Julia Henly, Assistant Professor in the School of Social Service Administration

Julia Henly, recipient of this year’s School of Social Service Administration Award for Excellence in Teaching, said the satisfaction she gets from teaching comes from engaging others in “material I care deeply about.

“SSA students are a particular pleasure to teach because they bring a certain relevance to their work that pushes me to consider the practical as well as the theoretical usefulness of the material I cover in class. I can only hope that my students take away from the courses I teach a fraction of what I learn from them,” said Henly, Assistant Professor in SSA.

Henly’s fields of special interest include urban poverty, social welfare policy, family and employment management strategies of low-income parents, formal and informal helping systems of economically disadvantaged populations, and stereotyping and discrimination.

Her students praise her for the attention she gives them inside and outside of class.

“I came to know Professor Henly as her advisee and student in her Social Welfare Policies and Programs course she taught in the Fall Quarter,” said student Scott Petersen. “Having been away from academia for 10 years, the transition into graduate school was not an easy one for me; the guidance and support I received from Professor Henly was essential to making this transition smooth and successful.”

Petersen said he is impressed by Henly’s classroom style. He said she has excellent command of the material, an ability to facilitate discussion and a “willingness to tolerate and encourage the ambiguity and uncertainty that is so often present in social policy.”

Student Robin Tillotson praised Henly for her dedication and commitment. She said Henly frequently meets with students after class to help them deepen their understanding of the concepts she teaches. “She exudes excitement and genuine caring when working with students,” Tillotson said.

Edward Lawlor, Dean and Associate Professor in the School of Social Service Administration, said letters of recommendation for the award praised Henly’s classroom work and her advising, mentoring and support of students. “Julia received outstanding letters from both masters and doctoral students,” he said. “She brings a total commitment to her teaching, both in the classroom and in her tireless advising and mentoring of individual students.”