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Alumni briefs: Loring ’92, Nicholson ’03, Myers ’71

Sasha Loring, MSW ’92, is presenting a workshop in the Chapel Hill area on Jan. 18, 2014, “Taking a Deeper Look: Guided Experiences for Revealing Obstacles to Attaining a Healthy Weight, and Learning Essential Aspects of Healthy Eating.”

Jenny Nicholson, MSW ’03, is working as the associate creative director at advertising firm McKinney in Durham. As part of her job she works with pro-bono clients, the primary one being Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD). Recently she worked on a new marketing campaign and website for UMD, in which the organization sells naming rights to all of the items in the building that provide food, shelter and a future for those they serve. Names for Change is an immersive online experience that teaches about homelessness and offers the naming rights to the hundreds of items UMD uses to rebuild lives in Durham.

From teddy bears to deodorant, cans of vegetables to caseworkers, naming rights are available at namesforchange.org, a site that immortalizes even the smallest items’ large impact on the life of a person facing poverty and homelessness.

“Projects like namesforchange.org allow me to use my creative powers for good and to keep in touch with my social work roots, even though I am in a seemingly unconnected industry,” said Nicholson.

Rosamond “Ann” (York) Myers, MSW ’71 retired on June 30, 2013, after over 40 years on the faculty at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.. She was head of the social work department from 1989 until her retirement, and coordinator of the social work program from 1984-89. Under her leadership the social work program received three awards for the quality of their assessment – the 2007 and 2013 JMU Provost Award for Excellence in Assessment and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation 2011 Award for Outstanding Institutional Practice in Student Learning Outcomes. She co-founded JMU’s Center for Community Service Learning in 1987 and the Lifelong Learning Institute at JMU in 1997. Most recently, she co-chaired the successful SACSCOC Reaccreditation for JMU. She was selected as the first recipient of the Outstanding Baccalaureate Social Work Director Award given by the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors in 2005. She functioned as a site visitor and chair for CSWE for 20 years and as a member for of Committee on Curriculum and Educational Policy for six. In September she started working again with the university, as the faculty credentialing coordinator — a new position linked with university accreditation.