The School of Social Work will welcome child and family studies as its first undergraduate program beginning July 1.
Child and family studies is moving from the School of Human Ecology in the College of Agriculture to the School of Social Work.
The program requested the move into the School of Social Work before the end of the fall semester, said Daphne Cain, social work interim dean and Master of Social Work program director.
Both Cain and Loren Marks, associate professor and interim division head of the division of child and family studies, said they agree child and family studies fits well with the School of Social Work.
Many social work faculty members often work with at-risk children and families, which is often a research topic for child and family studies faculty, Cain said.
“We want to build better people. We want to enrich people’s lives,” Marks said.
Before these programs were merged, child and family studies students often took electives in social work, and vice versa, Cain said. Many of the students who studied in the child and family studies program went on to work in social fields or apply to the School of Social Work, according to Marks.
Marks said students in child and family studies gain internships at nursing homes and as court-appointed special advocates. At the end of their work, they write letters to the incoming class about their experiences and knowledge they gained through their work.
“We give students real-world experience at the undergrad level,” Marks said.
Cain said social work faculty are excited about the merger as well because of the research prospects.
She said the child and family studies faculty has exceptional publication records and great teaching abilities, which will be an asset to students.
Assistant professor of child and family studies Cassandra Chaney teaches a social work elective and said the program’s move will strengthen graduate and undergraduate programs in the future.
“It will allow us to build on each of our existing strengths that actually make the school a much stronger unit,” Chaney said.
In 2009, the School of Social Work introduced a minor in social work, its first foray into undergraduate programs. But in the next few years, the school is hoping to introduce a baccalaureate social work program, Cain said.
The addition of child and family studies to the School of Social Work is only part of a larger merger that will combine six units, including the School of Social Work, into one College of Human Sciences and Education.
 
 
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Contact Shannon Roberts at [email protected]