Associate professor joins grant to prepare Detroit students for health care professions

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Dr. Wanda Hadley, associate professor of educational leadership in higher education at Western Michigan University, will be joining the grant project, The Detroit Tri-County Social Work Health Career Opportunity Academy, to support students in the Detroit Tri-County area. The grant will be used to move community college and undergraduate students in the area to health care majors/programs at WMU and Wayne State University.

"The Detroit Tri-County Social Work Health Career Opportunity Academy aims to cultivate a diverse pipeline of culturally competent health and social work professionals to serve in the area," explains Hadley. "The academy aids community college and undergraduate students from disadvantaged backgrounds through academic, economic and social support. Through structured programs, the academy equips them with success strategies, health care disparities knowledge and social work health care career awareness."

Selected by Dr. Bridget Weller, principal investigator and professor of social work at Wayne State, Hadley will be a member of the interdisciplinary consulting team to oversee the $3.25 million federal grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The team will meet throughout the year to monitor the progress of the grant and to share ideas on improving the program. 

Throughout her career, Hadley has built an international reputation conducting research about students with learning disabilities and their persistence in the college environment. In addition to being a licensed counselor, she has worked at multiple universities as director of counseling services, director of disability services and director of academic support services where her responsibilities focused on student retention and student success efforts.

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