CSW General

Panama City BSW Student Denise Baril and 15 other humanitarian heroes were recognized by President John Thrasher and Vice President of Student Affairs Amy Hecht during a luncheon on March 21st. The President’s Undergraduate Humanitarian of the Year Award is a prestigious honor bestowed to one FSU student from each college for their exemplary commitment to service. Each student is awarded a $200 donation to the nonprofit of their choice.

“Nothing is more inspiring to me than seeing students giving back and make the world a better place,” President Thrasher remarked.

The Florida State University College of Social Work celebrated the new location of the FSU Multidisciplinary Evaluation and Consulting Center on Wednesday, March 28.

The new site is located just west of the main campus. Previously, the Multidisciplinary Center (MDC) occupied space on Gaines Street in Collegetown.

The FSU College of Social Work will commemorate “100 Years of Social Work at FSU” with a celebratory dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 7, at the University Center Club’s Champions Club. The event will include opportunities to explore and celebrate the past, present and future of the college.

As a volunteer for the conference, I arrived early to help set up for the event. As the doors opened, I was amazed at the number of women in attendance - managers, entrepreneurs, professors, executive directors, and others in important leadership roles attended this conference to learn from each other to become stronger, more effective leaders. I was also elated to see the number of men who attended the conference as well.

With more than 450 attendees at this year’s Women in Leadership Conference at FSU, there was scores of remarkable female leaders from a wide variety of professions and from the co-sponsoring organizations of the event – the College of Communication and Information, College of Social Work, College of Business, and the Jim Moran School of Entrepreneurship. A dozen College of Social Work alumni, faculty and students participated as panelists for this much-anticipated, inspiration event.

BSW Student Kathryn Casello attended a meeting in the fall of 2016 to learn about organizing against legislation that allows for open and concealed carry of guns on college campuses. For her, the issue was of personal concern.

March is National Social Work Month. The FSU College of Social Work, celebrating its 100th anniversary, holds more experience than any other institution in Florida offering social work education and was the first in the world to offer a Master’s in Social Work through an accredited online program. Below FSU Social Work Dean Jim Clark shares his vision for the future of the college. 

“I went into social work because of Former President Jimmy Carter and the work he did in the eighties that inspired me,” Margaret Ashmore, Teaching Professor, and Program Manager for the FSU Operation Family Caregiver (FSU OFC) program reminisced. “He really had a meaningful impact on me. I was in childhood education at that time and changed my major to social work. President Carter focused on social service programs, and he invested so much in people.

The social work profession embodies a strong commitment to promoting social justice initiatives through both practice and research.  In 2016, the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare launched the Twelve Grand Challenges of Social Work to outline the profession’s vision for creating an equitable and socially just society.  Florida State University’s College of Social Work will be among the leaders in one Grand Challenge: Smart Decarceration; led by Dr.

On February 13th, FSU faculty and students gathered with community members and leaders for a screening of Resilience: Biology of Stress and Science of Hope. Co-sponsored by the College of Social Work, Prevent Child Abuse Florida, The Oasis Center for Women and Girls, and the Resi