UM-Flint Champions Early Childhood Education

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Featured speaker: H. Luke Shaefer , UM School of Social Work

MI Senate Binsfeld Office Building, Room 5550, 5th Floor
201 Townsend St., Lansing, MI 48933
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

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In the aftermath of the historic Flint, Michigan water crisis, many have asked what will become of Flint’s children. While it is clear that immediate interven- tions needed to be done to provide safe, lead-free drinking water and healthcare resources for Flint’s residents and their children, stopping there would not have been enough. Policymakers and community leaders recognized that the health, well-being and education of Flint’s children to support their future success was critically important. In the face of the crisis, and not surprisingly, all agreed that a spirit of collaboration among public and private partners focused on early child- hood education should be a high priority.

UM-Flint Dean Robert Barnett and Amy Hesse, from the University of Michigan- Flint School of Education and Human Services, have helped to lead this effort, identifying methods and implementing strategies alongside community partners that are combating the effects of lead, and helping to educate Flint’s children. Please join us as we engage Dean Barnett and Director Hesse in this important and meaningful discussion while they share their model for Early Childhood Education in Flint that will have implications for success-driven results for chil- dren across Michigan and beyond!

Prior to his appointment as Dean in 2014, Bob Barnett served the UM-Flint School of Education and Human Services for many years. He also served as Associate Dean at the UM-Flint College of Arts and Sciences and is a professor of rhetoric and composition in the Department of English. Barnett has a B.A. in English from Alma College, M.A. in English from Central Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition from the University of Nevada-Reno.

He has published academic articles on classroom theory and practice, writing program administration, writing center administration, and most recently on general education reform. He also has published three books in the areas of writing center administration, writing across the curriculum theory and practice, and general education reform. He has presented at numerous regional, national, and international conferences.

Barnett is also the co-author of an original musical play on the life of American poet Allen Ginsberg, HOWL, and a collection of original poems, The Ghosts of Hallelujah Junction.

Amy Hesse serves as the Central Administrator for UM-Flint’s Early Childhood Devel- opment Center. Prior to joining the University of Michigan, Amy served the University of Central Florida for four years as the Director of the Educational Research Center for Child Development. Preceding her appointment in Florida, she served Michigan’s Great Start systems and early childhood education programs for many years. Amy is a native of Michigan and has a B.A. and M.A. in Education from Western Governors University.

Author: Veronica A. W. Johnson, Ph.D

Director of the Lansing Service Center | [email protected] | 517-372-7801

It’s Happening in Michigan – How Can We Alleviate Poverty in Michigan and Beyond?

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Featured speaker:
H. Luke Shaefer , UM School of Social Work

MI Senate Binsfeld Office Building, Room 5550, 5th Floor 201 Townsend St., Lansing, MI 48933 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

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Some Michigan residents are living on cash incomes of $2 or less per day, while others are carrying high levels of debt, struggling to pay for their housing and other necessities, and reducing their chances for overall upward mobility. How do we better provide access to work opportunities and support systems that will aid families in need? What is working to prevent or alleviate poverty? What is not?

Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan is examining these challenges from a variety of disci- plines and testing the most promising solutions through research interventions, partnering with policy- makers and the community. In the past four years, the good news is the percentage of Michigan residents living below the poverty line has dropped from 17.4 percent to 14.9, and child poverty has dropped four percentage points during this period. There are more Michiganders employed now than in 2012, and the median household income has risen. Yet, despite these promising trends, challenges persist as Michigan remains 33rd and in the bottom half of states battling poverty. We can do better. Please join us as UM Professor Luke Schaefer shares projects designed to deliver concrete results that will aid Michigan’s poor — expand their economic opportunities, and reduce their educational and health disparities.

H. Luke Shaefer is Director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan. He is also an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Dr. Shaefer’s research on poverty and social welfare policy in the United States has been published in top peer-reviewed academic journals, including the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and the Amer- ican Journal of Public Health, supported by the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Shaefer has presented his research at the White House and before numerous federal agencies, and he has testi ed before the U.S. Senate Finance Commit- tee. His work has been cited in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Na- tional Review, The Atlantic, Vox, the LA Times and Huf ngton Post. He has been featured on “Marketplace” and CNBC’s “Nightly Business Report.” His recent book with Kathryn Edin, “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America,” has been named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2015 by the New York Times Book Review, and won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism.

Author: Veronica A. W. Johnson, Ph.D

Director of the Lansing Service Center | [email protected] | 517-372-7801

Read Article at The University Record

President Mark Schlissel talks with U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (left) at the annual U-M Congressional Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Photo by Brandon Ebenhoeh)

President Mark Schlissel told a Washington, D.C., audience Wednesday that the University of Michigan continues its longtime commitment to be a leading international community of scholars.

Speaking at the 66th annual U-M Congressional Breakfast, Schlissel said the university’s ability to attract the best students and faculty from around the globe “enhances our teaching, learning, research and societal impact” and is a major reason for U-M’s standing as an outstanding research university.

Schlissel said U-M is working with other universities to make sure foreign students and faculty can continue to enrich the excellence of U-M.

“This is also an issue of competitiveness for our state,” he added. “Preparation for that competition requires our students to have the skills and experiences best acquired through collaboration with diverse groups of people.”

U.S. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, delivered keynote remarks, urging alumni and others to work with people from diverse backgrounds to develop solutions to the problems facing our nation. (Photo by Brandon Ebenhoeh)

Schlissel also urged lawmakers to help preserve U-M’s ability to use a “conservative approach” to successfully manage its endowments and protect donor choices. Congress is considering legislation that could potentially have an impact on such endowments.

In her remarks as keynote speaker, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, who represents the Ann Arbor and Dearborn campuses, saluted the university as it celebrates its bicentennial, but also called upon U-M and its alumni to stand up for resolving the major issues facing the nation.

“For 200 years, the University of Michigan has brought diverse members of our community together to have difficult discussions, to debate and to find solutions to the problems we face as a society — to lift each other up and strengthen lives and communities,” said Dingell. “All U-M alumni who are here in D.C. not only make a difference, but have a responsibility to make a difference.”

Other members of Congress in attendance included Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, along with U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Flint; John Moolenaar, R-Midland; Dave Trott, R-Birmingham; and Ted Deutch, D-Florida.

The Congressional Breakfast is sponsored by the U-M Club of Greater Washington, with all proceeds going toward scholarships for D.C.-area students who attend Michigan. More than 300 people attended this year’s event, which also marked the official D.C. observance of U-M’s bicentennial.

Author: Michael A. Waring

Director of the Washington, D.C. Office | [email protected] | 202-554-0630