Category: News

Kim Megrath knows what the present moment’s biggest questions are, because she is helping find the answers. So here goes: Do you have an appointment for a shot yet? How did you manage to get one?

Kim and a group of volunteers are trying to make that appointment process, if not less time consuming, at least more understandable, for Chester residents.

“It uniquely made sense for someone like me to do this. I’ve built teams and systems for health and social services,” Kim explains.

She has a doctorate in special education/early intervention from the University of Oregon as well as a master of business administration degree from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s degree from New York University.

As the pandemic shut people out of speech therapy options, a quick switch to teletherapy allowed a vital community clinic at the UO to stay open and kept the students who staff it on track for graduation.

 “We remained the only lifeline for some clients who had services in other areas stop or shut down, and we didn’t decrease volume at all,” said Jennifer Meyer, the director of clinical education at the HEDCO Clinic’s Speech-Language-Hearing Center. “In fact, we’re serving more clients than before the pandemic hit. As things were shutting down, we were ramping up.”

In Coos and Curry counties, schools are taking on a pilot project to address trauma and the social-emotional needs of students.

The project is being led by the University of Oregon, with South Coast ESD in partnership with the Oregon Research Schools Network, utilizing what is learned to implement the program throughout the state.

Dr. Carole Dorham-Kelly has been appointed president and CEO of Rubicon Programs, a Richmond-based nonprofit with an almost 50-year history focusing on workforce development and promoting economic mobility in the East Bay. She previously served as Rubicon’s chief program officer and also as a leader in wellness services. Dorham-Kelly takes over for Jane Fischberg, who held the role since 2009 and started with Rubicon in 1997.

She earned her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of Oregon and is deeply committed to reducing mental health stigmas and improving overall wellness in families and communities of color. 

Applications to transfer schools in the Eugene 4J and Springfield School Districts are open. But the process of school choice can lead to segregated and underfunded schools.

Jerry Rosiek is a professor at the University of Oregon who studies school segregation and institutional racism in schools. Since school funding is partially based on the number of students, he said resources typically end up following kids who come from more privileged households.

A unique program that teaches emotional literacy to first and second graders in Lane County is looking for families with young babies to volunteer in its revamped, virtual program.

“Roots of Empathy supports emotional health and mental health and well-being by creating a safe space for children to process and talk about their emotions,” says Sara Loveless, the program implementation coordinator for Roots of Empathy in Lane County. “Students observe behaviors in babies and then are able to flip it back on themselves and recognize those behaviors around them.”

Roots of Empathy is a program of 90by30 and the Center for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect at COE.

Given the change of course that has happened in the world, we wanted to provide expert opinions on what aspiring graduates can do to start off their careers in an uncertain economic climate. We wanted to know what skills will be more important, where the economy is doing relatively well, and if there will be any lasting effects on the job market.

We spoke to professors and experts from several universities and companies to get their opinions on where the job market for recent graduates is heading, as well as how young graduates entering the industry can be adequately prepared. Here are their thoughts.

Julie Alonzo Ph.D is a Research Associate Professor and Co-Director of Behavioral Research and Teaching at COE.

College of Education assistant professor Ilana Umansky is part of a team of researchers exploring how to improve educational opportunities, experiences and outcomes among secondary school-aged, English learner-classified students.

Umansky will work with colleagues from Oregon State University, the University of California, Los Angeles and the UO to examine English learners’ access to core curriculum in middle and high school and different ways to improve that access. Umansky, along with co-principal investigators Karen Thompson of OSU and Li Cai of UCLA, will conduct the research using data from four states.

Catherine and Francis are excited to welcome Deanna Linville, Ph.D, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of Oregon. She joins the podcast to talk about the importance and value of including support systems — family, chosen family, friends, and caretakers — in the treatment and recovery of eating disorders, noting that the family as a whole experiences the eating disorder, not only the individual.