Janet Shapiro, Dean of the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, hosted a busy reception at the sixty-third annual national conference of the Council on Social Work Education on October 20th in Dallas, Texas. Faculty, students, and alumni—many now leaders in the field and faculty at programs throughout the country—gathered to reconnect and discuss plans for Bryn Mawr’s continued national leadership in social work education.
GSSWSR faculty also gave presentations and participated on panels at the conference with researchers and faculty from other programs. For example, David S. Byers, Assistant Professor at GSSWSR, joined faculty from Rutgers University, University of Central Florida, and University of Toronto for a panel on current educational issues in LGBTQ affirmative clinical social work. Byers also presented a paper with faculty from University of Connecticut and Carleton University, titled, “I’m Entitled to My Opinion: Ethics Education in an `Alternative Facts’ Era.”
Director of Field Education, Beth Lewis, and Assistant Director, Nancy Morrow, joined Dean Janet Shapiro in presenting a poster titled “Social Work Practice in Integrated Care,” featured at the Field Education Institute as part of the organization’s Policy Practice Field Education initiative. The poster provided an overview of a 3-session seminar series focused on integrated health care, culminating in a “train the trainers” for faculty, field liaisons, and field instructors.
Darlyne Bailey, Professor and former Dean of GSSWSR, led faculty from Hunter College and Texas Christian University in a panel on macro level social work practice, titled “Making the Grand Challenges Matter with Macro Methods: The Special Commission Partnership.” Current advanced clinical practice MSS student Kimberly Bonner also traveled to the conference in Dallas to join in the presentation.
The annual conference of Council on Social Work Education is the largest gathering in the country of social work faculty. The organization is supported by 800 social work programs. The organization’s current President and Chief Executive Officer, Darla Spence Coffey, is a graduate of Bryn Mawr’s Ph.D. in social work.