November 2007—Volume Two, Issue Nine     |    Penn Matters Archive

Message from the Dean

Dear Alumni,

Welcome back to our first issue of Penn Matters in the 2007/2008 academic year.  As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, here at SP2 we have much to be thankful for.

A record 201 students entered this fall. This number included 154 MSW-seekers, 20 NPL candidates and 14 in the second-only class for the MSSP degree. As if these weren’t enough, in September we also resurrected our Doctorate in Social Work degree with a totally different format and welcomed 19 as the inaugural cohort.  With all of this activity, there’s no wonder that the atmosphere at SP2 is thick with excitement an ripe with the positive energy of our thriving academic enterprise.

Elsewhere in the University, there’s an equal amount of excitement surrounding the launch of “Making History,” Penn’s $3.5B, comprehensive capital campaign.  Click here to learn more about this ambitious, five-year initiative.

Back on our own turf, we also are celebrating the accomplishments of Karen M. Hudson, SW’80 in Alumni in the Field. Read the exclusive interview to learn about her phenomenal accomplishments.

Finally, watch your mail for the second annual publication (now called “SP2 Review). If you have new contact information, please update it in the Online Community under “Update Your Profile” to be sure you receive it.  It should be in your mailbox soon.

Meanwhile, thank you for all you do for the School as our wonderful, alumni ambassadors.  Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!

Richard J. Gelles
Dean

Alumni in the Field
Karen Maxwell Hudson, SW’80

Karen Maxwell Hudson has come a long way since her second field placement at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was the first social work student ever hired into a permanent position. Today, she is Program Manager for The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Homeless Health Initiative (HHI), helping some of the 2,500 children that use Philadelphia’s homeless shelters each year receive much-needed health services and health education. Karen also is an adjunct professor at the School of Social Policy & Practice and is in the inaugural class of INSIGHTS, a minority leadership training program at CHOP. Karen took a moment from her busy schedule to talk with SP2’s Alumni Relations Office.
[read complete article]

School News

Partnership with Nitte Education Trust in India
On June 16, 2007, SP2 and the Nitte Education Trust in India formally entered into a new partnership. The partnership, will enable the two institutions to work together to promote student exchanges and faculty/staff exchanges, as well as collaborative research and activities. Dr. Ram Cnaan represented SP2 at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding at the Justice K.S. Hegde Institute of Management in Nitte.

Homecoming 2007
On Saturday, October 20, SP2 alumni joined thousands of other Penn alums in celebrating Homecoming 2007. For the second year in a row, SP2 participated in Quakerfest, the pre-game picnic/tailgate on College Green before the football game, and offered reserved seating to alumni. The football game – exciting ‘til the end – stretched into triple overtime, when Penn fell to Yale, 20 to 26.

Firearms, Policy and Politics
Susan Sorenson delivers the Ortner-Unity Center on Family Violence Lecture
Susan Sorenson, PhD, delivered the second annual Ortner-Unity Center on Family Violence Lecture. The lecture, entitled, “Reducing lethal violence against women: Firearms, policy, and politics,” highlighted new research regarding lethal violence against women, the progress some states have made in combating this, and the obstacles that still have to be overcome. Dr. Sorenson recently joined the University of Pennsylvania after 20 years at the UCLA School of Public Health. A primary focus of her more than 100 publications is how gender, ethnicity, and nativity are related to risk of violence. In May 2007, she testified before a U.S. Congressional subcommittee about the effectiveness of laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of abusers. The Center’s founding benefactors, Evelyn Jacobs Ortner and Robert Ortner, were in attendance at the lecture and the reception that immediately followed.

Penn Kicks Off Major Fundraising Campaign
On Saturday, October 20, the University launched its major fundraising campaign. Making History: The Campaign for Penn will last five years and is slated to raise $3.5 billion across the University. Like all of Penn’s schools and centers, SP2 has set its own fundraising goal within the Campaign: $33 million. SP2’s Campaign, entitled The Campaign for Social Justice, will support graduate financial aid, endowed professorships, the Nonprofit/Nongovernmental Organization Leadership program, faculty and professional development, and research. Look for more information on the Campaign in SP2 Review, the School’s annual publication, or visit the University website at www.makinghistory.upenn.edu.

Faculty Notes

Our full- and part-time faculty are leaders in research and practice. They are experts in fields such as gerontology, child welfare, family violence, international social work, homelessness, mental health and health. This section of our newsletter will keep you up to date on the most recent research accomplishments of the School of Social Policy & Practice faculty.

