College of Professional Studies
School of Social Work
Mission, History, and Core Values:
School of Social Work Mission:
The mission of the School of Social Work is to prepare competent
and committed social workers who will promote the development
and enhancement of resilient communities, social groups, families and
individuals.
The School seeks to improve quality of life and community well-being
and to promote social justice with emphasis on oppressed and vulnerable
populations through excellent teaching, scholarship and research, and
community service.
History:
The School of Social Work is located in the College of Professional
Studies at Aurora University. Named for Sir George Williams, the founder
of the YMCA, it has a rich historical tradition rooted in the social
group work movement which, along with the settlement movement, strongly
influenced social welfare at the turn of the twentieth century. The
School of Social Work was originally founded in 1968 at George Williams
College in Downers Grove, Illinois. In December 1985, when the main
campus of George Williams College ceased to exist as an educational
institution, the faculty and the student body of the School of Social
Work refused to disband as a community, and in 1986 affiliated with
Aurora University. Despite the adversity of the closing of George Williams
College, the collective action of the students and faculty made possible
a successful transition to Aurora University. These efforts have enabled
the George Williams legacy of preparing social workers committed to
enhancing group and community life to continue to thrive, and is testimony
to the power of social group work in action.
Core Values for the School of Social Work:
As a social work program, we affirm these underlying social group
work principles and their relevance today in empowering people to enhance
their lives, communities, social service systems and society:
- a belief in the inherent strengths and coping resilience
of people, realized in improved social support networks;
- a
focus on the positive and wholistic development of people through
natural communities, groups, and families, thereby supporting
prevention and contributing to the development of collaborative social service
systems;
- a belief in the capacity of people to empower themselves
through mutual aid and to advocate for social change when encountering
obstacles to individual and collective well being;
- a belief in the
social work role to facilitate group and network affiliation, particularly
for isolated, vulnerable populations;
- use of an experiential learning
model and value of developing a learning community.
For more information about the MSW
Program, please contact:
Melissa Yovich-Whattam, 630 844-5292, myovich@aurora.edu,
Graduate recruiter for the MSW program
|
