Biography

Harrison teaches research and diversity courses to undergraduate students at the School of Social Work, where she has been an part-time faculty member since 2011. She was formerly an associate director of research, evaluation and information dissemination at Wayne State University, where she directed or supported numerous evaluation and research projects regarding such topics as cultural competence, adoption, aging, managed care, consumer satisfaction, special education, personnel development, and welfare reform.
Harrison has more than 20 years of experience in evaluation of federal, state and locally funded projects and has received special recognition for her research in minority communities from the National Center for Cultural Competence and the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research. She obtained her doctoral degree in education evaluation and research and has extensive experience in conducting stakeholder-driven evaluation projects and engaging diverse communities in the process.

Harrison is a former elected board member of the Michigan Association for Evaluation, was an invited chair of the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council’s multicultural workgroup, and is a member of National Register’s “Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals.” She is now an independent consultant and president/CEO of the firm Public Research and Evaluation Services, which has provided evaluation support to a variety of organizations including Spaulding for Children, State of Michigan Department of Career Development, St. John Health Systems, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development and Human Synergistics.
In the area of cultural competence, Harrison directed a project funded by Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council that involved integrating cultural competence into human service and advocacy organizations. She has also authored several publications on the topic and provided training to researchers and evaluators regarding culturally competent methodologies.

 

Degrees and Certifications

• Ph.D., Education, Wayne State University
• M.A., Education, Wayne State University
• B.A., Education, Wayne State University

 

Teaching Interests

• Research methods
• Diversity

Areas of Expertise

• Research and evaluation
• Cultural competency

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