CSW General

Meet Our 2020 Doctoral Student Cohort

Although the Fall 2020 semester looks very different from previous fall semesters due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FSU College of Social Work is proud to welcome its newest cohort of doctoral students. Each comes to FSU with a wealth of previous experience in social work and a desire to make a difference in social work research and academia. Meet our Fall 2020 Doctoral Cohort:

Interdisciplinary Summer Class Demystifies Florida’s Clemency Process, Highlights Amendment 4 and Prompts Research involving Access to Voting in County Jails

With enthusiastic support from College of Social Work Dean Jim Clark and a team of other administrators and educators across campus, Professor Mark Schlakman, Esq., offered a unique virtual course during the summer 2020 semester -- Executive Clemency in Florida, to an interdisciplinary group of 54 students including undergraduate and graduate students from the College of Social Work and College of Social Science along with students from the College of Law.

#FSUFirstDayPhoto Challenge

Celebrate your fist day (or last first day) of classes at Florida State with a first day photo. Take a picture using one of the signs below created by FSU New Student and Family Programs (@FSUNSFP) from the FSU Department of Student Support and Transitions.

Use the hashtags #WelcomeFSU and #FSUFirstDayPhoto. Tag @FSUNSFP for a change to win an “I bleed garnet and gold” t-shirt and use hashtag #FSUCSW for a chance to win a College of Social Work suncatcher/ornament.

Speech Recognition in Education: The Powers and Perils

As education researchers focused on children’s language and reading, concepts like “equity” and “disparity” are not new to us. In fact, we obsess about them. 

We analyze data to understand and monitor. We design interventions to change them. We labor (sometimes painfully) to better explain the forces that contribute to injustice in schools so that educators, parents, and policymakers can use it to improve outcomes for all students. 

Welcome New Faculty Member Tracy McDade

Moving to South Florida from New York in high school in the 1980s meant Tracy McDade witnessed first-hand the influx of Cuban refugees coming to Florida. Volunteering with various organizations in the South Florida community, McDade heard accounts from these refugees of maltreatment, poverty and injustice. This experience affirmed her desire to improve the lives of disadvantaged individuals, families and whole communities.

FSU Student Association of Social Workers: Fall 2020 Leaders

Welcome to the newest group of student leaders for the FSU Student Association of Social Workers (SASW). SASW has a lot planned for the fall 2020 semester, including an informational meeting in early September. As a registered student organization, SASW also has planned professional events including a grad school panel, along with volunteer events and social events (Netflix parties & zoom socials).

Welcome New Faculty Member Brenda Legaspi

“I love seeing students take their classroom learning and apply it in the real world,” said Brenda Legaspi, a new social work faculty member at the College of Social Work (FSUCSW). Legaspi joins the college as an assistant teaching professor focused on working with distance learning students in the Online MSW Program. “My primary interest has been field education, the signature pedagogy of the social work profession.”

Institute Dedicated to Bettering the Lives of those Impacted by Incarceration

The Institute for Justice Research and Development (IJRD) at the FSU College of Social Work is dedicated to the betterment of the lives of the individuals, families and communities impacted by the criminal justice system. Even before the renewed national consciousness about racial violence in our nation, IJRD has been at the forefront of addressing racial and economic disparities documented throughout the criminal justice system. The work IJRD team members perform every day is centered on 3 pillars: