Faculty News

Professor Luke Shaefer spoke with Marketplace about the recent report showing that only 25 percent of those who were out of work in 2022 applied for unemployment benefits.  “There is undoubtedly a set of people who actually are eligible for benefits and should be getting them,” said Shaefer, who calls unemployment benefits “the most arcane and complicated” government program.

Assistant Professor Rebeccah Sokol has been named a 2023 Public Engagement Faculty Fellow. The university launched its Public Engagement Faculty Fellowship program in 2020 to help faculty bolster their knowledge and skills, and also reflect on how public engagement aligns with their scholarly identity. The effort includes creating an interdisciplinary, intergenerational learning community, as well as encouraging recognition of and experimentation with all forms of public engagement.

Associate Professor Terri Friedline spoke with “Marketplace” about the benefits of public banking, especially given the recent turmoil in the banking sector. Not only would public banking provide a full range of services to underserved communities, but they also generally offer more safety than private banks. “State- and municipal-owned banks are intended to be publicly accountable, transparent, democratic,” Friedline said.

Professor Luke Shaefer spoke with the Michigan Advance about the “dark times” Michigan is facing given the recent cuts in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. “I want to stress how incredibly successful the expansion of the safety net was during the COVID crisis — the expansion of SNAP, extended unemployment insurance, the expanded child tax credit, as well as rental assistance,” he said, "...it really saved millions of families across the country, and many, many families here in Michigan, from the types of hardships I expected when we started COVID."

Associate Research Scientist Roland Zullo discussed Michigan’s right-to-work law with WEMU. “Repealing right-to-work certainly helps the labor movement on a couple of levels. But the main one,” said Zullo “is that it shows that labor has regained a little bit of political power in this state.”

Associate Professor Camille Quinn will receive the 2023 Milestone Achievement Award from the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. The Milestone Achievement Award honors Crown Family School alumni for their exemplary social work values, exceptional performance in clinical or administrative practice, and a strong commitment to the social work profession.

Lecturer Erin Martinez-Gilliard’s new book, “Sex, Social Justice, and Intimacy in Mental Health Practice: Incorporating Sexual Health in Approaches to Wellness,” will be released on March 21.  The text equips mental health professions to integrate discussions about sexual health, identity and relationships into the scope of their client’s mental health.

Professor Daphne Watkins is the co-editor of “Health Promotion with Adolescent Boys and Young Men of Colour: Global Strategies for Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice in Context.” The book unpacks the complex intersections between age, race and gender in the diverse lives of young males of color.