SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK

The School of Social Work prepares professional social work practitioners and scholars who understand, respect and effectively serve the diverse ethnic and cultural groups of the Southwest and elsewhere.  Its graduates are committed to evidence-based practice and to social change in the service of social justice.  The School's dynamic faculty and doctoral students engage in innovative research to advance knowledge about culturally competent and effective practice, preventing or ameliorating social problems, and achieving greater social justice.

QUICK FACTS

• Tenured/Tenure Track (4 in Tucson)                       37
• Lecturers                                                                  4
• Academic Professionals                                            5
• BSW students (53 in Tucson)                               416
• MSW students (139 in Tucson)                            608
• PhD students                                                        22
• Field agencies (100 of these in Tucson)              715
• Addressable alumni                                          5,888

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

• Bachelor of Social Work (BSW)
• Master of Social Work (MSW)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work (Ph.D.)
• Child Welfare Training Program
• Social welfare undergraduate minor
• Advanced Standing Master of Social Work
• All degrees except the Ph.D. are offered at both Phoenix and Tucson locations

CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS

• Assessment of Integrative Health Modalities*
• Gerontology*
• Latino Cultural & Linguistic Competency*
• Treating Animal Abuse Professional Development (non-credit, on-line)

• Graduate Certificate in Trauma and Bereavement

*Graduate, for-credit, programs

RESEARCH AREAS

• Asset building in the Southwest Latino community

• Cultural diversity and acculturation

• Early childhood intervention
• Effectiveness of social work practice and programs

• Forensic social work

• Human-animal bond
• Improving outcomes of individuals in criminal justice system
• Improving the well-being of elders
• Well-being of Indian communities
• Mental health and holistic health
• Prevention of youth risk behaviors
• Poverty
• Treatment engagement and retention issues

RECENT MAJOR PUBLICATIONS

• “Contemporary policy challenges for Indian child welfare”
•  “Ethnicity vs. ethnic identity:  What predicts substance use norms and behaviors?”
• “Acculturation, stress and depression among elderly Asian American immigrants”
• “Acculturation status and substance use prevention with Mexican and Mexican-American youth”
• “Culturally competent intervention with families of Latino youth at-risk of drug abuse”

MAJOR EXTERNAL FUNDERS

• Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Arizona State Department of Economic Security
• Centers for Disease Control
• Hartford Foundation
• National Institutes of Health

FACULTY OUTREACH AND SERVICE

• Liaison to the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona for early childhood intervention research
• Education Committee of the Arizona Mental Health Association Chairperson
• AZ Public Policy Committee, National Association of Social Workers Chairperson
• Tapestry Fund, Arizona Community Foundation, program committee and member, advisory committee
• Center for American Progress HOPE, national poverty initiative task force member
• Child and Family Services Advisory Board
• Arizona Practice Effectiveness Committee
• National University of Ireland Board of Regents
• National Director of the Society for Spirituality and Social Work and editor of peer-reviewed Society for Spirituality and Social Work Forum
• United for a Fair Economy board member
• Rural Finance Development Corporation board member
• National Association of Social Workers board member
• Expert for the Superior Court of Arizona Office of the Court Monitor
• Tucson faculty and students working with the U of A on Nuestra Salud/Neustra Comunidad, an interdisciplinary health and community development border project
• Phoenix Women’s Commission