The College of Social Work’s new dean, Dean Jim Clark was introduced to a number of alumni, donors, community partners, faculty, staff and students at a welcome reception held in his honor. Below, are his remarks made at the welcome reception addressing the state of social work and the College of Social Work and his plans and initiatives for the future.

Remarks by Dean Jim Clark

Thank you Provost McRorie. I appreciate you being here and for making that very kind introduction. We deeply value your commitment to the College of Social Work and your dedication as the academic leader at Florida State University. I would also thank you for your personal kindness in helping me transition as a new Dean.

I also am very grateful to everyone for coming to the Reception this afternoon. You are alumni, donors, students, deans and directors, professors, professional staff, and esteemed colleagues from all across this campus. You are community leaders and community partners hailing from government service, not for profit public service, the private sector, which is so crucial to the delivery of services here in Florida, and even private sector business organizations. In brief, this room is a reflection of the many roles social workers play in our civic life, and the friends of the profession who support social work and benefit from social work.

Many of you have given time, treasure, and talent to the College, and have shared how meaningful your experience of the FSU College of Social Work has proven to be in your lives. As a new Dean of this College, I assure you, I will be turning to you for your continued good help as we work together to advance the College’s journey into the 21^stCentury.

These previous decades of loyalty, support, and participation serve as a testament to what I have been telling my friends and colleagues from around the country as one of the reasons I decided to join FSU and live in Tallahassee: There is a strong sense of community pride and loyalty that make great hospitality a way of life. I have been deeply impressed by your kindnesses and your desire to connect—a desire to connect that I have consistently found here on campus, in our local community, and throughout Florida.

*******

The challenges for the College and the profession have never been greater. When I was asked to write a piece for the College website called “Message from the Dean,” I turned to a leader who made a true difference in American society in the 1960’s. Shortly after being appointed U.S. Attorney General, and facing the crises generated by integration of universities and schools in the South, Robert Kennedy observed, “All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don’t. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity.”

We all know that the United States and the world are no more tranquil now than in 1961, and our time presents each of us with equally difficult and perplexing problems. But Kennedy demonstrated with his life that such times also can challenge us to be greater than we imagine possible, and courageous enough to seize the opportunities to make a difference in the world.

*******

Our people can help transform such daunting challenges into true opportunities.

The College is very fortunate to have wonderful specialized, adjunct, and tenure track educators who are helping form the next generation of social work professionals. Our clinical supervisors out in the Field are among the best in the Nation.

The research enterprise, while still in early stages of development, is even more promising and potentially impactful than I noted during my first visit to Campus. We have some of the brightest minds you can find anywhere and in any University. I am excited by the great work of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare, the Institute for Family Violence Studies, and the Multidisciplinary Evaluation and Consulting Center—all three are College entities that are making important contributions in social policy, program development, and clinical outcomes for vulnerable populations. I see us advancing their higher purposes with the development of a robust research agenda that allows us to synergize all of the College’s assets.

Our most important assets are our people. The College has a staff committed to serving students and faculty—and their commitment makes it possible to keep the lights onliterally and metaphorically! We are present certainly here in Tallahassee, but also throughout the state with our regionally based programs and services—and even throughout the Nation with our Distance Learning program—the first ever developed in American social work education. Our faculty, staff, and students EVERY DAY are serving the community, providing thousands of hours daily in direct service and consultation work, all of which are valued in the millions of dollars annually. And very importantly, the idealism and energy of our students amaze and inspire me. All of these people bring the moral energy that powers performance and pre-eminence. This is the intellectual and moral energy that will someday place us in the Top 25 of public university programs.

Your presence today signifies that YOU also embrace what Robert Coles calls “The Call of Service” in your own life. The University is a place where we think and investigate and analyze, AND it is also the place where we are encouraged to envision and to dream. Those who share the need to make a better world, and dream of a more just, life-giving, and creative society are attracted to the University as a place where such ideas, initiatives, and strategies can be clarified and crafted. In partnership with all of you, I hope that the College will reflect this kind of excellent academic culture that is effectively committed and involved in enriching the lives of people locally, state-wide, and across the nation and world. In my first month here there is strong evidence of the College’s impacts all of these levels, and I hope as Dean to lead in such a manner to enhance and deepen this work of the many previous decades.

*******

In closing, I thank you for being here. I look forward to getting to know each of you and joining our common purpose.

I would like to thank Dean Emeritus NICK MAZZA for his professional and personal kindness in helping me take the reins of this wonderful College. He has guided the College through many storms, and he has earned our enduring gratitude. (We will be celebrating Nick’s accomplishments this Fall so be on the lookout for that important event.) Let’s acknowledge Nick’s enduring contributions as a leader in social work education.

I also want to thank the people who made this event possible—Lauren Antista, Tracy Bestor, May Bolden, Ashley Clark, Dana DeBoer, Rose Kim, Colette Podgorski, Nicole Ramos, DeAnn Scarborough, Angela Shrum, Blaine Sineath, and Tawanna Williams. Please join me in thanking them.

I’d like to recognize my wife, Liz Croney and our daughter Meg. (Our daughter Pearson is studying in Paris, France and Cameron is a junior at the University of South Carolina-Beaufort.) Liz is a professional leader in the area of child mental health and child welfare in Kentucky. She is responsible for the true dissemination of evidence-based practices in service to children and families. She was recognized for this last year by her induction into the University of Kentucky’s College of Social Work Alumni Hall of Fame. She is also the person who encouraged me to take on the FSU leadership challenges, even though this is requiring considerable personal sacrifice.

In closing, I would like to remember my parents, Rose and Bill Clark, who passed away early in 2015. I will always be grateful for their guidance and love. I know they are with me as I begin this new endeavor.

Again, thanks for being here this evening.