A Welcome from the Dean

It is a privilege to welcome you to the School of Social Work at the University of Georgia and to our dynamic and stimulating learning community for students seeking BSW, MSW, MSW/JD, MNPO, and PhD degrees. The University of Georgia is the oldest public institution in the state providing professional social work education. Our School began in 1964 and since then has graduated nearly 5,000 students who work in a variety of settings making this a better, more humane, and just world for all. U. S. News and World Report ranks the UGA School of Social Work 28th among schools of social work in the nation and third in the southeast. And in the fall 2006 issue of the Journal of Social Work Education our School is ranked among the top ten schools of social work in the nation for faculty publications.

The School’s mission is to prepare social work leaders and scholars to advance the cause of social justice. The School is committed to academic excellence and diversity across its various programs and is engaged in promoting individual, family, and community empowerment through its involvement in a variety of research and teaching initiatives, community-based organizations, and advocacy groups.

The BSW program prepares our graduates as entry-level, professional social work practitioners. The MSW program offers two concentrations—Family Centered Social Work Practice and Community Empowerment and Program Development—to help students develop specific competencies across several fields of practice. Our School also offers a joint degree, the MSW/JD, with the UGA School of Law. The PhD program provides the professional social worker the opportunity to gain advanced training in scientific research and program evaluation skills, for the purposes of developing knowledge that promotes social justice. The School offers a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Organizations (MNPO). The MNPO program provides an array of opportunities for students seeking careers as leaders in nonprofit organizations.

To enhance academic learning and practice expertise, the School offers several certificate programs designed to prepare students for leadership roles in social work practice. Certificate programs include Marriage and Family Therapy, Gerontology, and Nonprofit Management. The School is also a recipient of a DFCS IV-E Child Welfare Practice Grant, a Training Georgia’s Family Independence Staff Grant, and a Babies Can’t Wait Grant. These grants provide specialized educational opportunities to BSW and MSW students, as well as to DFACS employees.

The School of Social Work is a leader in the area of study-abroad programs and offers several study abroad courses that include opportunities in Argentina, Ghana, Ireland, and Mexico. Several of these programs have a specific social work focus on culture and history of the country, special topics seminars, and orientation to social service agencies.

The School’s BSW and MSW programs are fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and the School has an outstanding academic reputation. Our faculty have been recognized within the past two years for their innovative scholarship with several prestigious awards and honors, which include a John A. Hartford Faculty Scholar, a National Science Foundation Grant, the Canadian Cyber Psychology Award for New Investigator Scientific Merit, and a Telly Award honoring outstanding civil rights documentary film production.

The School has two endowed professorships and is establishing a third. The first is the Thomas M. “Jim” Parham Professorship of Family and Children Studies: Issues of Social Policy, named for Jim Parham, former professor and White House special assistant for intergovernmental relations in President Carter’s administration. Our second endowed professorship is the Pauline M. Berger Memorial Professorship in Family and Child Welfare, named for Pauline Berger, former professor, specializing in practice with families and children. I am pleased to report that it is our goal to complete by year’s end the fundraising for our third endowed professorship, the Donald L. Hollowell Professorship of Social Justice and Civil Rights Studies, which will honor the legacy of one of our nation’s greatest lawyers and advocates for social justice.

Thank you for your interest in the School of Social Work, and I hope the information provided on this website will assist you in gaining additional insights into our various programs.

Maurice C. Daniels

Dean and Professor