School of Social Work News

Associate Professor of Social Work and Poverty Solutions Director, Luke Shaefer, said Congress should keep the earned-income tax credit as a work inducement and include a separate plan to help those who have fallen out of the labor market.

Luke Shaefer (and Kathyn J. Edin) book "$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America" recommended by Elizabeth Warren in Vox interview as one of three books that have changed the way she thinks about our economy.

Katrina Ellis was selected to an NIH-funded Obesity Health Disparities Programs to Increase Diversity among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research Program (PRIDE) summer research training program. The goal of PRIDE is to increase underrepresented faculty with research careers focused on obesity disparities and chronic diseases.

Andrew Gilroy, MSW student has been named a 2019 Pat Tillman Scholar. Tillman Scholars have served their country, and are committed to strengthening communities at home and around the world.
After graduation, Gilroy intends to launch a social enterprise focused on transportation solutions. He desires to connect communities that lack transportation options with improved employment prospects that are otherwise inaccessible.

Assistant Professor Odessa Gonzalez Benson was quoted in the Michigan News article “For new refugees, ‘higher education is a path to freedom’” about the campus visit of a group of Congolese high school students and community leaders from Grand Rapids.  Sponsored by [RE]vive, a student-driven refugee education initiative, the visit included tours of several schools - including SSW - as part of a college readiness program.

Along with the Program for Research on Black Americans  – part of the Institute for Social Research – and the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research, the School of Social Work hosted a three-day summer mentoring workshop.  Created by Professor Robert Taylor, the workshop provides career advice and guidance to approximately 40 social work doctoral students whose research involves African American and Latinx populations. Conference attendees took advantage of concurrent programming at U-M by holding joint sessions with the 25th Annual National Black Graduate Conference in Psychology and the Summer Meeting of The St. Louis Group.

Dean Lynn Videka hosted The Saint Louis Group, an organization of deans and directors representing schools of social work from R1 universities.  The conference provided a forum to discuss the advancement of social work research and education. Attendees visited the Institute for Social Research, met with the U-M Health Sciences Dean’s Council, and had a conversation with U-M President Mark Schlissel about the relationship between research universities and society.  There was also plenty of opportunity for networking and collegiality, including a group trip to see the Detroit Tigers win at Comerica Park.

Associate Professor Shawna Lee and PhD student Joyce Lee’s research “The effect of paternal cues in prenatal care settings on men’s involvement intentions” is cited in the Huffington Post. Most photos and brochures in a typical OB-GYN waiting room focus on mothers, but adding some subtle father-friendly visual cues could be a simple way to boost a dad’s parenting confidence, according to Shawna Lee and Joyce Lee's new study.