Iiris Happo will be adding depth to the Education program at UMN Morris with her interest in early and pre-primary childhood education and teacher training. Happo is a principal lecturer at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences, School of Professional Teacher Education, in northern Finland.
Happo’s visit is a joint effort between UMN Morris and the West Central Initiative Fund (WCI), a philanthropic and planning organization serving nine counties in West Central Minnesota.
Happo’s residency was originally scheduled to begin in the fall of 2019, but the program was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, she arrived in Morris a few weeks ago, just in time for new faculty orientation. She was excited to hear discussion of values, particularly regarding diversity, as part of those presentations. The campus commitment to diversity was a major part of what drew Happo to this opportunity.
