It seems hard to believe that another semester is almost over. What an exciting time it has been! Here are some of the highlights:
- Over this whole year, we had 324 social work students in field internships, along with 25 gerontology students, who worked a total of 167,000 hours, worth $2,500,000 to the San Diego social service community!
- Over 210 field instructors gave of their time to supervise students. We thank you!
- We had 2 students placed in Tijuana for internships, with a new agency added for next year.
- Our Field Department offered some exciting events—we had the Court Immersion Day, Life after Graduation workshop, Tour of the Border with Border Patrol, and the Military Social Work Panel.
- Like other Schools of Social Work across the country, we celebrated an All School Day with a conference on social justice which will be an on-going theme. We are looking for students to participate in next year’s planning committee, starting in Fall 2015.
- The School’s Advisory Board, made up of county and non-profit CEOs and directors, presented on a panel–the Executive Summit– about their professional work paths, hiring needs, and agency culture.
- Our Joint Doctoral Program in Interdisciplinary Substance Use Research was approved, with 4 students admitted for our Fall 2015 cohort.
- We had very active student organizations who hosted some incredible events. The Black Social Work Caucus held a conference featuring Dr. Terence Fitzgerald, who spoke about African American men in the United States.
- We had a new student organization be recognized—Phi Alpha, the social work honor society, with 31 members inducted.
- Tom Packard received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the student orgs from across our college. Ernie Zuniga, who coordinates our MSW program in Calexico, received the Outstanding Part-Time Faculty Award from students at the Imperial Valley Campus of SDSU. Congratulations to both!
- We hosted 20 visiting social work students with their faculty from Munich for 2 weeks and 8 social work students from Tijuana spent a day on our campus. Thanks to all of the students who graciously met with our visitors and toured them on campus.
- Our Alumni Association hosted a resume-writing workshop—thank you to them!
- Many of you joined me at one of the four “coffees” that I held, to meet students and discuss the program. If you couldn’t make it this year, I hope you can do so next year.
Please know that I have an open door policy. Our new Associate Director, Dr. Min, and I are happy to meet with you to discuss the program, social work careers, or your experiences as a student. We sent out the Student Engagement Survey as another way to connect with you. We will have the results from it in the fall. Have a wonderful summer!
