Volume 1

Welcome from the Dean

SCHOOL OFEDUCATION & HUMAN SERVICES

Fall 2013 Alumni Newsletter

In this Issue:

Follow SESHS online: @UMFlintSEHS

Contact Us:umflint.edu/sehs

810.766.6878

Message from Alumna Heather Nassar

Photo Voice Project

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ECDC Awarded $500,000 Grant

Elementary Education Program Collaboration

Upcoming Events

3Summer Faculty Research Institute

On behalf of the faculty and staff of the School of Education and Human Services, I would like to welcome you to the inaugural issue of our Alumni Newsletter. The goal of this publication is simple: to share with you some of the exciting initiatives, programs, and events that are helping SEHS set a new standard of excellence in social work and educator preparation. The Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC), a point of pride for the School since its inception, is creating new partnerships with the Educa-tion and Social Work departments, resulting in valuable pre-professional experiences for our students, as well as new research and teaching opportunities for our faculty.

As a symbol of our commitment to excel-lence, we have sought national accreditation for all programs in the School. The Depart-ment of Social Work and the ECDC have been awarded national accreditation. The Department of Education has been recom-

mended for accreditation by the agency’s Board of Examiners and is awaiting a final decision by the Unit Accreditation Board. With cutting edge academic programs in place, we are now turning our attention to adding new programs, like the Ed.D., which welcomed its first cohort this fall, and an all-online major and minor in Substance Abuse Treatment, which is being developed by our social work faculty.

I hope you enjoy reading about the excit-ing work we’ve been engaged in, and I invite you to share with us some of your personal and professional achievements since your graduation from the University of Mich-igan-Flint. We are planning a number of alumni events this year, so watch your inbox and mailbox for details. I’m looking forward to welcoming you back to campus and back to the School of Education and Human Services.

- Interim Dean Robert Barnett

Dean’s office holds first Alumni Open HouseThe School of Education and Human Ser-

vices hosted their first Alumni Open House on August 16, 2013 on the fourth floor of French Hall. The event was held in conjunction with the Annual Back to the Bricks event hosted by the Alumni Relations office. Alumni mingled with the new Interim Dean, Robert Barnett, faculty, staff and fellow alums. Light refresh-ments and hor d’oeuvres were served while alums took a trip down memory lane, looked at old pictures and talked with old friends.

The Alumni Open House is the first of a number of upcoming alumni events aimed to facilitate a growing relationship with SEHS alumni. Look out for more chances for alumni to return to SEHS and stay involved!

Message from Alumna Heather Nassar

UM-Flint social work students engaged in fund raising and implementation of the Photo Voice Project. This project is conducted nationwide in which a community-university team enables people who are homeless to capture their lived experiences through the camera lens. After the photos are printed and selected for public display, the team empowers the participants in creating vignettes of their personal stories. The display serves as a powerful advocacy tool. UM-Flint students spent many hours through-out their senior year developing and sustaining working relationships with homeless residents on this project. The Social Work Department’s Photo Voice Project was placed on public display throughout Genesee County and was used for a formal presentation given to the Flint City Planning Commission. In addition, the photos served as the central presentation for the state’s annual October Homelessness Conference.

Social Work students participate in ‘Photo Voice Project’

I was attending Mott Community College when I was researching the next phase of my educational career. Many friends shared the overwhelming stories of being in lecture halls of hundreds of students at larger campuses. They felt as though they were a number and not a

student who could contribute to the class. I knew that type of environment was not me so I toured UM-Flint and thought it was perfect!

I remember engaging in meaningful, heated conversations on topics ranging from politics to ethics with the students and teachers in my Education Block classes. Many of my professors made the effort to get to know me and that was important. They were very practical about what I would be facing as a teacher on a deeper, realistic level. UM-Flint has had a signif-icant impact on the type of educator and person I am today!

I have been an educator in the Flint Community Schools for 15 years now. I have taught kindergarten through sixth grade and am currently teaching third grade students. In 2004, I was honored with the Center for Global Partnership award, a project with GISD and the Interna-tional Institute of Flint. In the past I served as a member of the School of Education

and Human Services Alumni Affiliate. I am currently the Chair of the UM-Flint Alumni Board of Governors for the Uni-versity of Michigan-Flint.

It was a very rewarding experience to be a UM-Flint student, and I am proud to continue to represent my alma mater through the Alumni Society. I hope to see more SEHS grads attend alumni events, serve on the board of the Society, and volunteer. Together we make UM-Flint stronger, enrich our professional relation-ships, and model for the current student body that will soon join our ranks as edu-cators and social workers. For more infor-mation, contact the office of Development and Alumni Relations at 810.424.5448 or visit: http://www.umflint.edu/alumni/Alumni_Society.htm

Heather NassarGo Blue!

Early Childhood Development Center awarded $500,000 grantThe Early Childhood Development Cen-

ter (ECDC) has been awarded a $500,000 grant to help students cover childcare costs while they attend classes. The grant from the U.S. Department of Education spans over four years.

Funded under the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) pro-gram, awards can be used for child care ser-vices for all age groups. Students eligible to receive services for their children through CCAMPIS must be eligible for Pell grants, which are awarded based on financial need.

The amount awarded for this next year is $132,564, with $94,500 going directly to Pell eligible college students to pay up to 80% of their child’s tuition at the ECDC.

To better serve students who attend evening classes, the ECDC will expand its operating hours from 6 a.m.-10 p.m., effec-tive winter 2014 semester.

“We are excited to offer evening care and hope that the campus embraces the extend-ed hours in our nationally accredited pro-gram, which incidentally is the only birth to age 12 accredited program in Genesee County,” said Della Becker-Cornell, ECDC director.

Students, who are parents with young children, say the grant could help make their life a little less stressful.

