Former names | Summer School of Philanthropic Work; New York School of Philanthropy |
---|---|
Type | Private |
Established | 1898 |
Dean | Melissa D. Begg |
Postgraduates | 1,093 |
Location | , , United States 40°48′36.91″N73°57′30.07″W / 40.8102528°N 73.9583528°W |
Website | socialwork.columbia.edu |
The Columbia University School of Social Work is the graduate school of social work of Columbia University in New York City. It is one of the oldest social work programs in the US, with roots extending back to 1898. It began awarding a Master of Science degree in 1940. As of 2018, it was one of the largest social work schools in the United States, with an enrollment of over 1,000 students. [1]
In 1898, the New York Charity Organization Society established the first Summer School in Philanthropic Work, a six-week program, at 105 East 22nd Street in New York City. [2] [3] [4] [5] Twenty-five men and women attended the first classes. [6] It is one of the oldest social work programs in the US. [7] In 1904, it was expanded into the first full-time full-year course of graduate study in social work, and later a two-year course, at the newly renamed New York School of Philanthropy. [8] [2]
The name of the School was changed in 1919 to the New York School of Social Work. [2] In 1931, the School moved to 122 East 22nd Street. [9] In 1940, the School was affiliated with Columbia University as one of its graduate schools, and began awarding a Master of Science degree. [10] In 1949, the School moved to the Andrew Carnegie Mansion at 2 East 91st Street, and later to 622 West 113th Street. [11] [12] The first doctoral degree was awarded in 1952. [7]
In 1961, the School formed a coalition in support of President John F. Kennedy establishing the Peace Corps. [13] In 1963 the name of the school was changed to Columbia University School of Social Work. In 1966, the School began a longitudinal study of foster children and their families. [14] The first fully endowed professorship was set up in 1991, followed by the full endowment of the Kenworthy Chair and nine additional endowed professorships. In 1997, an agreement was concluded with the UN Economic and Social Council to provide new program support and a fellowship. In that year, the school's endowment surpassed $40 million. [15]
In 1992, students of the school organized protests and teach-ins as part of a nationwide effort to protest welfare cuts. The organizers of the school's events called the welfare cuts an example of the demonization of people on welfare. [16]
In 2002, construction of the current School of Social Work building began on Amsterdam Avenue and West 121st Street, north of Columbia's campus. The building was completed in 2004 and first used by students and faculty during the 2004-05 academic year.[ citation needed ] In 2007, the School founded the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia to develop and advance evidence-based, sustainable solutions to emerging public health and social issues in the region, receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health. [17]
In 2012, the School established the Fisher Cummings Washington Fellows Program with a major gift. [18] The program funds select students for a semester-long internship in Washington, D.C., with an emphasis on working to promote social justice and the well-being of women, children, and families at the federal level. [19] In 2014, the School opened its Online Campus for earning a Master's of Science in Social Work (MSSW) from various major cities across the United States. [20]
In 2014, the "Beyond The Bars" conference was hosted by Columbia Center for Justice. This conference is hosted by students, faculty, and community leaders who have been impacted by incarceration. [21]
As of 2023, the School had 1,093 students. [22] It had 36 full-time faculty, and 233 part-time faculty. [22] The School received $15 million of externally sponsored research expenditures in 2022. [22] During their MSW, students have the choice between four different pathways: Advanced Clinical Practice (ACP), Integrated Practice and Programming (IPP), Policy Practice (PP), and Leadership Management and Entrepreneurship (LME). [23]
The School has helped form the Urban League and the White House Conferences on Children and Youth. The School was one of the first to develop an ecological approach to social work.[ citation needed ] Members of the School faculty assisted Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins in writing and implementing the Social Security Act of 1935. [13] During and after World War II, the School staff helped to extend the social work role into the military. The School's 1966 study on foster children and their parents has also had an impact on national policy.[ citation needed ]
In 2008, the School was ranked fourth in U.S. News & World Report rankings of "America's Best Graduate Best Social Work Programs." [24] Between 1990 and 2004, the School ranked 19th out of 61 social work doctoral programs in admissions selectivity. [25]
The School's mission focuses on the development of leaders in social work practice and research, the advancement of the social work profession, professional values, knowledge, and skills, and the enhancement of well-being and the promotion of human rights and social justice at the local, national, and global level through the creation of responsive social programs and policies. [26]
In 2003, the School began publishing the Journal of Student Social Work [27] The Journal is a scholarly publication featuring articles related to all aspects of the social work profession, including clinical practice, public policy, and administration. In 2010 The Journal was renamed the Columbia Social Work Review. [27]
The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a master's degree in the field of social work. It is a professional degree with specializations compared to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). MSW promotes macro-, mezzo- and micro-aspects of professional social work practice, whereas the BSW focuses more on direct social work practices in community, hospitals and other fields of social services. In some countries, such as Australia, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong SAR, some MSW degrees are considered equivalent to BSW qualifications as a qualifying degree.
