School of Social Work News

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."

Professor Sandra Danziger, Assistant Professor Kristin Seefeldt and Associate Professor Luke Shaefer’s articles, “Increasing Work Opportunities and Reducing Poverty Two Decades After Welfare Reform” and “From Welfare to a Work-based Safety Net: An Incomplete Transition” were published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.

Professor Lorraine Gutiérrez and Associate Professor Robert Ortega will be receiving the "Blue Flame" Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organization of Latino Social Workers Michigan for their work on empowerment with multicultural communities and cultural humility respectively. They will also be recognized, on November 15, for being past recipients of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) "Distinguished Recent Contributions in Social Work Education Awards". (Ortega in 2013 and Gutiérrez in 1999)

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. 

Professor Edie Kieffer was accepted into the 2016 U-M Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) Policy Fellowship Program.

Assistant Director of Global Activities Katie Lopez, Assistant Professor Reuben Miller and LEO Adjunct Lecturer Shari-Robinson-Lynk will receive recognition from the University of Michigan's Council on Global Engagement during International Education Week (November 16 - 20). Each of these faculty members was nominated by a student who said they had a positive impact on their global education experience - here in Ann Arbor or abroad.

SSW will be honored with two Pride of CASE V Awards, which recognize institutions and individuals who demonstrate outstanding achievement in the concept and execution of advancement programs and communications, at a ceremony in Chicago in early December. SSW received a silver award for Best View Book and a silver award for Excellence in a Series for the MSW recruitment materials.

Larry E. Davis, MSW'73, PhD'77, authored the book, "Why Are They Angry With Us? Essays on Race." Davis is dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, where he is the Donald M. Henderson Professor. He is the director and founder of the Center on Race and Social Problems, which conducts applied social science research on race, ethnicity, and color. Drawing on both his personal and professional experiences, Davis attacks the core of many commonly held attitudes which contribute to racism in America. He received the 2014 SSW Distinguished Alumni Award and is a member of the  Dean's Advisory Committee.