School of Social Work News

John Mathias, PhD candidate in social work and anthropology, has received the Outstanding Doctoral Student Award from the  Association for Community Organization and Social Administration. He is conducting outstanding scholarly work in the area of community organizing as evidenced by his dissertation and his other writing.  His research is focused on community/village political action in India, and has been funded by a Fulbright IE fellowship and a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship.

Professor Emerita Kathleen Coulburn Faller presented “Forty Years of Child Sexual Abuse Assessment: We’ve Come a Long Way” at the 35th Michigan Statewide Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Assistant Professor Mat Despard’s paper, "Do Tax-Time Savings Deposits Reduce Hardship Among Low-Income Filers? A Propensity Score Analysis," was published in the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.

​Professor Lorraine ​Gutiérrez​ ​was selected as a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. The Academy is an honorific society of distinguished scholars and practitioners dedicated to achieving excellence in the field of social work and social welfare through high-impact work that advances social good.​ She will be inducted at the ​Society for Social Work Research conference, January 11-15, 201​7 in ​ New Orleans​.​

Associate Professor Brian Perron had two papers published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal:

• “Prevalence and Correlates of Vaping as a Route of Cannabis Administration in Medical Cannabis Patients” and   
• “Changing Perspectives on Marijuana Use During Early Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Evidence from a Panel of Cross-sectional Surveys”
   

Finn Bell and Vincent Fusaro (PhD students) are the co-recipients of the 2016 Henry Meyer Award. Bell's paper, "The Prison within a Prison" and Fusaro's paper, "States and the End of Cash Assistance" made original contributions to empirical or theoretical literature in a manner that integrates social work and social science.

Professor and Associate Dean for Educational Programs Jorge Delva has been invited to join the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Office of the Provost's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative. Committee members will advise Robert Sellers, Charles D. Moody Collegiate Professor of Psychology and Vice Provost for Equity, Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, on issues and matters related to diversity, equity and inclusion on campus. This advisory committee will be very important for acting as a sounding board to efforts that are coming from the Office of the Provost, sharing its perspective about important issues that are being overlooked or need addressed, and providing a voice to and from faculty on pertinent issues.

Professor Lorraine Gutiérrez was a keynote speaker at the 2016 Latino Social Worker Network Conference, "Moving Towards the Future of Social Work Practice" on October 14 at the University of Illinois, Chicago.