Alumna Pat Lager and the Establishment of FSU Social Work International Programs

International Programs at the FSU College of Social Work began with efforts of one faculty member, Patricia (Pat) Lager (MSW, 1983, BA 1967). Pat transitioned from work in the areas of mental health and child welfare education, teaching at Florida A&M University before being hired by [then] Dean Ray Bardill. “I graduated from FSU, so I’ve always loved this university and the College of Social Work. It’s a passionate program,” Pat related about taking on her first academic role at FSU as a part-time field faculty placing students in their internships.

Her involvement with international studies began when the FSU London Study Center opened in 1993. The director of FSU’s International Programs encouraged her to begin a study abroad program for social work students. At the time, she noticed an emerging emphasis on globalization and international awareness at universities. Pat recognized that social work practitioners and professionals could also benefit from globalized knowledge, particularly on international social work and agency practice. “Many of our students had never been out of the United States. And many practicing social workers had also never been out of the country,” she reflected. In response, she pioneered the College of Social Work’s first international program via a Continuing Education Unit (CEU) course offered in London, England for practicing professional social workers. Participants were guided to compare the projects and programs in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States. She would expand these offerings over the years to include France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Switzerland.

In the late 1990s, Pat sought to expand the program to include students. “I started with international field placements because they gave students the opportunity to really start looking into the way social workers practice in various countries,” she explained. Students initially started with field placements on a US Naval base in the UK in their family service center serving military service members and their families. “The social workers and psychologists that worked in that program were fabulous. They taught our students a great deal about how to deal with these individuals. Even though they were Americans, they were in a different country dealing with new and differing experiences.”

International programs for social work students and practitioners quickly expanded to include opportunities in the Caribbean. Pat began by collaborating with the Florida Association for Volunteer Action in the Caribbean and the Americas (FAVACA), training local social workers in various Caribbean nations to work alongside and communicate with clients. Several of these relationships have been sustained throughout the years, especially work with the Programme for Adolescent Mothers in Grenada. Students and faculty work with this program each year during an FSU Alternative Spring Break trip to support young women and families with developing healthy relationships, reducing domestic violence, and enhancing parenting, educational, and vocational skills.

With the beginning of the College of Social Work’s Online MSW Program in 2002, Pat developed an online international social work course that FSU and University of the West Indies students were able to take thanks to exchange agreements between these institutions. Exchange programs would also be established with several countries including Australia, Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa and Sweden. Continuing Education trips also expanded to include Spain (Valencia and Barcelona), South Africa, and the Czech Republic.

Pat took great joy and pride in providing unforgettable experiences for social work students and professionals who participated in the international program experiences she worked so hard to establish. She noted how these experiences often served as eye-opening and very memorable experiences, particularly because anything could happen. Students were prepared for their experiences in international settings with training and consultation on local cultures, and safety and risk-management while living and traveling abroad. 

She continued her professional growth on the international stage during her time as a faculty member at FSU, presenting and offering training in countries all over the world on child welfare, including Estonia and the Caribbean. “I’ve written two books on child welfare, and I worked in child welfare for ten years before teaching at FSU,” Pat confirmed. “Child welfare is a good subject in foreign countries because children are different in every country. You really have to examine the family dynamics in each individual context.”

On the verge of retirement in 2011, Pat transitioned the role of director of international programs at the College of Social Work to the leadership of fellow faculty member Dr. Neil Abell. Dr. Abell has continued Pat’s work establishing new relationships with international partners that offer international field placements in the United Kingdom (London and Belfast), Ireland, the Caribbean, and Canada; a study abroad program in Prague, Czech Republic; exchange programs in Australia and Sweden; and, the aforementioned FSU Alternative Spring Break in Grenada.

Pat continues her adventures across the globe while also remaining a passionate supporter of the College of Social Work and International Programs, including facilitation of the Hurrle Trust, whose generous scholarships have made international study attainable for scores of social work students over the years. “I’ve always been an explorer,” Pat added after describing her most recent trip to Vienna. “I’m seventy-three and retired, but I’m still exploring.”

To learn more about the College of Social Work’s International Programs visit, http://csw.fsu.edu/ip. Learn about FSU’s other International Programs at http://international.fsu.edu.