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News from the Wayne State Mortuary Science Program • Fall 2019 Updates from the program director
In 2020, our program will graduate its first class of students who took their courses completely online. While graduating classes were traditionally composed of students from metro Detroit and around Michigan, we now have students from Ohio, Minnesota, Arizona and Idaho. Some students elect to take courses online because work or family commitments don’t allow them to be on campus. Other students simply prefer to learn in their own space and at their own pace. Either way, we are here to serve them. Online courses are not for everyone – that is why we maintain our traditional face-to-face program as well. Students entering the program can choose traditional, online or a combination of both. I often receive the question of how someone can learn the applied aspects of our profession by taking courses online. We are very fortunate to have a network of funeral homes and funeral directors who are dedicated to serving as clinical preceptors for our program. Throughout their studies in the program, students are placed in funeral homes to observe and participate in funeral arrangements, funeral services, embalming and preparation and all of the other tasks that funeral directors complete every day. Clinical sites are visited, provided training and guidelines and sign an affiliation agreement with Wayne State University. Our students provide regular feedback about their practicum experiences and gain invaluable experiences that we cannot replicate in a classroom. We track students as they complete their clinical tasks and a member of the faculty certifies minimum embalming competency at the end of the program. While there are some advantages to on-campus embalming labs, there are also advantages to students embalming at funeral homes. Student feedback on embalming at clinical sites has been positive, with students citing one-on-one instruction with preceptors and cases being representative of what they would expect in practice as providing significant educational value. I am proud of the standing of our program at Wayne State, but I am mindful that there is always room for improvement. We are committed to consistently taking an honest look at our program and developing strategies to make things better. If you have a comment, question or recommendation, please let me know. I truly appreciate all of the efforts by our faculty, preceptors and members of the funeral service community in preparing our students and bettering our profession. Mark T. Evely Alumnus elected to Michigan Legislature
An advocate for education and funeral service, one of Rep. Wakeman’s first official acts as a legislator was to introduce House Bill 4437, which would require a bachelor’s degree for initial mortuary science licensure and four hours of annual continuing education. More Mortuary Science alumni news
Student spotlight: Meet the current class officers!Class of 2020
Class of 2021
Faculty accomplishmentsSharon Gee-Mascarello was appointed by the American Board of Funeral Service Education as editor of the sixth edition of the textbook, Embalming: History, Theory and Practice. Sharon will be updating content throughout the text, including adding new, full color photographs. Dominick Astorino has organized a mission to Kenya where he will improve public health by teaching embalming practices and providing the nation with its first set of embalming equipment. Read more Endowed scholarshipsThe Mortuary Science Program would like to extend its appreciation to the following for their leadership in creating these new endowed scholarships that will support our students for many years to come.
We also want to recognize our existing scholarships that have benefitted mortuary science students over the years.
In 2018, students were awarded over $30,000 in combined scholarships, and we want to see that number grow. Scholarships encourage students to achieve their goals. For more information about creating a scholarship fund, contact Denise Thomas at deniselei@wayne.edu or 313-577-1095. Join us ThursdayMortuary Science Open House
Free parking will be available in Lot 33, located on Woodward Avenue between Palmer and Ferry streets. For more information, contact Anita Knight at cc7068@wayne.edu.
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This marks the 80th year of the Mortuary Science Program at Wayne State University. When Dr. Walter Pool started the program on East Grand Boulevard in 1939, he never imagined that students could take classes online and that funeral directors could conduct business from miles away using a smartphone. I’m sure though, that he did expect that the program would change and improve over time in order to meet the educational needs of students and the professional expectations of funeral service.
Rodney Wakeman, Class of 1988, has been elected to the Michigan House of Representatives. Wakeman, who owns Wakeman Funeral Home with his brother Brian, represents part of Saginaw County in the 94th House District. Rep. Wakeman serves on the Wayne State University Mortuary Science Advisory Committee and previously served as President of the Michigan Funeral Directors Association and Chair of the Board of Examiners in Mortuary Science.
Let's celebrate!|
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