The Dean's Update

December 2005

Greetings!

As in any ever-changing community, the social, behavioral, and economic sciences at Michigan State University continue to grow and to evolve. This fall, we welcomed the Department of Family and Child Ecology (FCE) into the college. The transition is part of the university's ongoing efforts to align programs and units of the liberal arts and sciences at MSU, and family and child ecology faculty and staff are engaged in several cross-unit collaborations with social work, sociology, and psychology colleagues. The Student Affairs office is working to integrate FCE students into the college's advising, career, and study abroad offerings to provide excellent learning opportunities for all of our students.

This issue of the Dean's Update features the Forensic Science Program in the School of Criminal Justice. Scientists in this interdisciplinary program bring together anthropology, chemistry, biology, and entomology as well as social science theory and law to help solve crimes and serve justice. Faculty and students in this nationally recognized program work with laboratories, law enforcement, and homeland security agencies to develop the science of criminal evidence. In the process, they are preparing a new generation of scholars and practitioners.

The Alumni Profile highlights Cathleen McAnneny, a 1995 alumna of the Department of Geography, which is celebrating fifty years of excellence at Michigan State University. Dr. McAnneny, who earned her Ph.D. at MSU, recently shared her thoughts about her MSU experience with Assistant Director of Development Melanie McGuire.

Thank you for your continued interest and support of the great things happening at MSU's College of Social Science. My very best wishes to you for the holiday season and a wonderful 2006!

Sincerely,

Marietta L. Baba
Dean and Professor