“Relief, overwhelming joy, and a deep gratitude overcame my entire being upon hearing the incredible news of this grant,”

that was the reaction from nursing student Jane Spurlock who is the mother of four children, the youngest 21 months. “This grant means that I can put the money saved into my gas tank, more produce into our diet, possibly swimming lessons, bills, and ultimately it will reduce my stress.”

For yet another student, the grant an-nouncement brought tears of joy.

“When I read the email about the grant that ECDC received, I honestly could not believe it. Tears filled my eyes, my heart was over joyed and at the same time, overwhelmed,” recalled social work major Damesha Jackson. “Words cannot express how much this will help my family. I am forever grateful and thankful for this grant.”

The ECDC is part of the School of Educa-tion and Human Services (SEHS). Interim Dean Robert Barnett said the grant is the largest ever secured in the history of SEHS.

“Not only will it help a large number of our UM-Flint students who are parents, but it will also help with evening childcare issues for those who take classes late in the day,” noted Barnett. “The grant is significant beyond the immediate as well. Della and her staff have been working closely with the education department faculty to bring our teacher preparation curriculum more meaningfully and visibly into the ECDC.”

If you are interested in the ECDC’s offer-ings, contact the Center at (810) 424-5214 for more information.

Research and scholarly activity, along with teaching, service, and community engagement, creates the foundation for tenure track faculty identity in the School of Education and Human Services. When faculty are hired, they are asked to devel-op a research agenda, create and deliver

conference presentations, write grants, and publish high quality academic articles and books.

In an effort to establish meaningful sup-port for faculty research and scholarship at the school level, the Dean of SEHS has cre-ated and funded a Faculty Research Insti-tute. The idea behind the institute is simple: Faculty apply with a proposal that articu-lates a plan for an academic article, a book chapter, a book, a grant proposal, or related scholarly work. Faculty who are selected (preference is given to junior faculty, but tenure-track faculty of all ranks are eligible to apply) spend two weeks in the summer attending workshops, presentations, writing groups, and drafting material. The Insti-tute is planned and delivered by our own senior faculty, who bring in presenters and speakers from around the country and from some of our partner countries around the

SEHS launches Summer Faculty Research Instituteworld. By the end of the institute, faculty are expected to walk away with a draft of their work that will be completed and submitted for publication.

By supporting the research and creative activities of our faculty, the Faculty Re-search Institute will create new and exciting approaches to individual and collaborative scholarship. By providing faculty with uninterrupted, quality time to work on their research agendas and publications, the institute will help strengthen the quality of research and scholarship that defines our UM-Flint faculty who make up the professions of Education and Social Work. In turn, the work of the Institute will help bring a clear and unique identity to the faculty of the School of Education and Hu-man Services, which will positively impact the students and community partners they serve.

Fall 2013SEHS Graduation CelebrationThursday, December 12, 2013

5:30-7:30p.m. | Michigan RoomsRSVP to 810-766-6878

We want to hear what you’ve been up to since graduation. Where are

you working, what community projects are you involved in? You

may be featured in the next alumni newsletter. Email Kayla Cornell

kacornel@umflint.edu with your story.

The School of Education and Human Services is thankful for

the personal investment of donors. By making a gift, you will help to

strengthen the learning experiences for students aspiring to careers as educators and social work profes-sionals. Donations can be made at www.giving.umich.edu/give/

flint-sehs.

CommencementSunday, December 15, 2013

2:30p.m. | Perani Arena & Events Center | 3501 Lapeer Road, Flint

SAVE THE DATEUpcoming Events

TELL US YOUR STORY

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Univeristy of Michigan-FlintSchool of Education and Human Services444 David M. French Hall303 E. Kearsley StreetFlint, MI 48502-1950

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Elementary Education program offers field related experiences with ECDC, Pinehurst Elementary

A UM-Flint undergraduate student sits on the floor at the UM-Flint Early Childhood Development Center surrounded by three- year-olds clamoring to read a story togeth-er. Another student joins a small group of kindergarteners in a matching alphabet game at Pinehurst Elementary School in Mt. Morris. These are only a few of the experi-ences UM-Flint undergraduate students gain during their work in a field-related course offered through the University’s Elementary Education program.

In 2012, Education faculty members Dr. Christine Kenney and Dr. Suzanne Knezek, along with Field Director Dr. Suzanne Knight, began forming collaborative rela-tionships with the ECDC and Pinehurst Elementary School. Through these partner-ships, which focus on child development and literacy, UM-Flint undergraduate students work side-by-side with young children and expert teachers in the classroom context.

Della Becker-Cornell, ECDC director, commented, “Education has evolved and children have more needs than ever before. College preparation with everyday children is so important for understanding their development. The Early Childhood Devel-opment Center is pleased to be collaborating with professors so that college students get

first hand experience.” Not only are UM-Flint undergraduate

students, expert teachers and children work-ing and learning together, but an important piece of these collaborative relationships is for the UM-Flint Education faculty to engage with everyone in the classroom settings as well. As Dr. Knezek states, “Dr. Kenney and I always stress the importance of active participation with our teacher candidates. When we engage with them and with teach-ers and children in classroom settings, we are able to model the kind of participation we most want to see from our candidates.” This active engagement also allows the fac-ulty and undergraduate students to connect education course content to the real-world learning opportunities happening in class-rooms daily.

Another goal of these collaborative rela-tionships is to draw in and keep more tal-ented and passionate individuals in the field of education. Pinehurst Principal Katherine Lintz sums it up perfectly:

“Becoming a teacher is not merely the learning of facts. When students are given a mentoring opportunity or an opportunity to observe a classroom in action, they gain invaluable experience and develop the confi-dence required to be a great educator.”