School of Social Work News

SSW's MSW programs were officially re-accredited by the Council on Social Work Education for the next eight years (until October, 2023).
 

Associate Professor Luke Shaefer's book, "$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America" was named one of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2015.

Assistant Professor Kristin Seefeldt was cited in The Atlantic article, “How Poor Single Moms Survive”.

Family Assessment Clinic social worker and LEO Lecturer Gary Stauffer received the 2015 Karl Rohnke Creativity Award from the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) on October 23 at the AEE International Conference. AEE Awards Committee Chair Elizabeth Speelman said, “Professionally and personally, Gary demonstrates an outstanding commitment to experiential education principles. Gary’s heart and spirit exist on this planet to help people find strength within themselves through creative play and interventions.”

AEE presents this award annually to an individual whose outstanding commitment to experiential education principles are evidenced through the design, creation and/or production of experiential education resources.

Watch the U.S. Senate Finance Committee testimony of Associate Professor Luke Shaefer as he talks about poverty in the United States and his book "$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America" (video clip: 43:18 - 48:56). His testimony is also available to download. 

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)