Alumni & Friends

UPDATE September 26, 2022:

Due to Hurricane Ian, the FSU Alumni Association has postponed this week's Homecoming events Thursday, September 29 through Sunday, October, 2, including Friday's parade.

All College of Social Work events related to Homecoming will be canceled.

Florida State University's Tallahassee and Panama City campuses will be closed Thursday, September 29 and Friday, September 30. Additionally, the College of Social Work will be closed on Wednesday, September 28.

The College of Social Work is eager to welcome all of our students including our latest cohort of doctoral students. Each comes to Florida State University with experiences and a dedication to social work research and scholarship that will benefit the profession and the populations it serves.

Jessica Griel-Burkhart joined the FSU College of Social Work faculty at the beginning of 2021 as an instructional specialist. This fall she will step into the the role of assistant teaching faculty with field education faculty advising undergraduate and graduate social work students as they navigate their field internships and teaching clinical social work classes. 

Dr. Jessica Pryce joined the FSU College of Social Work faculty and the Florida Institute for Child Welfare in 2017 and will step down from the role in December 2022. Under her leadership, the institute has expanded and grown in its mission and impact.  

Learning about large social issues like food insecurity in a classroom can provide tremendous insight into some of the most urgent needs of disadvantaged communities, but it is through field placements that social work students put a face to the community needs they seek to alleviate.

A new Student Resilience Toolkit has been created at FSU by The Clearinghouse on Trauma and Resilience in the Institute for Family Violence Studies (IFVS), College of Social Work. The new toolkit is a full-color, 64-page spiral-bound workbook containing evidence-based resilience information and engaging short exercises. It is designed to help students learn about and build personal resilience skills in an intentional, relaxing way and at their own pace.

Trinidad Pascual was among nine inductees into the prestigious Garnet & Gold Scholar Society during the summer 2022 semester, honored at a virtual ceremony on Tuesday, July 26th.

“My role as a school social worker centers around serving our students and families in need and breaking down those barriers that are preventing a child from being successful in school,” described Kelsey Lather Britten, a school social worker with Florida’s Lee County School District. The district has more than 95,000 students in grades K-12 in 120 schools.

Daniel Vila, a double-major in commercial music and social work, always wanted to travel more, and thanks to earning a Gilman Scholarship his wish has come true. The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program is run by the U.S. Department of State and gives students with limited financial means the opportunity to study or intern in foreign countries.  

Online MSW student Lara Klopp taught high school art for ten years. Her experience with her students and helping them develop their sense of self drew her to continuing her education through the FSU College of Social Work’s Online MSW Program.