’s current structures and culture as they relate to students with disabilities, identify areas for improvement, and provide recommendations to enhance the lived experiences of disabled students.

Professor Luke Shaefer has been appointed special counselor to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on anti-poverty and economic mobility initiatives. His role is advising and facilitating discussion on anti-poverty policy. 

Assistant Professor Lisa Fedina and team have received funding from the U-M Center for Academic Innovation for their new online course (MOOC) “Interprofessional Responses to Intimate Partner Violence.” The course will enhance knowledge and capacity to effectively identify, screen and respond to victims of intimate partner violence from an interprofessional perspective in a healthcare setting. The team includes Professor Richard Tolman, Assistant Professor Katie Schultz and faculty from the U-M School of Nursing and the University of Maryland School of Social Work. The course will start in the spring of 2020.

Clinical Associate Professor Beth Sherman is a member of the Standards Development Committee for the Michigan Department of Education. She worked on new recommendations for school social workers. Her efforts have resulted in two new standards encompassing diversity, inclusion, human rights and social justice. “These standards build on the School of Social Work’s commitment to DEI. Teaching and researching in this environment have taught me to be a strong advocate for social justice and informed my work on this committee.”

Clinical Assistant Professor Justin Hodge was elected to the board of directors for the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP). CRISP is committed to expanding the participation of social workers in federal legislative and policy processes and acts as a bridge between social work researchers and federal policymakers.

Luke Shaefer, professor, and director of the University of Michigan Poverty Center talks with the Detroit Free Press about poverty in rural Michigan. "Coming up with money to pay utilities is a matter of having money. Having money means a job — and not just any job, but a decent paying one," said Shaefer.

Clinical Associate Professor Julie Ribaudo has been invited by the Erikson Institute and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) to serve on the Infancy and Early Childhood Mental Health Steering Committee. The steering committee is comprised of social work and other discipline experts who will work to develop the Curricular Guide for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health and Developmental Neuroscience.  The guides are accessible to CSWE program and individual members for free and can be found at the CSWE website.