Alumni & Friends

Social work doctoral student Ruben Lane Forsman is no stranger to service. Forsman served as an intensive outpatient substance abuse counselor in New Orleans, Louisiana and as a member of the Florida Assertive Community Treatment Team in Leon County providing community-based mental and behavioral health services to individuals experiencing severe, persistent mental illness prior to entering the Doctoral Program at the FSU College of Social Work.

With the growth of online programs, a continuous challenge remains to constantly improve and innovate. A step in that direction for the FSU College of Social Work will include the establishment of a position to oversee field education for online programs. Associate Teaching Professor Rosalyn Deckerhoff will take on this role starting at the beginning of the spring 2018 semester.

In order to create positive change, conventional wisdom often needs to be reconsidered. Are low-carbohydrate diets an effective remedy for obesity? Do patients have a right to self-medicate? Are psychiatric drugs effective over the long term?

The Florida State University College of Social Work will host a daylong conference to explore these questions and more.

MSW alumna Courtney Cook joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida as Vice President of Development.  Cook is a licensed clinical social work. She earned her MSW in clinical social from FSU College of Social Work in 2010 and her undergraduate degree from the University of West Florida.

The social work profession has strong historical roots in the concept of social justice—roots that are acknowledged and promoted within our professional associations and educational standards. For me, the concept of social justice has always been an important cornerstone of the work that I do in the field of maternal-child health. Within this field, my work focuses on understanding the who and what that define access to important resources that help promote healthy families and healthy child development.

Robert F. Kennedy once said, “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of injustice and resistance.”

Born on a busy farm in Ohio with his parents and 7 siblings, Ted Studebaker would grow up amidst a culture centered around strong work ethic and the values of family and church participation. In this environment, there was never a shortage of hard work, raising and caring for the family’s various livestock and crops.

A substantial gift from a family foundation formed by two Florida State University alumni is helping the FSU College of Social Work establish a new center dedicated to generating knowledge that leads to effective policies, services and research for the benefit of communities, families and children.

Margarette Swift might be young, but her advice comes from a place of wisdom when she says, “Never let circumstances determine who you are.” When Margarette was only eight years old, her mother died. Following this traumatic loss, she endured many years of instability in her home life.

Starting in July 2018, FSU College of Social Work faculty member Carol Campbell Edwards will begin her two-year term as president of the National Association for Social Workers Florida (NASW-FL) chapter. Currently, as President-Elect, Carol will spend 12 months working in close collaboration with the President.