Dean Clark, faculty and staff, family and friends of graduates, and ladies and gentlemen of Florida State University Class of 2015, I am honored and grateful to be with you today for your commencement, here at one of the finest universities in the world that has one of the best social work programs with the most dedicated staff and professors.

Today I want to share with you about following your heart and climbing your mountain.

I am both thrilled and honored to be joining the faculty at the University of Alabama School of Social Work. I was drawn to the University of Alabama because of my interests in working within a public university with strong community ties, excellent support for research, and a strong commitment to students. The warm reception from faculty, staff, and students during my visit to Tuscaloosa sealed the deal.

University of Connecticut (UConn) was my top choice because of the School of Social Work faculty’s history of social activism and community-engaged research. I can’t wait to build relationships with faculty and students across the UConn campus and in the greater Hartford community as we all work to help clients recognize the strength of their own voice, empower themselves as agents, and vision a different way forward for themselves and their families .

Karen Randolph, a professor in the Florida State University College of Social Work, has been named a member of the 2016 class of fellows of the Society for Social Work and Research.

The distinction recognizes members of the society who have furthered its mission — to advance, disseminate and translate research that addresses issues of social work practice and policy and promotes a diverse, equitable and just society.

Florida State University has launched its first free massive open online course (MOOC) with the goal of educating social service professionals and the public on the dynamics of domestic violence.

The Orlando Police Department has joined a Florida State University study to analyze the effectiveness of an online suicide prevention training for police officers.

The QPR Institute created the online training specifically for law enforcement officers. It is designed to provide officers with information and skills they need to recognize the warning signs of suicide and skills to effectively intervene with at-risk community members, according to lead researcher Philip Osteen, assistant professor at the FSU College of Social Work.

On Feb.

On February 10, 2016 the FSU College of Social Work hosted a presentation by Robert Walker, MSW, LCSW, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Kentucky Center on Drug and Alcohol Research. Walker’s joint appointment in social work and psychiatry gives him a unique perspective on the intersection of the “hard” sciences like neuroscience and the “soft” approaches of social work and the human behavioral sciences.

The Florida State University College of Social Work hosted a Military Caregiver Appreciation Luncheon Feb. 26 in Gainesville, Fla., to offer support to caregivers and to inform them about the services available through the Operation Family Caregiver program.

The Gainesville luncheon, which took place at Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grill, was the second in the Military Caregiver Appreciation Luncheon Series that the college is hosting this year throughout the state.

We are so excited to share what we learned at the Building Creative Communities Conference that we would love to engage our community at FSU and share our knowledge with our fellow students! We will be facilitating a Creative Community Engagement Workshop on March 2^5, (UCC Miller Hall, 1-4:30pm), co-sponsored by the FSU Association for Student Social Workers, and in collaboration with FSU students from the FSU Art Therapy Program, the FSU College of Medicine and the FSU Department of Urban and Regional Planning.