Around Webster: Equity in Education Summit speakers; Condon and Hubenschmidt; Stiles paper

Flewellen, Finch, Harris to Present at Equity in Missouri Higher Ed Summit

Vincent C. Flewellen, Joanna Finch, and Elemuelle Harris have been selected to present at this year's Equity in Missouri Higher Education Summit, on their proposed topic, "Increasing Opportunity Throughout the Student Life Cycle." Their presentation will take place virtually on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, from 9:50 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. The conference is presented by the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.  

Flewellen is Webster's chief diversity officer; Finch is associate vice president for new student enrollment; Harris is associate director of diversity recruitment.

Condon, Hubenschmidt Present at MOBIUS

Webster University librarians were well-represented among presenters at the 2021 MOBIUS Consortium Annual Conference in June.

Eileen Condon, dean of University Libraries, presented in her role as outgoing president of MOBIUS. She and other MOBIUS board officers reviewed progress on the organization's completed strategic plan and introduced the new strategic plan in a presentation, "Celebrating Our Progress & Anticipating Our Future: MOBIUS Strategic Plan Review."

Condon and Holly Hubenschmidt, head of Instruction, Liaison, and Research Services, shared Webster University Library’s efforts around open educational resources and textbook alternatives in “Getting Started with Textbook Affordability.”

Having completed her one-year term as president of the MOBIUS Consortium Board of Directors, Condon now begins a one-year term as Past President. MOBIUS is a multistate collaborative partnership of 76 libraries providing access to shared information resources, services and expertise. Users at participating institutions, including Webster, have access to a collection of 29 million items from academic, public, and special libraries, with delivery in three to four days via a courier system.

Stiles Statement on Unaccompanied Minors at the U.S. Border in GNPHR Bulletin

Deborah Stiles co-authored a position statement with Jessica Walsh in the Global Network of Psychologists for Human Rights Bulletin, June-July 2021 issue.

Their statement, “Low Cost Interventions to Mitigate High Cost Emotional Tolls: Improving Conditions When Unaccompanied Minors Enter U.S. Border Government Custody,” says improvements in facilities and policies, procedures, and practices at the border are significant, but are not adequate in addressing the mental health and well-being of unaccompanied children.

They argue that additional considerations such as music, food, culturally and linguistically sensitive services, and psychological first aid would be seemingly small changes that could significantly reduce the risk to minors in these situations.

Stiles is a professor in the Applied Educational Psychology and School Psychology programs in the School of Education.