School of Social Work News

Join Kelsey Tajer (MSW ‘16) in the Student Ambassador Program. You will be able to be directly involved in policy by communicating with members of Congress to advocate for change. You will also be given the opportunity to increase your understanding of advocacy through annual training and networking events on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

Elizabeth Rhodes (PhD Social Work and Political Science ‘16) was formally announced as the lead researcher for the Basic Income study at Y Combinator Research in San Francisco. Her media coverage includes:

• cited in the Tech Insider article, "Silicon Valley's biggest startup accelerator just announced the leader of its groundbreaking basic income experiment"
• cited in the CNNMoney article, "Why some Oakland residents won't have to worry about rent"
• cited in the Fortune article, "Y Combinator Wants to Test a Revolutionary Economic Idea"
• cited in the TechCrunch article, "Y Combinator announces basic income pilot experiment in Oakland"
• cited in the Mic article, "Basic Income in California: 100 Oakland Residents Will Get a Salary Just for Being Alive"

Professors Lorraine Gutierrez and Linda Chatters were ranked high impact female social work scholars in the article, “Citation Impact of Women in Social Work: Exploring Gender and Research Culture” which was published in Research on Social Work Practice.

Associate Professor Rogerio Pinto was selected as a Faculty Affiliate at Global REACH, which helps facilitate and promote U-M Medical School international initiatives in research, education, and collaborations in health.

Associate Professor Brian Perron, Professor Jorge Delva, and Professor Michael Spencer were ranked high-impact scholars (SSWR fellows) in the article, “High-Impact Social Work Scholars: A Bibliometric Examination of Society for Social Work and Research and American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare Fellows” which was published in Research on Social Work Practice. Please see Table 5 on page 7 of the article for the rankings. 

Maria Wathen successfully defended her dissertation entitled, “Civic Culture Frameworks & Globalization; Implications for Social Services in Russia” and obtained her PhD in Social Work and Sociology. She has accepted an Assistant Professor of Social Work position at Loyola University.

Her committee consisted of Mary Ruffolo, Barbara Anderson (co-chairs), Sandra Danziger, Karin Martin, and Scott Allard.

Professor Lorraine M. Gutiérrez was recognized with the School of Social Work 2016 Distinguished Faculty Award. The Distinguished Faculty Award is intended to recognize a current governing faculty member in the School of Social Work who has achieved national recognition in scholarship, demonstrated excellence in teaching and mentoring, provided outstanding service to the School and the University, and/or contributed significantly to the professional community.

Susan K. Crabb, field educator/lecturer/field liaison, has made the world her classroom by embracing the teacher-learner paradigm and approaching interactions and exchanges through a lens of lifelong/wide learning. In the classroom she is a well regarded instructor earning consistently positive reviews from students as well as professionals. She demonstrates creativity in teaching social work competencies and ethics.