Alumni & Friends

The Institute for Family Violence Studies in Florida State University’s College of Social Work has partnered with the Center for Public Safety Innovation at St. Petersburg College to create a Spanish-language version of an online training program to prevent domestic violence in the homes of law enforcement officers.

The Spanish-language online training went live March 17 and is free to all law enforcement agencies in Puerto Rico.

At the conclusion of the spring 2014 semester the College of Social Work will bid farewell to long-time faculty member Karen Keroack.  For over 28 years Karen has served as an invaluable member of the faculty, acting as an instructor and area coordinator for the Gainesville Part-Time MSW Program.

Dr. Maxine Thurston Fischer quietly made history at FSU in 1964 when she became the first African-American student to receive a degree from the University, graduating with her Master’s in Social Work.  But her contributions to the University and the College of Social Work didn’t stop there. Her degree was a catalyst for a lifetime dedication to social work and social activism.

Annually the College of Social Work joins NASW to celebrate March as Social Work Month and strives in acknowledge the occasion and the importance of social workers and their profession in several ways throughout the month.

This year’s FSU Great Give runs from Thursday, April 17 through Friday, April 18, 2014 and the College of Social Work focuses its efforts on raising funds to sustain its annual Arts & Athletics Summer Camp! 2014 marks the third summer the camp will run on Florida State’s campus, allowing under-resourced middle school youths to experience college life.

For the first two decades of her career, alumna Dr. Julie Buckey worked as a social worker at various levels. Receiving her MSW (1996) from the FSU College of Social Work’s Part-Time Program in Jacksonville, Julie worked in both supervisory and administrative roles in child welfare, health and mental health. It was not until she returned to the College in 1999 for her doctoral degree and began her dissertation that her focus would change, setting the course for the next stage of her life’s work.

“It’s time to stop being politely angry,” said Leymah Gbowee, the Liberian social worker and peace activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. Leymah spent a weekend at Florida State this month, helping students and teachers learn how to harness their personal difficulties and anger at injustice into positive energy towards change.

Leah Cheatham will be among the 15 doctoral students nationwide to receive the Doris Duke Fellowship for the Promotion of Child Well-Being. Through an annual national competition these students were selected to be the, “new generation of leaders interested in and capable of creating practice and policy initiatives that will enhance child development and improve the nation’s ability to prevent all forms of child maltreatment.”

Each year The Graduate School at Florida State recognizes only six special graduate students across campus with the Graduate Student Research and Creativity Award for their exemplary research and creative endeavors.  Two students are selected from three areas: natural and physical sciences (including science, technology, engineering and math); social and behavioral sciences; and, humanities a

The Institute for Family Violence Studies within the Florida State University College of Social Work, with a multidisciplinary partnership, launched a unique online prevention curriculum and resource site for medical professionals on domestic violence.