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School briefs

Professor Iris Carlton-LaNey recently received a “Lifetime Achievement Award,” from the Department of Social Work at N.C. Central University. Carlton-LaNey was an invited guest speaker for the department’s “Elevate Social Work” celebration in March in honor of Social Work Month and received the award following her presentation. Dr. Carlton-LaNey was also recently selected as the speaker for this year’s School of Social Work  graduation.

Associate professor Gina Chowa presented “Exploring the Effects of an Integrated Approach to Improving Family Economic Security and Supporting Child Development” for the FPG Child Development Institute’s lecture series.

Associate professor Betsy Bledsoe was awarded a $2,000 grant from NC TraCS for her project, “Community Engagement: Understanding Perinatal Health Needs in Robeson County, N.C. — Community Advisory Board.” The project was one of three funded by NC TraCS during this award cycle and the only one selected through its Stakeholder Engagement Voucher Program. Bledsoe is working on the project with Katherine LeMasters, at Gillings School of Global Public Health, who will share the award.

Assistant professor Melissa Lippold recently served as a panelist for a discussion at the UNC School of Education. Lippold shared panelist duties with Harry Brighouse, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mildred Fish Harnack Professor of Philosophy and Carol Dickson Bascom Professor of the Humanities. The panel discussion focused on Brighouse’s co-edited book, “Family Values: The Ethics of Parent Child Relationships.”

Clinical assistant professor Travis Albritton presented the paper, “Just Another Brother Trying to Make it: Negotiating Stereotypes While Living and Learning,” in April at the American Educational Research Association Annual Conference (AERA) in Toronto, Canada.

Professor Kim Strom-Gottfried and doctoral student Quinton Smith were named as members of a new Campus Safety Commission. Interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz created the 20-member commission to examine campus policing policies and practices, including the need to build stronger relationships and communication between our campus community and campus police. Strom-Gottfried and Smith will serve as advisors on the commission for two years.

Adjunct instructor Allison De Marco co-presented the workshop, “The Necessity of Data No Matter How Imperfect,” at the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) Annual Membership Meeting in Albuquerque, NM.

Barbara Leach was honored this month for her 20 years of service to UNC and to the State of North Carolina. Leach is a family support specialist and special projects coordinator (including for the Focus on Family and Disability clinical lecture series) with the School’s Family Support Program.

Doctoral students LB Klein and Gerard Chung have both received UNC IPRC Injury and Violence (IVP) Prevention Fellowships for the 2019-2020 academic year. Their applications were reviewed by two external reviewers and were selected from among an extremely competitive pool of 36 applications from graduate students throughout the UNC-CH campus. Klein and Chung’s work also speaks to the excellent mentoring they are receiving from Rebecca Macy and Paul Lanier, respectively. In addition, LB was selected for the new SSWR Doctoral Student Committee. She will serve on the conference subcommittee.

Doctoral student Erum Agha was awarded a UNC Graduate School Summer Research Fellowship. Erum is studying the needs of women who are refugees. This fellowship enables her to conduct her dissertation research full time throughout the summer.

Second-year MSW/MPH student Stephanie Kennedy received a Community Engagement Fellowship through the Carolina Center for Public Service for her project, “Building Financial Capability of Emancipated Foster Care Youth in Durham, NC.” Assistant professor Rainier Masa is her advisor on the project.

The UNC School of Social Work hosted its annual Career Day on April 1. Career Day provides an opportunity for MSW students, as well as undergraduate students from BSW programs across the state, to discuss employment opportunities with representatives from social services agencies throughout North Carolina. More than 60 agencies attended this year’s event.