UW–Madison researchers in September were awarded a four-year, $10.4 million federal contract to launch a national center to expand and improve the country’s school-based mental health workforce.
The winning proposal from Department of Educational Psychology faculty members Stephen Kilgus, Katie Eklund, and Andy Garbacz — co-directors of the School Mental Health Collaborative (SMHC) — establishes a Mental Health Evaluation, Training, Research, and Innovation Center for Schools (METRICS). The proposal was issued in response to a U.S. Department of Education call to create a “Mental Health Personnel Technical Assistance Center.”
The new center will help schools better serve students — who are increasingly reporting mental health concerns — by providing tools to strengthen the pipeline and training of mental health professionals. The new center partners with collaborators at the University of South Florida, the University of Iowa, and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“This new center will allow us to connect with schools, districts, and universities across the nation, building the capacity needed to promote youth mental health,” says Kilgus.
— By Karen Rivedal, WCER Communications
Nelson uncovers roots of debate over higher education for the public good
Should institutions of higher education receive financial support from the government? Is higher education a public or a private good? How do institutions of higher education handle periods of heightened polarization? These questions have deep historical roots, according to a pair of new books from Adam Nelson.
The Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Educational Policy Studies and History examines the beginnings of American higher education from the late colonial period through the war for national independence and into the early 19th century.
“I hope these books, which blend the history of higher education with new histories of capitalism and democracy, will help readers understand the political economy of knowledge — basically, the relationship between political interests, economic forces, and education — in early America,” Nelson says.
“Exchange of Ideas: The Economy of Higher Education in Early America,” was released on Dec. 5. “Capital of Mind: The Idea of a Modern American University,” came out on Jan. 5.
Project provides horse-assisted services to Alzheimer’s, dementia patients
A new program will provide adaptive horseback riding to people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and their caregivers, in Dane County.
Beth Fields, an assistant professor in the School of Education’s Department of Kinesiology, will help lead the program, called Riding in the Moment. Fields and her team were awarded a $250,000 Community Impact Grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program to launch the program this spring at Three Gaits Therapeutic Horsemanship Center in Stoughton.
Over three years, the initiative aims to provide services to 42 Alzheimer’s and dementia patients and their families in Dane County, and will include a concurrent evaluation of the program’s implementation and impact on participants.