News Release — For info contact Lori Melton, [email protected], 218-726-8830.
Priscilla Day, professor and head of the Department of Social Work at the University of Minnesota Duluth, is a recipient of the 2016 President’s Award for Outstanding Service.
This prestigious award is presented each spring and recognizes exceptional service to the University of Minnesota, its schools, colleges, departments, and service units by an active or retired faculty or staff member. Recipients of this award have gone far beyond their regular duties and have demonstrated tremendous commitment to the university community.
UM President Eric W. Kaler praised Day for her accomplishments, “Your excellence is a model for your colleagues and co-workers to emulate. True to the mission of this great land-grant institution, you have done more than your share to make the University of Minnesota one of the preeminent institutions in the nation.”
Jill Pinkney Pastrana, dean of the College of Education and Human Service Professions, said, "Priscilla reminds us all of the importance of working on behalf of the most vulnerable members of our society. She is a strong supporter of cultural sensitivity and competence at all levels of the university and throughout her regional service.”
Dennis Falk, professor of social work, said, “Priscilla has concentrated on child welfare disparities by understanding how American Indian and other children of color are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system and by proposing and implementing solutions to address this disproportionality. One of the key professional values in the social work program is social justice, and Priscilla exemplifies this value in all of the service that she provides."
Priscilla Day's Background
In addition to teaching and serving as department head, Priscilla serves a director for the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare. She wrote “Bridging Our Understanding: American Indian Family Preservation” for the Minnesota Department of Human Service and provides training on that subject. Her areas of research are American Indian family preservation and culturally competent practice. Day is an Anishinabe tribal member enrolled at the Leech Lake reservation.
About the Award
The University of Minnesota President's Award for Outstanding Service was established in 1997 to recognize faculty and staff (current or retired) who have provided exceptional service to the University, its schools, colleges, departments and service units. Such service must have gone well beyond the regular duties of a faculty or staff member, and demonstrate unusual commitment to the University community.
Two events that honor recipients of the Outstanding Service award will be held in Minneapolis. The first is at a University of Minnesota Board of Regents meeting on Friday, May 13, 2016 and the second is at a reception on June 16, 2016.