Social Work Programs at ESU, Marywood Team Up for Inaugural Spring Continuing Education Workshop

Posted by: admin on March 14, 2014, No Comments

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice joined forces with the Marywood University School of Social Work and Administrative Studies on Wednesday, March 5, to sponsor the inaugural spring continuing education workshop.

More than 75 people attended, including ESU’s bachelor of science in social work (BSSW) program agency field supervisors, Marywood’s master’s in social work (MSW) program field supervisors, both BSSW and MSW field students and regional agency practitioners. Attending this workshop provided three continuing education units (CEUs) for licensed social workers, marriage and family therapists and professional counselors. The event also provided an opportunity to highlight the academic programs in social work now available at ESU.

ESU’s bachelor of science in social work was implemented in the Fall of 2012 and granted candidacy by the Commission on Accreditation (COA) and Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) in June 2013. This was an important milestone in the 42-month process of achieving CSWE initial accreditation, which may conclude in June 2015 with a COA vote on initial accreditation. Receiving initial accreditation will enable BSSW graduates to attain advanced standing in their MSW studies.

Additionally, Marywood’s MSW program, a longstanding premier source for graduate social work education in the region, began implementation of its Pocono MSW program at ESU in the Fall of 2013, making graduate work, in addition to undergraduate work, at ESU now possible. In addition, there are opportunities for cross pollination between programs as well as an opportunity for continuity for students in their BSSW/MSW studies.

For local and regional agencies, having BSSW and MSW programs on the ESU campus that emphasize competency-based social work education, as required by CSWE accreditation standards, provides a larger pool of generalist and advanced social work practitioners, which can help meet the growing demand for social workers as identified by the U.S. Department of Labor (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014).

The plan, said John Kraybill-Greggo, Ph.D., ESU chair and associate professor of sociology, social work and criminal justice, is that the workshop, which was facilitated by Dr. Lloyd Lyter, professor of social work at Marywood University, will become an annual event between the two institutions.