CSWE Full Circle - June 2017

CSWE Launches New Initiative: Envisioning the Future

Colleagues,

The CSWE Board of Directors and staff are excited to announce the launch of our Envisioning the Future of Social Work Initiative. As we look toward the sunset of our current strategic plan, Vision 2020: Strengthening the Profession Through Research, Education, and Career Advancement, we have committed to a process that will allow us to think big about the profession for which our programs prepare practitioners, researchers, and scholars. Before setting a direction for the future of social work education, it is important to develop a more clearly envisioned future for the profession. Today’s graduates will still be practicing in 2050 or even later. What might the profession of social work look like at that time? What might the role of social workers include? What insights about the future of social work can we develop to help us better prepare graduates of CSWE’s member programs for their professional future?
 

A new task force, the Futures Task Force, will guide this work. Task Force members were carefully selected to ensure diversity of experience and roles. We are pleased to announce the members of our Futures Task Force:

• Dr. Sandra Crewe, Dean, Howard University  
• Dr. Sam Copeland, Professor and BSW director, Stephen F. Austin State University
• Terri Klemm, BSW Program Director, Centenary University; DSW student
• Dr. Angelo McClain, Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Social Workers
• Mary Jo Monahan, Chief Executive Officer, Association of Social Work Boards
• Dr. Angela Pharris, Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma
• Dr. Jonathan Singer, Associate Professor, Loyola University Chicago
• Dr. Martell Teasley, Dean, University of Utah; President, National Association of Social Work Deans and Directors
• Dr. Barbara White, Dean Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin 

The year-long process will begin this summer. The Futures Task Force will begin identifying key informants for in-depth interviews. The themes and trends will form the basis of a survey that will be sent to the membership for input in the fall. These processes will culminate in a report to the CSWE Board of Directors that will identify the key trends likely to shape the future of the social work profession. This will then become the foundation for the CSWE Strategic Planning process that will begin immediately following.

Thank you to the members of the Strategic Planning Committee, chaired by Anthony Natale, for their recommendations to guide the work. We look forward to engaging with our membership throughout this process.

Darla Spence Coffey, PhD, MSW
President and Chief Executive Officer
 

 
Barbara W. Shank, PhD, MSW
Chair, CSWE Board of Directors

Council on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression (CSOGIE)

 
The Council on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression (CSOGIE) promotes the development of social work curriculum materials and faculty growth opportunities relevant to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and the experiences of individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, transgender, or two-spirit. The most recent CSOGIE initiatives include the following:
 

• APM 2017 Special Session on Political Advocacy and Nondiscrimination in Texas – At the height of political tensions in Texas, CSOGIE and the Caucus of LGBT Faculty and Students in Social Work are working closely with CSWE President Darla Spence Coffey to develop a special session for this year’s APM. The special session will address matters of inclusiveness as well as advocating for nondiscriminatory policies. The session will take place on Friday, October 20 from 4:00 pm–5:00 pm and will include panelists from the state who will speak on issues of transgender rights, immigration policies, and voting rights in the state of Texas.

• The Rainbow Papers – The Rainbow Papers, published in 2016, was a collaborative effort between administrators of CSWE and members of CSOGIE to provide guidelines for creating inclusive and affirming educational environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning social work students, faculty and staff members, and administrators. As a result, two guidelines were developed: Guidelines for Affirmative Social Work Education and Guidelines for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) Affirmative Education. The guidelines are available for public use, and social work faculty and administrators are encouraged to use them.

 
Additionally, CSOGIE is now accepting applications for the Sixth Annual Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression Scholarship Award, which will be presented at the Annual Program Meeting in Dallas, TX. The application deadline is June 30, 2017.