Faculty members Travis Albritton and Kim Strom-Gottfried are serving on a new faculty advisory committee focused on the relocation of the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam. Theodore Shaw from the UNC School of Law is chairing the committee, which includes 13 faculty members from across campus.
The Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research has published two wonderful tributes to Prof. Matthew Howard, who died in December following a lengthy hospitalization. Read more here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jsswr/0/0
Ph.D. student Annie Francis received the “Adult College Student of the Year” award from the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe.
Lisa de Saxe Zerden, senior associate dean for MSW education, represented the School of Social Work at the interprofessional leadership development program in Washington, D.C., Feb. 6–8. Zerden was one of only six social work faculty from across the country who participated and was part of a UNC delegation, including faculty from nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry.
Adjunct instructor Allison De Marco was accepted as a faculty fellow for the Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP) this summer. The program seeks to prepare talented and motivated underrepresented students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, or those with a proven commitment to diversity and to eradicating racial disparities in the academy, for doctoral study in fields in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. The program provides students with a residential, rigorous research experience under the guidance of a UNC faculty mentor or other talented instructors.
Bernice Adjabeng, a research project manager with the Behavioral Health Springboard, is a new graduate of the University Leadership Education and Development (ULEAD) program. The annual program is sponsored by Workforce Strategy, Equity and Engagement and focuses on developing emerging leaders at Carolina, N.C. Central University and the UNC System office. For 2018, 25 participants attended courses, completed assessments and worked on team projects that benefited these three institutions of higher education.
The School’s Child Welfare Policy Class hosted Michael Becketts from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this month. Becketts discussed several child welfare system reform efforts underway in North Carolina. In his role, Becketts is charged with implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act, Rylan’s law (a state law legislating regionalization of child welfare), the Program Improvement Plan for child welfare services, and the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program.
About 30 School of Social Work students, faculty and others associated with the Macro 770 class participated in the HKonJ rally in Raleigh on Feb. 9. The annual march focuses on advocating for women’s rights, immigration justice, education, economic stability, healthcare, voter protection, and criminal justice.
The School’s Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab recently hosted staff and residents from Benevolence Farm to talk about their work and how they use social entrepreneurship to advance their mission. The nonprofit provides housing, employment and case management services for women returning to the community following incarceration. This year, the group expanded its social entrepreneurship by adding a skin care product line. Residents create and sell a wide array of handmade, high quality body care products, including soaps, lotions, body butters, face masks, scrubs, and lip balms. All of the products feature farm-grown healing herbs such as tulsi, lemon balm, chamomile, hibiscus, and more.
Distinguished professor Iris Carlton LaNey hosted a panel discussion with social work members of the Native American community on Feb. 15. The event was organized as part of the 501 course on Confronting Oppression and Institutional Discrimination. Panelists were invited to speak about their cultural experiences as members of the Lumbee, Sappony, and Haliwa-Sapponi tribes. They also discussed how institutional discrimination has affected and continues to affect their lives and how social workers and others can raise more awareness about microaggressions and ways to avoid them. Panel participants were: Ashley McMillan, MSW, a member of the Lumbee Tribe; Teryn Brewington, MSW, a member of the Sappony Tribe; Euna Victoria Chavis, a current MSW student, and member of the Lumbee Tribe and Anne Francis, a current Ph.D. student, and member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe.