Edith Abbott was an American economist, statistician, social worker, educator, and author. Abbott was born in Grand Island, Nebraska. Abbott was a pioneer in the profession of social work with an educational background in economics. She was a leading activist in social reform with the ideals that humanitarianism needed to be embedded in education. Abbott was also in charge of implementing social work studies to the graduate level. Though she was met with resistance on her work with social reform at the University of Chicago, she ultimately was successful and was elected as the school's dean in 1924, making her one of the first female deans in the United States. Abbott was foremost an educator and saw her work as a combination of legal studies and humanitarian work which shows in her social security legislation. She is known as an economist who pursued implementing social work at the graduate level. Her younger sister was Grace Abbott.
Social work will never become a profession—except through the professional schools
The New York University Silver School of Social Work provides social work education from undergraduate through doctoral levels.
The Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW) is the graduate school of social work at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is a nonprofit national association in the United States representing more than 2,500 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 in the United States.
The School of Social Work is a school at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that exclusively focuses on social work education. The school was originally a graduate school, but began an undergraduate program in Fall 2010.
The University of Georgia School of Social Work (SSW) is a college within the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, United States.
The Fordham Graduate School of Social Service (GSS) is one of the six graduate schools of Fordham University. U.S. News & World Report has routinely ranked it among the top schools for social work in the United States.
The Florida State University College of Social Work, is the social work college of the Florida State University. The College is the oldest in the state of Florida and was the first in the world to offer a Master of Social Work through an accredited online program. More than 1,100 students are enrolled, including undergraduates and graduate students, including Master of Social Work and Doctor of Philosophy students. The BSW and MSW programs are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.
Professional social workers are generally considered those who hold a professional degree in social work. In a number of countries and jurisdictions, registration or licensure of people working as social workers is required and there are mandated qualifications. In other places, the professional association sets academic and experiential requirements for admission to membership.
The School of Social Welfare of the University of California, Berkeley, was established June 1, 1944 and is located in Haviland Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. Its focus is to prepare graduates to become agents of social change through direct practice, agency management, policymaking, and leading new discoveries that address the grand challenges confronting society. Berkeley Social Welfare offers the Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare through the College of Letters and Science (L&S), the M.S.W., and the Ph.D. Haviland Hall includes its own library, The Social Research Library, which was founded in 1957 and contains approximately 34,400 volumes and 200 active serial titles. The library originally housed volumes specifically for the social work field and expanded in 2014 to include education, psychology, public policy. The library also maintains an Indigenous Social Work space.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, one of the 13 schools and colleges within the University of Pittsburgh, is located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its offices are in the world-famous Cathedral of Learning, a forty-story, Gothic style edifice that is the signature building of the university.
Bertha Capen Reynolds was an American social worker who was influential in the creation of strength-based practice, radical social work and critical social work, among others.
Judith Wallerstein was a psychologist and researcher who created a 25-year study on the effects of divorce on the children involved. She received a number of prominent awards and honors and wrote four best selling books. Judith Wallerstein was born on December 27, 1921, as Judith Hannah Saretsky in New York City. Her father died from cancer when she was 8 years old. Wallerstein received her bachelor's degree from Hunter College (1943), her Master's in social work from Columbia University (1946) and her Doctorate in psychology from Lund University in Sweden (1978). She died at 90 years old June 18, 2012 from an unexpected intestinal obstruction in Piedmont, California. She was married for 65 years to the academic Robert S. Wallerstein.
Smith College School for Social Work is a professional school, within Smith College that provides graduate social work and education to students around the world.
The School of Social Policy and Practice is the graduate social work school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League university in Philadelphia.
Frances Lomas Feldman (1912–2008) was an American social worker and professor at the University of Southern California. She is perhaps best known for conducting a milestone, multi-year three-volume study in the 1970s for the American Cancer Society which provided the first systematic evidence that cancer patients faced discrimination in the workplace. Her areas of teaching had to do with social welfare, including its history, welfare policy, and administration. Her research and writings examine the psychological, social, and economic meanings of money and work in American families.
Jane Waldfogel FBA is an American social economist and the Compton Foundation Centennial Professor of Social Work for the Prevention of Children's and Youth Problems at Columbia University. Her research focuses on work-family policies, improving the measurement of poverty, and understanding social mobility across countries and child welfare. She has published studies about the impact of public policies on child and family well-being.
Clinical social work is a specialty within the broader profession of social work. The American Board of Clinical Social Work (ABCSW) defines clinical social work as "a healthcare profession based on theories and methods of prevention and treatment in providing mental-health/healthcare services, with special focus on behavioral and bio-psychosocial problems and disorders". The National Association of Social Workers defines clinical social work as "a specialty practice area of social work which focuses on the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illness, emotional, and other behavioral disturbances. Individual, group and family therapy are common treatment modalities". Clinical social work applies social work theory and knowledge drawn from human biology, the social sciences, and the behavioral sciences.
Zelda Foster was a social worker who was a leader in the hospice movement. Foster also taught at the Columbia School of Social Work and was director of children's mental health at the Children's Aid Society.