School of Social Work News

Robert Joesph Taylor was installed as the Harold R. Johnson Professor of Social Work on March 6. Taylor delivered an installation address "Family and Church Support Networks of Older African Americans" highlighting his research. He is one of the nation’s foremost experts in the informal social support networks (i.e., family, friends and church members) of adult and elderly Black Americans as well as religious participation among African Americans. 

He is the founding editor of African American Research Perspectives and is currently on the editorial boards of the Journal of Marriage and the Family and Race and Social Problems. Taylor was ranked number one in the top 20 most cited African American scholars in social work.

LEO Adjunct Lecturer Daniel Fischer and Professor Mary Ruffolo, who is also the co-chair of the workgroup, have been appointed to the curriculum group for the interprofessional education initiative. The curriculum work group is charged with exploring the curricula and accreditation standards of the health science schools to assess the role of interprofessional education at U-M. 

Assistant Professor David Córdova, along with his Detroit community partner Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, presented his research, "Preventing Substance Abuse and Mental Health Problems Among Detroit Hispanic Youth," at the Urban Research Center 20th Anniversary Symposium on January 21, 2016. The project aims to narrow and ultimately eliminate Hispanic health and mental health inequities in Detroit. 

Assistant Professor Mathieu Despard was named a Faculty Associate with the Center for Social Development at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently conducting research on the outcomes of a large scale tax-time savings experiment and on the promise of employer-based financial wellness programs in partnership with the Center for Social Development. 

Webmaster Robert LaRoe was chosen as a session presenter and will give his talk, "Improving Your Website's Performance" at the May 5th-6th HighEdWeb Michigan Regional Conference at Grand Valley State University. 

Laura Sundstrom and Megan Elyse Williams, Evaluation Associates with the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group, were invited to write a post for the American Evaluation Association blog, AEA365.  Their post highlighted the tool they developed for the Program Evaluation Group, the Tiers of Skill Development.  The Tiers of Skill Development intentionally guide students through developing their evaluation skills.  You can read their blog post here.

Evaluation Associates and students from the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group presented at the American Evaluation Association national conference in Chicago, IL on November 11-14, 2015, including three poster presentations and three oral presentations.

Oral presentations included:

• Intentionally Developing Skills and Competencies in New Evaluators: The Tier Approach. Presenters: Laura Sundstrom, MSW, and Megan Elyse Williams, MSW (Evaluation Associates)
• Using the Social Work Approach to Enhance Evaluation Practice. Presenters: Megan Elyse Williams, MSW, and Laura Sundstrom, MSW (Evaluation Associates)

Poster presentations included:

• College Access and Social Anxiety: How Evaluation Results Led to Targeted Curriculum Redesign. Authors: Sue Ann Savas, MSW; Laura Sundstrom, MSW (Evaluation Associate); Sue Schooner, MBA (client); and Natalya Wawrin, MSW (former field student)
• Data Automation 101: A step-by-step approach to effeciently handing multi-stide evaluation data. Authors: Sue Ann Savas, MSW; Megan Elyse Williams, MSW (Evaluation Associate); Meredith Philyaw, MS (Evaluation Associate); and Jennifer Nulty, MSW Candidate (current work study student)
• Evaluating a Human Trafficking Course Diversion Program: Building Knowledge to Better Serve Victims of Human Trafficking. Authors: Sue Ann Savas, MSW; Laura Sundstrom, MSW (Evaluation Associate); Chad Jobin, LLMSW (Evaluation Associate); Mary O'Brien, MSW Candidate (current work study student); and Cainnear Hogan, MSW Candidate (current work study and special studies student)

Laura Sundstrom and Megan Elyse Williams (Evaluation Associates) also participated on a panel discussion entitled, "Strategies for Teaching and Enhancing Cultural Competence in Novice Evaluators."

Edie Kieffer and Katie Mitchell hosted the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA) annual meeting in Lansing for 206 community partners and participants. Meeting materials and summaries are available on the MiCHWA web site.