“I’m pleased to announce Kim Boswell as commissioner for the Alabama Department of Mental Health,” said Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. “She has spent the entirety of her professional career devoted to helping struggling individuals and I appreciate her willingness to serve in this new capacity. Her background as a mental health provider as well as administrator makes her uniquely qualified.”
Margaret Atwood wrote in The Penelopiad, “Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall; it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing, in the end, can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember, you are half water. If you can't go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.” Therefore, it is appropriate that Pamela W.
Katrina Boone, director of Field Education at the FSU College of Social Work (FSUCSW), takes her higher education role in social work seriously. While her main focus is promoting field education as social work’s signature pedagogy, when opportunities arose to join committees to further shape social work education, she was eager to participate.
The FSU College of Social Work (CSW) celebrated its 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award and Student Scholarship recipients through a virtual event on Thursday, November 5, 2020. The event was hosted by Dean Jim Clark and faculty members who serve on the college’s Student Affairs Committee.
The event honored 90 outstanding student scholars. Scholarship awards totaling more than $97,000 were given in support of CSW students, including those studying international programs, child welfare, social policy, and veterans.
The five CSW Alumni Award recipients included:
Florida State University has launched a new online certification in human trafficking prevention and intervention to help professionals develop skills to better understand the dynamics of the various types of human trafficking.
Fabienne Alexandre, a current MSW student (Clinical Track) at the College of Social Work, was thrilled when she learned that she received a 2020 Leslie N. Wilson-Delores Auzenne Assistantship for Minorities. The assistantship requires a nomination through a student’s department or college and is competitive for students university-wide. Recipients receive a stipend and tuition waiver while completing a research or teaching assistantship with an FSU faculty member.
Two Florida State University faculty members received a $16,000 grant from the Mental Research Institute to launch their project, “Family Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Telehealth Response.” Dr. Michele Parker of the FSU College of Human Sciences and Dr.
Undergraduate Student Ashley Rhodd is from Miami, Florida. While volunteering at a Thanksgiving food drive with friends in 2019, she realized through a conversation on social justice just how passionate she was about the subject. Almost a year later, Ashley, who is currently a junior, is a social work major with a minor in education.
Shevaun Harris (MSW, 2004; BA, 2002) was appointed in October 2020 by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as acting secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). The agency oversees the state’s $25 billion Medicaid program. She replaces Mary Mayhew, who left the agency to become CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, a group representing more than 200 hospitals in the state.
In 2018, a group of students created the Social Leadership Student Organization (SLSO) with an interest in creating an organization that would allow them to network and share resources related to the social leadership practice track. In a few short years, SLSO has become the Macro Social Work Student Network (MSWSN), affiliated with a nationally recognized organization of the same name.
