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The AUSSW Community Messenger Happy holidays from the School of Social Work! As we prepare for another exciting and productive semester, we take time to reflect on the events of the past several months. As always, we welcome your feedback and we invite you to participate in our upcoming events.
SSW Hosts Successful CEU Event
SSW Fall Orientations Held at AU and GWC
SSW Professionals Participate in Panel
The M.S.W. program at GWC is thriving, and plans are being made to develop a doctoral program in clinical social work, as well as a specialization and post-M.S.W. certificate in experiential groupwork in collaboration with Dean Rita Yerkes’ recreation administration program at GWC. Former SSW faculty member Dr. Ann Bergart has also helped secure GWC as one of the sites of the 2009 Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups, Inc. (AASWG) conference! More news to follow as this program develops.
SSW Welcomes Alumni During Homecoming and Reunion Weekends
Fall Field Instructor's Seminar “Serving the Client through Enhanced Supervision Practice” was the title of the Fall Field Instructors Seminar held in October. Director of Field Work, Alison Arendt, and SSW faculty members Dr. Bob Daugherty, and Dr. Janet Yanos were the presenters. Nearly 50 field instructors, field liaisons and students attended. The SSW annually offers FREE CEU workshops to its field instructors as part of an ongoing effort to enrich the education of its constituents who provide such an important service to the students in both the B.S.W. and M.S.W. programs.
SSW Develops Hesed House Project
New Professional Initiatives in the SSW The SSW is in the process of launching several new professional initiatives. Dr. Julie Bach has been hired to develop a gerontology specialization. Students in the M.S.W. program will be able to “specialize” in gerontology by taking four advanced electives and field placement in that area. This initiative is highly supported and encouraged by the Council on Social Work Education and meets an important need of our constituents. Rob Castillo is developing a specialization in addictions within the B.S.W. program. B.S.W. students will be able to take this four-course sequence as part of their undergraduate education at AU, and be qualified to sit for the Certified Alcohol and other Drug Certification Exam upon graduation. Castillo is pursuing an affiliation with the Illinois Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Professional Certification Association, Inc. (IAODAPCA) as part of this initiative. Aurora University would be only the second university and SSW in the state to have this affiliation. The SSW is planning on offering the Addictions and Gerontology specializations to students in the B.S.W. and M.S.W. programs over time.
New SSW Faculty Profiles are on the Web SSW administrative intern Jan Selander has helped to compile a comprehensive faculty profile for the SSW Web page. This is a new effort to provide more comprehensive information about the scholarly and professional credentials of the SSW faculty and staff to our constituents and prospective students. Please check it out!
Watch for information about the SSW spring gerontology event. Return to School of Social Work Home Page
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The School of Social Work held a well-received CEU event this past spring featuring Dr. Eda Goldstein. The topic of the seminar was the clinical social work relationship. The event was held in Aurora University’s beautiful Crimi Auditorium, and was attended by nearly 150 participants. Goldstein presented didactic and anecdotal case discussions that truly captured the crucial experience of the therapeutic relationship. 
The annual SSW “Community Day” Orientation was held in the fall on both the Aurora and Williams Bay campuses. The Aurora campus event included more than 120 new B.S.W. and M.S.W. students, while the George Williams College event was attended by more than 20 new M.S.W. students. This year was the first that a combined B.S.W. and M.S.W. orientation was held, “One School of Social Work (SSW)…One Program.” Students from both the undergraduate and graduate social work programs interacted with their peers, as well as SSW faculty and staff. A unique element of the AU SSW is to provide students with an opportunity to form relationships with their peers, faculty and staff before they embark upon their professional education. Many School of Social Work programs across the country do not offer orientations of this nature. 
New SSW faculty member Julie Bach and SSW advisory board member and Mental Health and Retardation Services (708 Board) Executive Director Jerry Murphy participated in a panel discussion at AU with nationally known author Barbara Ehrenreich. Ehrenreich is the author of Nickel and Dimed in America. The panel discussion was moderated by AU Provost Andrew Manion, and also included School of Nursing faculty member Peggy Hernandez. The topic of the discussion was mental health services in the Aurora area. 
The SSW hosted Homecoming receptions at both the Aurora and George Williams College campuses in the fall. SSW faculty members and administration attended both events. On the Aurora campus, Fred McKenzie, SSW Director; Donette Considine, Associate Director; Alison Arendt, Director of Field Work; along with faculty members Julie Bach, Rob Castillo, Don Phelps and Janet Yanos welcomed SSW alumni. On the George Williams campus, Randy Fisher, School Social Work Coordinator; Mary Weeden, Field Coordinator; along with former Dean Sandra Alcorn, hosted SSW alumni. Dean Alcorn also signed copies of her new book Strong Roots, an anecdotal history of George Williams College. 
Dr. Don Phelps, working with several advanced Leadership and Community Practice M.S.W. students helped to reinstate a program for the children of the homeless at Hesed House in Aurora. Several years ago, “Project Heart” was developed through the Beasley Foundation Grant as a collaborative project with School of Social Work, recreation administration and nursing student interns. These AU interns provided after school support to the children of Hesed House residents. Now, years later, Dr. Phelps has helped to develop a volunteer program aimed at providing the same type of support. This new initiative, titled, “Harvest of Hope,” is entirely voluntary, and provided primarily by the social work students. The SSW continually reaches out to the Aurora community to offer support and collaboration in a myriad of ways.