CEHD programs at home on Rochester campus

ESTABLISHED IN 2006, Rochester is the newest coordinate campus in the University of Minnesota system, and it is growing quickly with its own facility and a new chancellor, Stephen Lehmkuhle. CEHD is one of only a handful of colleges to offer courses on the Rochester campus, where the college has played a prominent role since the 1990s, when it was a branch of the Twin Cities campus.

The Department of Educational Policy and Administration, the School of Social Work, and the Department of Work and Human Resource Education offer a range of traditional degree, certificate, and administrative licensure programs.

Megan Morrissey, director of the master of social work program in Rochester and in the Twin Cities, sees many natural connections between her department’s work and the southern Minnesota city. “Rochester has a growing community of new immigrants, among other unique populations, calling for the brokering and mediation services of social work,” Morrissey says. “Rochester is also part of Olmstead County, a county that is exemplary in the state in terms of social services, particularly child welfare.”

For further information on the UMR campus, visit University of Minnesota, Rochester.

New Tucker Center report makes headlines

THIS SPRING the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport released Physically Active Girls: An Evidence-based Multidisciplinary Approach, which highlights the sociological, psychological, and physical factors that encourage exercise and good health among females. Produced update to the original Tucker Center report, created decade ago in conjunction the President’s Council Physical Fitness & Sport, the new publication is meant to appeal to parents, coaches, and community members, as well as academics.

On April 22 some of the report’s authors—including Tucker Center Associate Director Nicole LaVoi and Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, associate professor of kinesiology—provided an overview of key findings and recommendations to a standing-room-only audience at the University.

Among the most important discoveries in the report is that gender remains the single most significant barrier to girls’ participation in physical activity.

Since its release the publication has garnered attention from media outlets around the world including U.S. News and World Report, Time Magazine, Minnesota Public Radio, abcnews.com, and Bangkok, Thailand’s Thaindian News.

Download a free copy of the report.

Can one person make a difference?

THAT QUESTION, which forms the basis of the college’s new First Year Inquiry course, is answered powerfully in Paul Rusesabagina’s book An Ordinary Man. This story of an individual who puts his life on the line to save neighbors and strangers caught in the middle of the Rwandan conflict will be read and discussed by all of the 430 or so incoming CEHD first-year students.

As part of the curriculum, developed by faculty in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, the students will also have the rare opportunity to bring their inquiries to Rusesabagina. The author will speak to their first-year seminars on Nov. 3. Later that evening, he will present a public lecture in Northrop Auditorium, which is open to alumni and to the public.

For more information on Rusesabagina’s Nov. 3 lecture, please see An evening with Paul Rusesabagina.

Undergraduates learn from leaders

THIS SPRING, seven first- and second-year CEHD students had the rare opportunity to sit down with the likes of Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Minnesota Sen. Mee Moua, and Hubbard Broadcasting CEO Stanley S. Hubbard. The speakers were among 13 Twin Cities luminaries who offered candid observations and answered questions about leadership as part of a May term class.

Little & Company founder and CEO Monica Little (whose firm designed the college’s visual identity system) focused on the students and anticipating their next steps after graduation. Gloria Perez, director of the nonprofit Jeremiah Program, recounted how she developed leadership skills through volunteering and community activism. Her example resonated with students who want to give back to their communities, notes Katrina Uhly, research fellow, who co-taught the class with postsecondary teaching and learning Chair Amy Lee.

“It made a huge impact on me,” one female student said of the class. “I’ve realized what my true passion is; it made me realize who I am, my potential, and what I can do with this passion. I know I can make a difference in the world. I learned that a leader could be anyone. You can be a leader, too!”

UGO students with PsTL Chair Amy Less and co-instructor Katrina Uhly.

The class is part of the college’s UGO! program for first-generation students from underrepresented collegiate populations. UGO! students are provided laptop computers, full tuition, and room and board for their entire four-year experience. More importantly, they are given academic, social, and life-skills support, including a faculty mentor assigned to only two students each. The program will be expanded to 10 students this fall.

Fuel your mind

POET JOYCE SIDMAN will be the featured speaker when the College of Education and Human Development celebrates Book Week, October 14 through 16. Sidman has published seven books for children that demonstrate her love of words, as well as her affinity for her readers. Among her titles is Song of the Water Boatman, a Caldecott Honor Award-winning collection of poems that ponder the world Sidman observes while “poking around outside.”

The poet’s presentation, “Joyful Noise: Writing Poetry for Children,” will be given Oct. 14 at 6:30 p.m. in Wiley Hall. The evening’s events will begin at 4:00 p.m. with a review of new books. A book display will be featured in Andersen Library from Oct. 14 through 16.

Tickets are required for the Sidman lecture. For more information, see Book Week, or contact Cathy Zemke at 612-625-7835 or e-mail zemke001@umn.edu.

Book Week is sponsored by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and supported by the generous contributions from Ruth Mitchell and other alumni; The Red Balloon Bookshop; and by the Children’s Literature Research Collections, Andersen Library, University of Minnesota.

PHOTOS: Courtesy University of Minnesota, Rochester and Katrina Uhly