“I often say that I carry social work into every room I enter. It is not just what I do, it is a part of who I am,” expressed Jalaycia Lewis (BSW ’20). “When others see a startup or a technology venture, I see the person behind it, their story, their sacrifices and the people counting on them to win. That perspective grounds everything.”
The FSU College of Social Work celebrated spring 2026 social work graduates at its semesterly graduation event in Opperman Music Hall in the College of Music’s Kursteiner Building. The event welcomed graduates and their guests, celebrating 47 BSW and 146 MSW graduates.
Dean David Springer presided over the event for his last formal with the college. “I know from experience that as an alum, there is a strong and steadfast bond that remains with Florida State University,” he expressed in his closing remarks.
Dr. Annelise Mennicke (MSW ’11, PhD ’15) received the 2026 Social Policy Researcher Award from the Society for Social Work and Research for her significant contributions to violence prevention policy. She is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and is associate director of research for UNC Charlotte’s Violence Prevention Center.
This spring, Jeffrey (Jeff) Binkley was appointed as the director of Maura’s Voice Research Fund, housed within the FSU College of Social Work. The Maura’s Voice Research Fund was founded by Mr. Binkley and his late wife, Margaret Binkley, in March 2019 in the aftermath of the 2018 yoga studio shooting that took the life of their daughter Maura and FSU professor Dr.
Undergraduate social work student Felix Preston is getting first-hand experience on one of the emerging ways that artificial intelligence, or AI, can effectively and ethically support clinical social work practice.
Florida State University and Apalachee Center have established a new partnership to improve mental health care across the state, with a particular focus on Northwest Florida.
The Stoops Center for Communities, Families, and Children (Stoops CFC Center) at the FSU College of Social Work recently partnered with the FSU Herbert Wertheim College of Business to provide a specialized training focused on marketing strategy and buyer psychology for center staff.
Thirteen social work undergraduate and graduate students spent their 2026 Spring Break experiencing international social work in the East Caribbean. For more than a decade, the College of Social Work has offered an Alternative Spring Program that introduces social work students through collaborations with organizations in Grenada, West Indies.
Relay For Life at FSU is supporting the fight against cancer and getting ready for its annual fundraising event. The student organization raised more than $34,000 in one day for cancer research and patient support, in partnership with the American Cancer Society (ACS), through recent events ahead of the fundraiser on April 11.
Sanoop Valappanandi, a doctoral candidate in the FSU College of Social Work, was awarded a fellowship from the Grand Challenges of Social Work program this spring.
