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Social Work

The Conversation Project Wants You!

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Oregon humanities is looking for people eager to traverse the valley, mountains, and deserts of Oregon’s thirty-six countries, bringing neighbors, friends, and strangers together to exchange words and ideas.

Since 2009, the Conversation project has worked with nearly 200 nonprofits across the state to offer more than 400 discussions on topics as varied as race, land-use policies, gender, censorship, and the future of rural communities.

What happens when people sit together and talk? the world becomes a more connected, more interesting, more vital place.

Be part of this movement to engage Oregonians with one another. Apply to be a Conversation Project leader today. Visit Oregonhumanities.org to read full Request for Proposals and apply online. THE APPLICATION DEADLINE IS MARCH 14, 2014.

For questions, contact Director of programs Jennifer Allen at (503) 241-0543 or (800) 735-0543, ext. 118, or j.allen@oregonhumanities.org

Rebecca Chavez: Hightower Scholarship Recipient

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Rebecca Chavez, this year’s recipient of Molly Hightower scholarship, has “taken advantage of all that UP has to offer”

Rebecca Chavez, a University of Portland senior, barely recalls a time when service was not part of her life.Recipient of this year’s Molly Hightower Endowed Scholarship, Chavez was under the age of 10 when she regularly volunteered with her family at a home for developmental disabled adults. Her job included transporting the home’s residents via wheelchair to Sunday Mass.

“It was often noisy in those Masses,” she said. “But I realized they were praising God just like anyone else.”

“I have been doing service since I could walk,” she added. “My mother is an immigrant, and my father was born to immigrant parents, so my siblings and I grew up with understandings of social justice.”
Chavez, born and raised in Santa Clara, near San Francisco, is majoring in Spanish and social work and minoring in communication studies. She is the third recipient of the Molly Hightower Scholarship. The scholarship was established by the Class of 2010 in memory of Hightower, who died in the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti while volunteering with special-needs orphans. [Read more…] about Rebecca Chavez: Hightower Scholarship Recipient

Social Work Welcome

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Welcome to the University of Portland Dorothy Day Social Work Program (SWP).  The SWP offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work, accredited by The Council on Social Work Education.  However, the SWP is more than a major.  In many ways it is a community of service and learning within the larger University community.  As for curriculum content, the SWP offers what most closely resembles a hybrid of sociology and psychology courses and thus it is fittingly housed in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences along with the disciplines of psychology, and sociology.

The SWP is accredited by the national social work accrediting body, the Council on Social Work Education.  This means the SWP meets or exceeds national standards for social work education, and graduates of our program are eligible for advanced standing in graduate Master’s of Social Work programs across the country.  Thus, graduates of our program can complete a graduate degree in social work in one year instead of the usual two. This also means that the SWP curriculum reflects a first year graduate curriculum in social work education.  Students take an array of courses that prepare them for entry level social work positions and for what is termed a BSW in the social community.  The state of Oregon has joined most other states in recognizing the BSW as a certified professional degree.  Students take courses in social justice, social research, cultural diversity, human behavior, social policy, and interviewing and counseling.

The SWP has a special commitment to social justice and diversity.  This commitment is met through course content in all of the required courses but also in electives and non-classroom experiences—internships, research with faculty, service projects, and study abroad offerings.

Students in the SWP also enjoy social opportunities such as Social Work Club functions that include attendance at professional seminars, sponsoring guest speakers on campus, and community service activities. Through the regularly-scheduled club meetings, students have a direct means of sharing their thoughts about the curriculum and program and participating in its design.

Students can also participate in a national honor society for social work students. The Phi Alpha Society provides a closer bond among students of social work and promotes humanitarian goals and ideals.  Phi Alpha fosters high standards of education for social workers and invites into membership those who have attained excellence in scholarship and achievement in social work.

In short, we are proud to offer an educational experience that includes:

  • small class sizes
  • a broad curriculum
  • a wide variety of internships and research opportunities
  • field practica
  • eligibility for advanced standing in MSW programs

You are invited to explore the SWP and all it has to offer. The faculty and students are happy to answer any questions you might have about the wonderful opportunities that the major and the profession offer.

Sincerely,


Anissa Rogers, Ph.D.
Director, Social Work Program
rogers@up.edu

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