Dear Friends,

As the dean of the School of Education and Human Services, I welcome you to our website and the SEHS. As an institution preparing the professionals of today and tomorrow, we offer an array of undergraduate and graduate programs addressing the most pressing needs facing our communities in the areas of education, human resources development and counseling.

The challenges we face in Southeastern Michigan and in educational and service professions around the nation are not new. Current tensions in state and city government have roots in the ‘60s with rising deficits and unexamined racism; and, conflicts in teaching and service professions go back even further, from the founding of the Normal Institute in the 19th Century to the positioning of women in our society. We have yet to successfully negotiate issues of race, class, gender, sexuality and religion along with the overlaying themes of power, inequity, self-determination and teaching as a “legitimate” profession in the United States.

The School of Education and Human Services addresses these ubiquitous issues, by creating opportunities for all to succeed in this complex society. We offer our students an education that addresses the aforementioned issues with proper nuance and insight along with fresh perspectives on these perplexing concerns.

We are fundamentally committed to confront and eliminate conditions in our communities that preclude people deemed different or deviant, along with those who live on the margins of our society, from gaining an education and civil rights. We engender an unfettered search for principles and practices that alleviate and liberate us from these debilitative and limiting practices.

There are multiple avenues for our profession to address these issues. Our professors do so through commitment to our profession. When we teach well, conduct effective research and serve with an open mind and heart, we fulfill our mission as professors. The state’s current and future welfare should be our ongoing concern and, as we commit our energies to these current “crises,” we are more than merely professing; we become leaders inspiring new generation of student-citizens to create a better future.

Please join us at SEHS as we rededicate and fortify ourselves for the challenge ahead.

Together,

Louis B. Gallien Jr. 
Dean and Professor of Education
School of Education and Human Services