UMKC School of Education, Social Work and Psychological Sciences

We can't wait to see our students back on campus next week!

Psychology and honors student Hadley Cotton took her studies abroad this summer in beautiful Lyon, France! The six-week study abroad experience allowed her to study at Université Lumière Lyon II and immerse herself in the rich culture and history of the city.

Earlier this year, 2024 elementary education graduate Erica Burnett received the Kansas Horizon Award, recognizing outstanding first-year teachers, and Master of Arts in Teaching student Marcie Gragg continues to make an impact while student teaching and serving as a teacher of record at Raytown High School.

Burnett will advance to regional competition for consideration among the state's top 32 teachers, while Gragg's classroom has been recognized through multiple visits from district leadership. Congratulations to both on these well-deserved achievements!

The Critical Materials Crossroads Engine, led by UMKC, has been named a winner of the National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines award. This $160 million award is the largest grant ever awarded to UMKC, the UM System and the state of Missouri.

As Kansas City’s Carnegie R1 university, Critical Materials Crossroads will position Kansas City as a national hub for innovation, processing, manufacturing and workforce development in the critical materials sector. We are so proud of Eric Camburn, Ph.D., Karin Chang, Ph.D. and Jenny Frenzel from The Urban Education Research Center, who created the enterprise plan to help shape how Critical Materials Crossroads works in practice. They brought stakeholders together to identify challenges and develop practical, people-focused solutions that helped improve workflows and support the project’s overall success.

Learn more about Critical Materials Crossroads: https://www.umkc.edu/news/posts/2026/july/umkc-led-critical-materials-crossroads-engine-selected-for-160-million-nsf-award.html

As Katherine Williams (B.A. ’11, M.A. ’14) prepares to pursue her doctorate at UMKC this fall, the former Division I track and field student-athlete continues to lead with purpose as the athletic director at St. Teresa's Academy, where she mentors the next generation of student-athletes.

Williams also proudly serves on the Roo Athletic Alliance, representing track and field and helping strengthen connections between past and present Roos. Her favorite full-circle moment is watching the UMKC Track and Field team practice outside her office window, a daily reminder of the experiences that shaped her path.

We're proud to celebrate a Roo whose passion for leadership, education and athletics continues to make an impact.

Earlier this year, Assistant Professor Huang Wu, Ph.D., was selected as the winner of the 2026 AERA Division A Emerging Scholar Award. The American Educational Research Association's Division A promotes research that defines and critiques the tenets of educational leadership, educational organizations and how leadership impacts the administration of PK-12 educational spaces and their communities. Congratulations!

Hope our students are enjoying their summer as much as we miss them.🔆

We are happy to share that Assistant Teaching Professor Cindy McDonald, Ph.D., was selected by students as the Honors Faculty Member of the Year. This recognition was a well-deserved expression of gratitude from our students to Cindy for her years of dedicated support of Honors students. She was honored and celebrated at the Honors Graduation Ceremony. Congratulations!

Meet Benjamin Lewis, a UMKC student turning creativity into a career through the university’s 4+1 teaching program. By combining his passion for art with hands-on classroom experience, Benjamin is preparing to inspire the next generation of young artists — and doing it all on an accelerated path to earning his master’s degrees.

Learn more about Benjamin: https://www.umkc.edu/news/posts/2026/may/inside-umkcs-4+1-teaching-program-how-benjamin-lewis-is-preparing-to-become-an-art-teacher.html