CSW General

The College of Social Work at Florida State University hosted its 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award and Student Scholarship dinner on Thursday, October 13, 2022. The event honored five distinguished social work graduates and 2021-2022 student scholars.

More than $168K in scholarships were given in 2021-2022 to support undergraduate- and graduate-level social work students with interests in areas including child welfare, social policy, international social work, social work practice and military veterans.

Dr. Taylor Dowdy-Hazlett, a recent FSU College of Social Work graduate joins the faculty of the University of Kentucky College of Social Work as an assistant professor.  Taylor’s dissertation focused on children and families involved in the foster care system, titled  “Latent Profiles of Foster Parents and their Association with Intent to Disrupt Placement and Turnover,” working with her major professor Dr. Shamra Boel-Studt.

A recent study from Florida State University examined how the cumulative experience of violence can impact virally stable people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Tallahassee’s Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (DVCC) along with community partners is organizing events in the Tallahassee surrounding the issue. DVCC's efforts are led by Kelly O'Rourke, a research associate with the Institute for Family Violence Studies at the College of Social Work.

An UF-FSU Translational Health Research Seed Grant was recently awarded to an interdisciplinary team of Florida State University faculty for a study to address chronic disease in rural populations. The pilot study will test the feasibility and acceptability of a chronic disease risk reduction program among rural adult participants.

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.

As a young adult, Dr. Kristy Anderson worked as a direct support provider for persons with disabilities. Her experiences brought to her attention how often services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were inadequate and underfunded. She also noticed frequent disparities in quality of life, particularly for those in rural communities and for those socioeconomically disadvantaged.

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.