Chris Collins, a doctoral candidate with the FSU College of Social Work, will join the faculty of Salem State University starting the fall semester of 2023. As an assistant professor within the Maguire Meservey College of Health and Human Services School of Social Work, Chris will primarily focus on teaching macro social work courses focused on areas like policy, social work practice with organizations, forensic social work and research methods.

“I am ecstatic about starting at Salem State’s School of Social Work. The university is heavily focused on civic engagement and the faculty are all representative of this commitment,” he said. “Likewise, the institution is working towards becoming a Hispanic-serving Institution. The faculty and leadership are committed to making the university an institution that works in service to all marginalized social identities. I am really excited to be a small part of these efforts.”

As a soon-to-be three-time graduate of the FSU College of Social Work (BSW 2013, MSW 2014, PhD 2023), Chris is a passionate and dedicated social work scholar, practitioner, and life-long Floridian. He worked extensively throughout his bachelor’s and master‘s degrees with 2-1-1 Big Bend as a hotline crisis counselor and later as a volunteer trainer and supervisor. He has continued to work extensively in the Tallahassee community as a counselor with Capital City Youth Services, the Apalachee Center and Tallahassee Primary Care Associates.

Chris has experienced the field of social work from many different angles as a therapist and practitioner and was a recipient of social safety net benefit programs as a youth. His commitment has always been to improve the lives of others. Whether through direct services, volunteerism or through social work education, he has taken an active role in the profession and community since joining the College of Social Work as a student.

As a doctoral student, his research has often had a macro focus, emphasizing intervention research and threat assessments to reduce suicide and gun violence. His first publication in the doctoral program stemmed from the Maura’s Voice Research Fund as a collaboration with Dr. Jim Clark, now FSU’s provost, which envisions a world without violence and hate. The study delved into the case of the sole offender of an Incel-related 2018 incident at a Tallahassee yoga studio. The study called attention to the use of threat assessment and management strategies to identify and prevent violent action by extremists.

At FSU, Chris shared his passion and knowledge as an adjunct professor teaching macro social work courses focused on social policies and programs, diversity and community organizing. “The experience I am most proud of from my time at FSU is having had the privilege and opportunity to serve students within the College of Social Work,” he emphasized. “I’ve been teaching in some capacity since 2016 and it has been one of the greatest gifts of my life.”

He will undoubtedly continue to engage and hone the next generation of social workers in his new position at Salem State University. Chris will defend his dissertation this spring, “A Randomized Control Trial of the Engaging in Lethal Means Safety (ELMS) Curriculum” (major professor: Dr. Stephen Tripodi). A theoretically driven, empirically supported curriculum that he created over nearly two years and that has been administered to 100 clinicians across three large behavioral health hospitals serving more than 60% of Florida’s rural counties.

“I am forever grateful for the relationships I’ve built at FSU and am excited to transition from student to colleague to continue to build upon these important relationships,” said Chris.