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Faculty and staff briefs

Assistant Dean of Field Education Rebecca Brigham and the Field Office were awarded a Policy Practice in Field Education Initiative grant by the Council on Social Work Education. The project will support two statewide meetings of social work educators. In fall 2016, the UNC School of Social Work and NASW-NC will sponsor a day-long North Carolina Social Work Policy Educators Summit for social work policy educators from all social work programs in the state (23 BSW programs, 12 MSW, and one Ph.D. program). In spring 2017, the School and NASW-NC will sponsor a day-long Social Work Advocacy Day for social work students from all social work programs in the state.

Professor Iris Carlton-LaNey was invited to speak as part of the University of Texas at San Antonio College of Public Policy’s Spring 2016 Distinguished Lecture Series. Her Feb. 23 talk was entitled, “African-American Social Welfare Pioneers Responding to Community Needs.” On April 13, she spoke at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration on, “A Legacy Ignored: African Americans’ Parallel System of Social Work/Welfare during the Progressive Era.”
Staff member Tiffany Carver was elected as a delegate to the UNC Employee Forum.
Associate Professor Mimi Chapman will be promoted to the rank of full professor, effective July 1.

Chapman and Co-PIs Emil Kang (Music, Carolina Performing Arts) and Carl Ernst (Religious Studies) have received a FIRE grant from the UNC Vice Chancellor for Research and the Office of Research Development. Their project is called, “Countering Negative Islamic Stereotype through Performing Arts: Measuring the Impact on Implicit and Explicit Attitudes towards Islam.” The long-term goal for this 18-month collaboration is to establish a comprehensive understanding of the potential role of the performing arts in reducing biases.

Clinical Instructor Annie Francis was featured in an April 27 blog post by the North Carolina Dept. of Administration.

Sherry Mergner, clinical assistant professor and AHEC liaison at the School of Social Work and LEND clinical social work faculty at The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, spoke at the “Evidence-Based Services for ASD and Related Disorders Across the Lifespan” program on April 29. She co-presented on, “Social, Emotional and Cognitive Interventions for Individuals with ASD and Related Disorders.”

Clinical Assistant Professor Theresa Palmer was invited to speak on, “Microaggression in Clinical Settings,” at the Diversity in Action lunch at UNC’s Diversity THINKposium on Aug. 17.

Assistant Professor Latoya Small presented at the 11th Annual Women as the Face of AIDS Summit in New York City earlier this month. She spoke on, “Women, Mental Health, and HIV Treatment Engagement.” This month she is also presenting at the 2016 International Conference on HIV Treatment and Prevention Adherence, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She presented a poster of her dissertation research, “Healthcare Use and Adherence among Low-Income Mothers Living with HIV.”

 
Assistant Professor Amy Blank Wilson‘s “Tiny Houses” project was featured at the 2016 UNC Innovation Showcase, on April 26 at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. Tiny Houses is building homes for people with serious mental illnesses so they can live in safe and affordable homes that they can call their own. The homes will be located at The Farm at Penny Lane in Chatham County, operated by the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health, and will provide residents access to healthy food, meaningful daily activities and physical and behavioral-health services.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Lisa Zerden was a keynote speaker at an interprofessional education summit on April 27, sponsored by the Henrietta Schmoll School of Health at St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul, Minn. On May 5,  she was invited to give a plenary talk at the annual meeting for the American Association for Medical Colleges (AAMC) in Chicago. She spoke on, “Patient’s View of the Health Workforce: Who Speaks for Them? The Contributions of Social Work.”

Upcoming AHEC presentations

AREA L AHEC

  • May 25 – Depression and Suicide in Children and Adolescents – Jodi Flick 

CHARLOTTE AHEC

  • May 25 – Child Maltreatment: Reporting and the Ethical Use of Professional Discretion – Tara Bohley

NWAHEC

  • May 24 – CBT in Community Practice – Marty Weems 

SOUTHERN REGIONAL AHEC

  • May 25 – The ABC’s of CPS – Alycia Blackwell 

For information on AHEC programs, see: http://www.med.unc.edu/ahec/