School of Social Work News

Rhett Reader, a U.S. Air Force veteran who served from 1991-1993 in the first Gulf War and a MSW student is the Veteran Mentor Coordinator for the Waterford Township Veterans' Treatment Court..  The newly established court was featured in Spinal Colunm, West Oakland's Newsweekly.  

Reader attended the the annual Veterans Court Forum at the State of Michigan Supreme Court and was able to speak about the program's success.

Clinical Associate Professor Betsy Voshel recently had an article "Reflections of a Field Director: An Opportunity to Look Into the Past and See the Future" published in The Special Issue on Field Education.

Assistant Professor David Cordova co-authored a manuscript "The Role of Perceived Peer Prejudice and Teacher Discrimination on Adolescent Substance Use: A Social Determinants Approach," published in the Journal of Ethnicity and Substance Abuse.

Associate Professor Joseph Ryan has just received an award from the State of Illinois Department of Human Services to continue evaluation activities for the State of Illinois's Alcohol and Drug Abuse program.  

Katherine Mitchell presented "How Public Health Social Workers and Schools of Social Work can be Influential in Sustaining CHWs and Community Alliances at a State Level," emphasizing the importance of collaboration at the American Public Health Association annual meeting in Boston, MA. Edie Kieffer and Mike Spencer, Nick Yankey, Elizabeth Grim, and Hannah Roberts were co-authors on this presentation.

Associate Professor Mary Ruffolo received an award from the The National Council for Behavioral Health. She will work with the National Council to develop an instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of learning communities.

Congratulations to Kathleen Lopez who has just received an award from the University of Michigan Provost.

The goal of the proposal is to fund a trip to Hong Kong that will enable her to learn about social work in an international context. During this trip, she will visit the University of Hong Kong Department of Social Work and Social Administration, the Hong Kong Social Workers Association, as well as local social work agencies.

LEO faculty member, Shari Robinson-Lynk was selected as a recipient of the Fifth Annual Distinguished Diversity Leaders Award. The award includes $2500 towards her team's professional development activities.

The DDLA award was established to shine a light on staff members who work toward achieving a welcoming, supportive and inclusive working environment.