Femida Handy, Ph.D., together with Dr. Menaz Kassam, received the Marie Weil Award for the best article published in the Journal of Community Practice in 2006, for Practice What You Preach? The Role of Rural NGOs in Women’s Empowerment. The award is designed to stimulate and recognize outstanding scholarship published in the Journal of Community Practice. Dr. Handy was presented the award on Sunday, October 28. It includes an honorarium of $1000 provided by Haworth Press, Inc.

Chad Lassiter, MSW’01, led an Operation Understanding trip to Africa and Israel this summer. Operation Understanding was started in 1985 in response to concerns about increasing tensions and decreasing dialogue between the African-American and Jewish communities.
[read more]

Joseph McBride, MSW, LCSW, BCD, part-time faculty member and Director of Continuing Education and Professional Development, was honored on October 26, 2007 at Syracuse University for his work with the Victims of Pan Am 103. The Pan Am group formed after the terrorist bombing of Flight 103 on December 21, 1988, in which 270 people – including 35 Syracuse students – died. Since 1989, McBride worked with the group, providing bereavement counseling, running emotional support groups, and providing support services at many functions (including the trial of the Libyan perpetrators). He was honored during part of Syracuse’s “Remembrance Week” ceremonies.

Susan Sorenson, Ph.D., was elected to Fellow Status in the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), Division 9 of the American Psychological Association.

Future Leaders

Spotlight on Crystal Lucas: Feldman Initiative Participant
SP2’s new Feldman Initiative supports the victims of Hurricane Katrina in Hancock County, Mississippi. This summer, Crystal Lucas, MSW candidate 2008, spent a month in Pearlington, MS with recent SP2 graduates Connie Hoe and Nahmee Yun conducting door to door visits. Read Crystal’s recent highlight in the PennCurrent. Click here to link to the Penn Current article.

SP2 Students Participate in Service Weekend
During the SP2 Service Weekend (October 20 – 21), students got out and got busy.
Click here for more information and to view photos.

Alumni News

Graduates of the School of Social Work and the School of Social Policy & Practice are leaders in the field, doing extraordinary things everyday as they fight for social justice and advocate for others. This section enables alumni to share their professional updates with their classmates and other alumni.

Alumni wishing to share professional accomplishments or announcements in the Alumni News section of Penn Matters can email submissions in paragraph format to alumnirelations@sp2.upenn.edu.

Sol Green, DSW’65, was honored by Yeshiva University and Wurzweiler School of Social Work at a special reception on June 27, 2007 at Yeshiva University in Jerusalem.

Upcoming Events

Field Center Community Symposium

Findings from the Multi-Site Evaluation of Children’s Advocacy Centers: Implications for Future CAC Development

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
8:30 – 10:30am
Penn Law School, Levy Conference Center
(3400 Chestnut Street)

Featuring Lisa Jones, PhD, Research Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of New Hampshire and Faculty at the Crimes Against Children Research Center (CCRC) at UNH. She has conducted research on child maltreatment and the community response to victims for the past ten years and has numerous publications and presentations on topics such as trends in child abuse, child abuse investigations, multidisciplinary teamwork, and Children’s Advocacy Centers.

Continuing Education Credit available for Social Workers and Attorneys: 2 Social Work CEUs ($20) or 2 CLE credits ($25) payable by check at the door.

Pre-register by 11/28/07 to fieldctr@sp2.upenn.edu or 215-573-5442

Save the Date! Alumni Weekend and Reunion 2008

May 16- 17

Registration will open in March. Alumni who will need hotel accommodations are encouraged to make reservations as soon as possible, as hotels fill up quickly during Alumni Weekend.

Editor's Note

We are always seeking to better serve our alumni and offer a more convenient way to share news with the Social Policy & Practice community. Penn Matters Online offers a way to highlight happenings and information in a timely manner. It acts as a supplement to the printed Penn Matters , which will still be mailed to you every September. We welcome your feedback and suggestions about Penn Matters and Penn Matters Online. Please email Alumni Relations with questions, comments, feedback, and suggestions. 

Penn Matters Online is created using Cascading Style Sheets according to W3C web standards for compliance and accessibility. It is accessible for Braille, aural, and handheld readers, and the layout is fully resizable through your Internet browser preferences. For your convenience when printing, all images will be omitted and the text will be set to a 12 point Arial font. Please contact Lizza Robb with any questions or suggestions.

Emily M. Brueckner, MSW’05
Editor, Penn Matters

Being a Penn alum has many benefits.  Each month, we highlight a benefit available to the alumni community.  A full list of alumni benefits can be found on the Penn Alumni site.

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