DEAN’S MESSAGE

In the Fall of 2004, the Tulane School of Social Work (TSSW) completed a very successful site visit by a team from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and was informed that the School would be reaccredited for the next eight (8) years. It is safe to say that the continued well-being of any school of social work rests on obtaining CSWE accreditation and maintaining continuous reaccredidation by this same body. At the Tulane School of Social Work, we are very proud to point out that since 1932 we have had and maintained continuous accreditation by CSWE.

What makes TSSW so outstanding can be summarized in three simple words: tradition and innovation -- our credo. A vital example of this principal in action at TSSW would focus on the recent shift in the School’s curriculum from a strictly clinical curriculum to a relationship-centered, clinical-community curriculum. In 1997, TSSW set about to realign its educational material with social work’s mission, with current market needs, and with modern teaching technologies. The result: TSSW today offers one of the strongest clinical-community concentrations available nationwide.

Critical elements were incorporated into our curriculum during this key transformation, such as a greater interest and focus on Evidence-Based Practice – integrating practice skill with concern for a client’s wishes and a pursuit of current best evidence. Today, TSSW is in the forefront of the nation in teaching this cutting-edge process. Key to having a successful curriculum is having faculty who teach it exceptionally well. For example, TSSW’s Associate Professor Stephanie Baus will lead discussions regarding Evidence-Based Practice at both of this year’s Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) and Council on Social Work Education Conferences (CSWE). Baus brings this same level of confidence and expertise to the classroom every day, as do all of our professors.

The Tulane School of Social Work currently employs 15 outstanding Full-Time faculty members. Thirteen (13) of these faculty have their Ph.D. degree and all of them possess an MSW degree from a CSWE accredited master’s in social work program. There is great depth and variety represented in our faculty’s combined expertise and experience: social work practice methods, qualitative research, substance abuse, adult learning, evidence-based practice, moral development, domestic violence, child welfare, HIV/AIDS, school social work, gerontology, social welfare history, child and adult development, international social work, crisis intervention, juvenile delinquency, social work interventions, group methods and disasters and volunteerism.

One of the above-mentioned substantive areas, international social work, represents a personal passion and a burgeoning field of study here at TSSW. Each year, TSSW’s graduate students are offered a unique opportunity – the chance to journey to Dharamsala, India, where for three weeks, the learning experience is extended far beyond the classroom. Dharamsala, located in north India, is home of the Dalai Lama and the epicenter of the Tibetan government in exile. For decades, Tibetans have been fleeing Tibet, which has been under occupation by the Chinese for over 50 years. This small hill station is currently home to nearly 8,000 Tibetan refugees clinging to their Tibetan culture and striving to live a life free from persecution.

While in Dharamsala, students experience the social and health needs of a resource-poor area – and the concurrent opportunities to envision and establish social and health programs targeting these needs. When TSSW began offering this program three years ago, approximately 15 students participated; this year 35 students have applied.

Interest in international social work has spread across the campus and, across the curriculum. The success of this graduate-level offering led the University’s Office of Student Affairs, Department of Community Service, to request the School of Social Work’s assistance in offering a similar undergraduate service learning course.  The offering, “Compassion in Action: Service with Tibetan Refugees in India,” became a reality with the start of the 2005 Spring semester. The prerequisite for students wishing to make the journey (SOWK231-01) “Tibetan Refugees in India: Life, Death & Lasting Happiness,” will be taught here at TSSW and has already filled to capacity.

This latest undergraduate offering is not TSSW’s first experience in the undergraduate realm. In fact, for the past three semesters, TSSW has been offering undergraduate electives. While the School does not offer the baccalaureate in social work, during the past year, TSSW offered four undergraduate courses that were tremendously popular and represented a powerful mechanism for engagement with the academic and local communities. Undergraduate students eagerly attended such classes as: (SOWK211) Children and Family Violence; (SOWK212) Social Work Interventions with Children and Youth; (SOWK222) Booze, Pot, Coke, and Crystal Meth: Poly Drug Abuse among College and Inner City Residents and (SOWK223) Guns and Gangs: At-risk Youth in the Inner City. The above-mentioned courses filled to capacity within hours of being made available and their instructors, our very own TSSW faculty, received rave reviews. We plan to continue to make such offerings available.

In conclusion, I come back to where it all begins, with our main mission here at TSSW – our dedication and commitment to the education of the social work graduate student. Last September, the Tulane School of Social Work enrolled its largest class to come through these doors in seven (7) years, with a grand total of 84 full-time students and 14 part-time students. What does that say about TSSW in a general? To me it speaks volumes. It says that our curriculum, our faculty and our reputation are outstanding. I hope you feel the same way and will plan to come and visit us here at TSSW, soon. And when you’re planning your trip to TSSW, e-mail me at rmarks@tulane.edu. If you’re ready to plan your future, we’re ready to help get you there.

Ron Marks
Dean, Tulane School of Social Work