College of Education and Social Services at UVM

Social Work major Maya Auger has earned the prestigious Simon Family Public Research Fellowship! The award will support Maya’s community-based research in partnership with Lyndon Institute, an independent school in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Learn more about the CESS Scholar of Distinction program: uvm.edu/cess/cess-undergraduate-scholar-distinction-program; and the Simon Fellowship: uvm.edu/honorscollege/four/simon-family-public-research-fellowship.

All are invited to tune in to Dr. Kelly Hamshaw’s keynote address for the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty next week! Register now at go.uvm.edu/hamshaw to receive the Zoom link. Hamshaw is a researcher in UVM’s Center for Rural Studies and a faculty member in Community Development and Applied Economics.

Christine Proulx Conferred Fellow Status by NCFR

We are excited and proud to announce that the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) has conferred its prestigious Fellow status on Christine M. Proulx, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Counseling, Human Development and Family Science at the University of Vermont.

Read the article here:

https://www.ncfr.org/news/christine-proulx-conferred-fellow-status-ncfr

Congratulations to Educational Leadership and Policy Studies PhD Student Mandy Chesley-Park for being selected to participate in the National Rural Higher Education Research Center’s inaugural cohort of the Rural Research Mentorship Network out of

Meet the five UVM students who have accepted SHECP internships for Summer 2026! Every summer, the SHECP internship places students in anti-poverty organizations across the country for an 8-week experience. These talented UVM students were selected for their openness to new experiences and extraordinary commitment to economic justice!

Ally Daigle is a Microbiology major; Isabella Beauty is a Biology and Psychological Science double major; Sofia Calzone is a Public Health Sciences major.

Sophia Flanagan earned the second-year SHECP internship in Policy & Non-Profit Leadership. She is a Public Health Sciences major with Food Systems and Epidemiology minors.

Henley Lynch was awarded the SHECP Post Undergraduate Fellowship, having interned in summer 2023. She is a Global Studies major with an Economics minor.

Learn more about SHECP at go.uvm.edu/shecp!

CESS EDLP PhD candidate, Elizabeth Adams, is spending four months in Australia as a visiting academic at the University of Queensland learning innovative approaches to clinical education in the health sciences and researching the impact of mentoring on new clinical faculty as they transition from clinical practice to higher education. She returns to Burlington in June and will bring back a wealth of information about the use of clinical simulation in student education, interprofessional education and practice in the health sciences, and an international perspective on leadership and staff management at a research intensive university. To learn more about new clinical faculty experiences in academia see her recently published article, co-authored with her PhD advisor, Dr. Matthew McCluskey: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15554589251394030

The CESS Our Common Ground Spotlight for April is Cal Aguiar! We celebrate Cal for embracing value of Respect.

Cal is a senior majoring in Social Work. “The social work program is all about community and connection,” he says, including a deep respect for differences in identities and experiences. Cal is a non-traditional student and single parent. In his coursework, Cal has valued critical reflection and has grown his appreciation for complex experiences and identities. Currently interning at Howard Center, Cal chose social work for its “broad sense of direction. I wanted the ability to explore multiple avenues after graduation.”

After graduating in May with a Bachelor’s degree, Cal will continue on to UVM’s Master of Counseling program to become a school counselor. He explains, “I didn’t have the proper role models to help get me through high school. I want to be a counselor who makes sure students are getting their needs met.”

Each month, CESS celebrates a member of our community for their exceptional teaching, practice, research, leadership, community development and/or service related to UVM’s Our Common Ground values – respect, integrity, innovation, openness, justice, and responsibility. Learn more at uvm.edu/president/our-common-ground

Which student, faculty, staff, alumnus, or community partner would you like to recognize? Submit a name at go.uvm.edu/SpotlightCESS !

For the 2025-26 academic year, the University explores the future of higher education. Changing demographics, upended federal and state policy, new technologies, evolving student and family expectations, uncertain job markets, rising mistrust of the academy, lessons from Covid, technological innovations, and disagreement about the very purpose of an education all raise questions about higher education’s ends and the means to those ends.

March 24 - Distinguished Burack Lecture with UVM's Jason Garvey discussing "Who Has the Power to Change Higher Education?"

The CESS Our Common Ground Spotlight for February is Ryan Heraty! Heraty is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Ed.D. graduate program. He is also a district superintendent in Central Vermont. Heraty is studying the education finance system in Vermont so he can “help legislators make good decisions and help the public really understand our system better.” He says his UVM professors motivated him to use research for positive social impact. As a school administrator, Heraty has a “personal mission [to] ensure that all students have access to endless opportunities.” Drawing on his early career in special education, Heraty says, “When you do the right thing for the most vulnerable population of students, it's good for everyone.” Each month, CESS celebrates a member of our community for their exceptional teaching, practice, research, leadership, community development and/or service related to UVM’s Our Common Ground values – respect, integrity, innovation, openness, justice, and responsibility. Learn more at uvm.edu/president/our-common-ground . Which student, faculty, staff, alumnus, or community partner would you like to recognize? Submit a name at go.uvm.edu/SpotlightCESS !

Bold ideas. Shared values. A future shaped by purpose.

UVM has launched its new strategic plan, Green, Gold, and Bold, guided by four pillars focused on student connection, values-driven learning, access and opportunity, and institutional excellence.

At the College of Education and Social Services, these pillars reflect core elements of our work—educating future teachers, counselors, and human service professionals and engaging with communities in meaningful ways. We’re energized by this shared vision and look forward to exploring how our work aligns with the plan as campus-wide planning continues.

🔗 Strategic plan: https://www.uvm.edu/president/strategicplan

🎥 Video overview: