Around the neighborhoods: The neighborhood themes pull together the college's talents and strengths toward a common vision and mission. The themes are: Teaching and Learning; Psychological, Physical, and Social Development; and Family, Organization, and Community Systems and Contexts.

Dishing across Minnesota

This fall Dean Darlyne Bailey set out to explore the culinary vernacular of Minnesota and to meet alumni, representatives from the Duluth campus, public officials, and other members of the education and human services community beyond her Twin Cities home base. Dubbed the Hot Dish Tour, the dean made multiple public appearances in Duluth, Grand Rapids, Mankato, and Rochester. The events drew about 150 attendees in total who discussed topics including the dean’s advocacy for the college at the state legislature and the need for more K–12 educators of color.

 

“It is truly an understatement to say that our colleagues—our alumni, legislators, superintendents, principals, community leaders, and extension professionals—were as thrilled as we were to have this time together. They join us in looking forward to maintaining and deepening our connections,” Bailey says.

Attendees were asked to bring a copy of a favorite hot dish recipe to share. Dozens of recipes were gathered, including classics such as Tater Tot Casserole and more contemporary takes including Rice and Soy Hot Dish.

Future stops on the Hot Dish Tour include St. Cloud on May 22, and western Minnesota at a later date.

College gathers policy leaders

In mid-January, the college hosted the first of its Policy Breakfast Series for 2008, bringing together more than 150 policymakers, including Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, community and education leaders such as former Mayors George Latimer and Don Fraser, and faculty and staff experts from the University and the college.

Speaker Karen Pittman, executive director of the Forum for Youth Investment, presented her case for a comprehensive and coordinated youth policy that prepares all youth for college, work, and life by age 21.

She urged attendees to envision the positive outcomes they want for all youth, rather than simply reacting to problems, and to evaluate existing and needed resources through that lens. She also emphasized the need for measurable results and shared real examples of comprehensive youth policy that is working.

“This is not about helping particular young people beat the odds; it’s about actually going into the community and changing the odds by changing the landscape of our communities, and I believe we can do that,” she stated emphatically.

Panelists Sen. Mee Moua (DFL-St. Paul), and Dale Blyth, associate dean for youth development with the University Extension, offered the Minnesota perspective. Both agreed on the need to look at youth development and funding as a whole and to move beyond current silos.

A copy of Pittman’s presentation and information on the next policy breakfast can be found at cehd.umn.edu/policy.

College extends help down river

In early January a team of eight faculty, staff, and students joined forces to provide crisis-intervention services to rural Mississippi communities still suffering from the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The focus of the college’s From Minnesota to Mississippi initiative, as it is known, was to undertake needs assessments at the individual, family, and community levels, particularly in the area of mental health. After ascertaining the level of need, the team was able to refer clients to local service providers and to begin building a sustained, intentional relationship between the college and the affected areas.

Arnold Imani Harris stands in a former bank vault.

In addition to invaluable services, the team donated items collected from the college community, including personal care products, cell phones, food, and more than $600 in gift cards from home improvement and discount stores.

Research fellow and trip participant Katrina Uhly was particularly impressed with the diversity of the team. “We pulled together a group of caring and thoughtful folks from several different disciplines around a common interest, and the productive synergy that developed really gives testament to the great work that can come from collaboration.”

The college contingent included a number from the School of Social Work: assistant professor Priscilla Gibson, a licensed independent clinical social worker; professor Oliver Williams, director, and Marcus Pope, associate director, Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community; Tamiko Thomas, field director; and graduate student Arnold Imani Harris. Marriage and family therapy student Kathleen Bischel Beddow (B.S. ’07) also participated.

Team member Jill Trites, a senior teaching specialist in postsecondary teaching and learning, returned to the area in February to continue distributing needed items and deepen work with community partners. The college is developing a formal proposal for specific follow-up projects.

College receives $2 million for new endowed chair

Bonnie Westby Huebner

In December, University alumnus Dan Huebner funded an endowed chair in honor of his late wife, alumna Bonnie Westby Huebner. The $2 million chair focuses on learning technologies.

Bonnie Westby Huebner graduated from the college in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in education, later becoming an elementary school teacher in Minnesota and in California. She was a member of the Philanthropic Educational Organization and the American Association of University Women. Her husband spent his career in aeronautical engineering at such companies as GE Aerospace and Grumman Aerospace Corp.

“The chair perpetuates Bonnie’s lifelong commitment to the primacy of education, representing an investment, in her memory, in teaching excellence through the advancement of technologies,” Huebner says. Supporting the emerging area of learning technologies is a good way to represent both of their career interests, he said during a December event.

Aaron Doering, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, was named the first recipient of the Bonnie Westby Huebner Endowed Chair in Education and Technology. Doering is also education director of GoNorth!, an adventure learning project that connects K–12 classrooms with arctic explorers.

“I am honored, thrilled, and incredibly thankful to Dan Huebner and his commitment to the college, education, technology, and future scholars,” says Doering. “This is the start of an incredible future for educational technology within the College of Education and Human Development. We will continue to make a difference within K–12 classrooms around the world as we rethink the way technology can transform education.”

