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Message from the Director

John OliverWelcome to the Fall 2008 semester.
We anticipate that this semester and the academic year will be filled with a generous array of exciting opportunities. The department is positioned to continue expanding its role as a major contributor to the intellectual vigor and fiscal vitality of the university, and College of Health and Human Services. We are especially delighted that an increasing number of faculty and alumni have assumed positions of leadership within county and state human service agencies, social work professional organizations/ societies, and university social work programs.

For the Fall 2008 term, the Department of Social Work has received notification of executed grants totaling $6.3 million. Several additional research proposals have been submitted and decisions are pending. The renewal of multiple-year awards has contributed to the department’s steadily increasing contribution to the university’s success in competing for and securing external funding.

During AY 2008-2009 the department will significantly enhance research support services for faculty and students. Anchored by a substantial resource infusion; the department’s mission and goals will be operationalized through faculty and student engagement, scholarly and creative achievement, and active participation in professional and communal activities designed to promote social justice.

The department is nearing completion of a three year $745,000 California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) Aging Initiative grant funded by the Archstone Foundation. Designed to stimulate geriatric labor force development; grant products included: 1) initiation of a statewide stipend program for students enrolled in social work program aging specializations/ concentrations, 2) implementation of four state university/ agency collaborative linkage zones, 3) provision of statewide online courses designed to enhance professionalization of social workers employed in state agencies who provide aging services, 4) development of aging curricular competencies endorsed by all California accredited social work programs, 5) completion of a survey of university aging curricula, faculty resources and enrollment patterns, and 6) completion of a comprehensive statewide public/private labor force survey.

Finally, on October 6-7, 2008, the Council on Social Work Education will send an on-site team to campus for the purpose of reaffirming the department’s masters and baccalaureate degree programs. We are delighted to be given the opportunity to provide documentation of the quality of our educational programs. My personal gratitude to faculty, students, staff and local practitioners who contributed to the reaffirmation self-study renewal process.

Best wishes for an enjoyable and productive semester.

John Oliver, Ph.D

Mission of the Department of Social Work

The Department of Social Work at CSULB is situated in a multiculturally diverse and dynamic area of the nation. It makes itself broadly accessible to prospective students so that graduates can serve the varied needs of the local, state, national and international communities in which they practice. The Department is committed to recruiting and maintaining faculty who are highly skilled and who display excellence in teaching; undertake research and scholarship to advance the knowledge base; and provide service to the profession, university and the larger community.

The primary mission of the Department of Social Work is to educate a diverse student group for BASW and MSW entry into the profession who can demonstrate competent and ethical social work practice with diverse populations in systems of all sizes based on interventions that reflect state of the art and evidence-based knowledge.

In addition, the mission of the Department for faculty, students, and graduates, is to engage in activities to promote social justice, to enhance the quality of life for all persons, to advocate for the elimination of poverty, oppression and discrimination, and to take leadership roles in the development of effective service delivery systems.