KU School of Social Welfare

Help us congratulate Dr. Sarah Jen! The Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI) at the University of Kansas has awarded the 2024 AAI Art & Humanities Grant to Sarah Jen, associate professor in the School of Social Welfare, and Liz Langdon, a lecturer in the department of Visual Art, for their project, “Untold Stories of Aging in Action – Revealed and Traveled.” The project’s aim is to create and document the influence of an art-based intervention among communities of older adults and intergenerational audiences. “Artists were able to use their artwork to start important conversations with their loved ones. Displaying their work also allowed them to leave a legacy, tell their stories to and be remembered by a larger audience,” Jen said. You can read more here: https://bit.ly/4iW3f7A

March is National Social Work Month! ?? It's a great time to recognize the profession and uplift social workers who strive to make an impact, such as Social Welfare professor Terry Koenig. Koenig recently received the KUIA Advisory Board International Research Award for her work exploring African refugees’ resilient and often violent journeys from home to northern Italy. Multiple Social Welfare faculty members were in attendance to support Koenig. Congrats, and happy Social Work Month!

The University of Kansas School of Social Welfare is seeking candidates for an open-rank professor of the practice position to serve as the Master of Social Work (MSW) Program director and faculty in the school. A few of the qualifications include: - A master’s degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited program. - Demonstrated commitment to social work values and KUSSW’s mission, vision, and guiding principles - Demonstrated strong written and oral communication skills as evidenced by application materials and interview process. To learn more about the position: https://bit.ly/41Pqs4k

A special thank you to everyone who helped the School of Social Welfare reach its goals during One Day One KU! On Feb. 20-21, 240 donors gave $24,171 to support social work students and education at KU. The School received an additional $19,500 in funds through participation challenges, bringing the total amount raised to $43,671. Many of the 249 gifts to the KU School of Social Welfare will go toward a fund to support students in practicum. Donors also gave to the Dean's Opportunity Fund, which supports scholarships, the School's student emergency fund, and student-focused programs. Thank you to all who gave, and a special thanks to the donors behind our eight matching gifts this year.

A two-part continuing education event on March 25 will connect practicing social workers with training and research from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare. The hybrid event, “Supporting and Assessing Families,” includes two free social work CEU sessions (3 hours each). The morning session (9 a.m. - noon) will be at the Kansas State University Salina Campus with a Zoom option available, and the afternoon session (1:30 - 4:30 p.m.) will be presented on Zoom, with an option for attendees to convene at KSU Salina for the broadcast. The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. For more info: https://lnkd.in/gKFsUxrg

Social Welfare assistant professor Claire Willey-Sthapit presented on Monday to discuss her research, which shows service providers in Nepal are both following international policy in their work and using local context to innovatively help people in ways that could influence lives beyond the country's borders. “When I moved to Nepal, I began working with an organization that used community strategies to promote the human rights and psychosocial well-being of marginalized women and children,” Willey-Sthapit said. “Because domestic violence is often a very isolating experience for survivors, I was impressed with how such strategies could reduce isolation and build social support for domestic violence prevention and response.” You can read more about Willey-Sthapit's research here: https://bit.ly/3F6uH3D

On Tuesday, School of Social Welfare professor Terry Koenig will receive this year’s KU International Affairs Advisory Board International Research Award. Koenig will accept the award and speak on her research from 1:30-3 p.m. on March 11 in the Kansas Union's Big 12 room. The public is invited to attend the presentation and reception to follow. You can read more here: https://lnkd.in/g4UCUg6r

MSW students joined students from KU Pharmacy for an interprofessional training in February. For the "standardized patient simulation," social work students are paired with a KU pharmacy student and a patient actor to provide a social work intervention. After the simulation, students join faculty from KU School of Social Welfare and KU School of Pharmacy to discuss the experience. The collaboration with KU Pharmacy is one of several monthly training sessions that help prepare MSW students in the Integrated Health Scholars Program to provide high-quality integrated behavioral health services in rural and other high-need communities in Kansas and western Missouri.

Last night, Social Welfare professor Laura Ramirez, liaison to Native Communities, was able to meet and answer questions about our classes and programs at the Spring 2025 Haskell Highlight Night, sponsored by Haskell Student Activities Department. Thank you to Haskell for the invitation to interact with their student body!?

Dr. Logan Shinkai Knight emphasizes lived experiences in her research, focusing on human trafficking and platforming a survivor-led movement. Her goal is to change the narrative and culture. Her research prioritizes survivor leadership and expertise for developing the theoretical and practical knowledge needed to address human trafficking. Her work on survivor resilience and altruism involves survivors in all stages of research from study design to dissemination.?? “Social workers dream big,” Dr. Knight said. “We want to change the world, right? We want to be agents of authentic social change. We want to make things better. We cannot do this alone, and we cannot do this if we exclude the people who really know and understand an issue just because they don’t have three degrees or some other qualifier that we’re familiar with.” Read more about Dr. Knight's research here: https://lnkd.in/gzxPyAnz