For Immediate Release
Contact:
Carrie Murdock deGuzman
Marketing and Communications Manager
1.703.519.2057, cmurdock@cswe.org
CSWE celebrates Social Work Month 2010
March 1, 2010 – ALEXANDRIA, VA—CSWE celebrates Social Work Month 2010 by fulfilling its ethical responsibility to become a “greener” organization and expanding its outreach for current and future social workers to better serve the military, international, and elder communities. Following basic human behavior and the social environment (HBSE) principles, CSWE is taking steps to influence our ecosystem in a way that begins locally and that elevates to the international level.
This March CSWE declares its organization-wide commitment to reduce printing waste and make its Annual Program Meeting more eco-friendly to help reduce global consumption. CSWE also plans to continue addressing various pressing human needs this month through its new initiatives to assist military personnel, veterans, and their families; the people of Haiti; and the growing older adult population.
“Social work as a profession must be committed not only to raising awareness of the interaction between global ecological issues and human well-being, but also to doing something about those concerns,” said CSWE Executive Director Julia M. Watkins.
Effective today, CSWE commits to use only those commercial printers certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and, whenever possible, to select paper satisfying FSC criteria. Final Programs for CSWE’s Annual Program Meeting (APM) will include the FSC paper icon on the outside back cover, and this eco-friendly symbol will appear on the copyright page of CSWE Press publications and the inside front cover of the Journal of Social Work Education (JSWE). The Annual Report, APM exhibitor prospectus, and other large print jobs have been converted to an online format, saving more than 55,000 sheets of paper in just the last 4 months. JSWE has also contracted with a vendor to develop an online format option for its subscribers.
The 2010 APM city of Portland, OR, is renowned for its “green” efforts, providing the perfect venue for expanding CSWE’s commitment to sustainability into regular annual conference operations. The Oregon Convention Center, where all 2010 APM events will be held, has received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Several 2010 APM hotels are Green Seal certified, including the headquarters hotel, the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower. Show decorating items will also be made more eco-friendly to reduce overall consumption by CSWE and its attendees at APM.
Helping military personnel, veterans, and their families is another area of growth for social work education this month. On February 2 CSWE launched an initiative in partnership with the University of Southern California that will result in an educators’ guide to advanced social work practice in military social work by June. As part of this initiative, CSWE is analyzing how to formally collect data on military social work specialty programs through its Annual Survey of Social Work Programs. By the end of March, CSWE hopes to expand its preliminary list with help from students, faculty, and other important community members.
Internationally, the Leadership Forum has launched an initiative to help the people of Haiti now homeless (1.2 million) and injured (300,000) from the recent devastating earthquake. The Forum announced a three-step plan in mid-February to raise money to advance relevant social work education initiatives, which will be finalized in upcoming months. CSWE’s organizational partners of the Leadership Forum include the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors, Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education, National Association of Deans and Directors, and the Saint Louis Group.
To prepare social workers to meet the needs of the growing older adult population, the CSWE Gero-Ed Center offers a new CEU-eligible eLearning course that provides faculty a framework to establish specialized gerontology minors, certificates, or concentrations/specializations. This course is designed for faculty at all stages and interests and can be applied to both baccalaureate and master's level programs.
The White House officially recognized National Professional Social Work Month in 1984, with each year’s theme chosen by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). In 2005 NASW launched an effort to improve the general public perception of social work and focus on a specific practice area each year. The theme for 2010 is Social Workers Inspire Community Action, which honors “community-action” heroes.
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is a nonprofit national association representing more than 3,000 individual members, as well as graduate and undergraduate programs of professional social work education. Founded in 1952, this partnership of educational and professional institutions, social welfare agencies, and private citizens is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the sole accrediting agency for social work education.
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Visit the 2010 Social Work Month Home Page throughout March for celebration updates.