Dan Huebner (right) congratulates Aaron Doering, the first recipient of the
endowed chair he established in his wife's name.

Dean Darlyne Bailey also anticipates the impact of the new chair. “I am personally moved, and we are all delighted by Mr. Huebner’s extraordinary gift,” she says. “The Westby Huebner endowment enables the college to greatly enrich and advance the critical partnership among the highest quality teaching, learning, and technology.

“Dan’s investment today of his family’s commitment to these areas is an expression of their dream—one that I promise that we will fulfill together,” Bailey continues

Hormel teams with college for teacher development

The Department of Educational Policy and Administration is creating ongoing courses and professional development programming for Austin, Minnesota, teachers, in partnership with the Hormel Foundation and the Austin Public Schools. Funded by a $1.3 million grant from the foundation, the program focuses on improving content knowledge and instructional practices in the areas of math, science, and literacy. Its ultimate goal is to increase student achievement and learning opportunities for both students and staff. The 96 program participants, who began classes in January, are pursuing certificates or M.Ed. degrees in science, math, science literacy, math literacy, and a number of other content areas.

Program coordinator and lecturer Julie Kalnin is excited about the fellowship’s future. “Over the next five years we plan to develop and refine the program model so that it can be replicated in other communities,” she says, adding, “We also hope to add a research component to the program.”

Higher Ground explores untold side of Katrina

Citizens with developmental disabilities and the direct support professionals who work with them were among the thousands left to cope with displacement and desperate conditions after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A new documentary produced by the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the Institute on Community Integration is shining a light on these unsung heroes and receiving accolades from the film industry.

Higher Ground: The Dedication of Direct Support Professionals During and After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, produced by Jerry Smith, tells the stories of some of the New Orleans direct support professionals who, despite long hours and tremendous stress, provided services to their clients during and after the storm. The 45-minute documentary, which took roughly six months to complete, premiered in November in Louisiana.

“The story of Katrina is a story of economics,” says Smith. “Most of the subjects we filmed lived on very low wages, and a lot of them used their own limited funds to care for their supportees after the storm. So I see the film as an excellent classroom tool, not only for supporting people with disabilities but advocating for economic justice.”

Higher Ground received a bronze award at the December Northern Lights Media Festival in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a gold 2007 Audio/Visual award from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. To purchase the DVD or to preview the movie, visit highergroundthemovie.org.

Sport Business Institute shares global expertise

In November, kinesiology lecturer Rayla Allison launched the Sport Business Institute to provide business consulting and research to clients in the sport industry. Faculty and students offer market research, business development analysis, risk management planning, and Title IX assessment at the local, national, and international levels. The Institute’s clients include the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, a NCAA Division I hockey conference.

Allison brings a wealth of sport industry experience to the institute from amateur, collegiate, and professional sports and from national governing organizations. She serves on the boards of the Babe Ruth League, Foundation IX, and Cultural Jambalaya.

Allison is excited about the experiential learning opportunities the institute offers students. “The Sport Business Institute bridges the University and its sport management students with real-world experience in the sport industry for an invaluable educational opportunity,” she says.

Partnership responds to bridge disaster

When the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed in August, the public and officials turned their attention to rescue efforts and traffic challenges. Few people immediately considered the event’s potential impact on children. Few people, that is, besides Abigail Gewirtz, assistant professor in the Department of Family Social Science.

Gewirtz is project director and principle investigator for the Minnesota Child Response Center (MnCRC), a community-University partnership committed to increasing access to care for traumatized children and families. In consultation with the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Gewirtz developed a free guide for families on coping with the bridge collapse. The publication includes a list of common child reactions to traumatic events, as well as tips on how parents can keep children calm in times of stress. Within a week of the collapse, the guide was available online through the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, of which MnCRC is a member, with Spanish and Somali translations.

For Gewirtz, the guide was a natural extension of MnCRC’s current work. “We have special expertise in this area: parenting in the context of trauma,” she explains. “We’re also pretty nimble, because we’re small.”

Tributes to Wayne Caron continue

A memorial Web page and fund have been created to honor family social science assistant professor Wayne Caron, who passed away in August at the age of 51. The Wayne Caron Memorial Fund had raised more than $1,200 by early January to support strategic initiatives related to families and gerontology.

Caron was an active therapist, researcher, and author who also held positions in geriatrics in the University’s Medical School, School of Public Health, and School of Nursing. He also founded the Wayne Caron Family Caregiving Center (featured in Connect!, Spring 2007), an organization dedicated to supporting family-centered care for people with dementia.

Those who wish to share remembrances of Caron can post them to his online memorial page at blog.lib.umn.edu/hgroteva/caron_page. To give to the fund, forward contributions to the University of Minnesota Foundation at the McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak Street S.E., Suite 500, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455 and be sure to note that the contribution is for the Wayne Caron Memorial Fund.

PHOTOS: Katrina Uhly; Greg Helgeson; Jerry Smith; Stacy Bengs, Minnesota Daily