School of Social Work News

MSW student Cassandra Kelly has been selected as the 2023 University of Michigan National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Student of the Year. NASW selects students for this honor based on criteria that includes demonstrated leadership qualities, contribution to the positive image of a social work program, commitment to political and community activities, success in academic performance and the student’s representation of the NASW Code of Ethics.

Online Award Ceremony

Friday, April 14, 2023, 6-8 PM

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ENGAGE Program Manager Fatima Salman spoke with WDET about both the critical role social workers play in supporting individuals and communities and how the celebration of Social Work Month supports the profession.

The state of Michigan officially recognized March as Social Work Month thanks to a resolution by State Representative Carrie Rheingans, MSW ’11.

ENGAGE Program Manager and Ann Arbor City Council Member Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, MSW ’10, worked with fellow City Council Member Linh Song, MSW ’04 and the Michigan chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-MI)  to officially proclaim March as Social Work Month in the city of Ann Arbor. “We have so many great social workers improving our society everyday, and serving at various levels of government — from local, to county, to state level and beyond,” said Ghazi Edwin. “Many of us were trained at U-M’s School of Social Work and carry our teachings into communities to improve society and create change.” Dean Beth Angell and Duane Briejak, MSW ’12 and executive director of NASW-MI, were also in attendance for the proclamation at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting on March 20, 2023.

Dean Beth Angell has been appointed the Phillip Fellin Collegiate Professor of Social Work. Angell’s research focuses on behavioral health, particularly on serious mental illness and its intersection with substance abuse and criminal justice involvement. Some of the topics of her research studies have related to treatment seeking, treatment engagement and adherence; consumer-provider interactions and relationships; sources and consequences of stigma; and mandated or involuntary treatment.

Prior to joining the University of Michigan, Dean Angell held faculty positions at the University of Chicago Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and Rutgers University School of Social Work and the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research. From 2018-2022, she served as the dean and professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work.

Professor Emeritus Phillip Fellin's research interests include community organization; societal structures and processes; and mental health policy, programs and services; and school social work. He joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1965 and served as the school’s dean from 1971-1981. After his deanship, Fellin continued on the faculty as a professor of social work and director of school social work certification until his retirement in 1999.

A collegiate professorship is a University of Michigan advanced professorial title, which recognizes a national, or preferably international, reputation in research; a record of exceptional teaching quality and of innovation; and a history of service to the School, the university and the community.

MSW student Tian Y​​eung’s op-ed in the Michigan Daily explains how critical voting is in supporting democracy. “It took the fall of a city for me to learn the significance of voting. That city was the one I was born in, the one I spent my childhood in and the one I loved: Hong Kong,” wrote Yeung. “If I could go back in time, I would ensure I voted at every opportunity.”

Professor Karla Goldman spoke with Inside Higher Ed about the report released by Stanford University uncovering its history of limiting Jewish student enrollments. The report comes at a time when colleges and universities across the country are excavating their pasts and working to publicly acknowledge and correct for their roles in historical wrongs.  “This was happening everywhere, so it’s interesting that Stanford took this piece as seriously as they have,” Goldman said. “It’s to their credit. But does it mean there should be a wave of these things everywhere? Truly, almost every school in the Northeast should be apologizing.”

Six School of Social Work students have received CEW+ awards: 

MSW student Irma Maribel Andrade Guzman — Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar

MSW student Rossi Clark —  Beatrice Kahn Scholar 

MSW student Justine D’Souza — Margaret Dusseau Brevoot Scholar

MSW student Jennifer Harris — Susan Quackenbush Scholar 

MSW student Julia Hettich — Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar

PhD student Kari Sherwood — Mary Malcolmson Raphael Scholar

The CEW+ scholarship program was established in 1970 to honor the academic performance and potential of women whose education has been interrupted and to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the admissions of women to U-M. With support from our generous donors, CEW+ was able to expand the program in 2008 to include additional scholarships for students of all genders. This year’s cohort will be honored at the CEW+ award luncheon in November.

The School of Social Work’s marketing and web teams have won a Best of CASE District V Award for the School’s Centennial Timeline Project. The timeline depicts the School’s history from its origins to its current position as one of the world’s most prominent schools of social work. Initially designed as a physical installation, the timeline was reenvisioned during the pandemic as a three-prong initiative: 

A museum-quality installation in the School of Social Work Building. Custom-designed wallpaper depicts the architecture of the four School of Social Work buildings during the last century; plaques, photos and memorabilia detail specific moments in the School’s history.

 A four-page print version of the timeline was created for the centennial issue of our alumni magazine, Ongoing.

A digital version of the timeline is featured on the school’s Centennial website.

Designed as a brief overview — as opposed to a comprehensive history — the timeline is an interactive, community-sourced project that can expand to reflect contributions from the school alumni, faculty and students. All three versions end with a QR code, which allows the community to submit their own historical moment to the project. This was a long-term project that involved multiple departments including AV, development and facilities.

CASE is the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, a global non-profit association dedicated to educational advancement, alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and advancement services.