Message from the Director

With great pleasure, I share with you our latest report Making a Positive Impact on Communities, from Florida International University’s (FIU) School of Social Work. Within these pages, you will find stories highlighting the impactful work our faculty and students are doing to reach underserved and marginalized communities near and far. While COVID-19 has changed our lives in ways we never thought possible; I am honored to share that our faculty, staff, and students have not only met the challenges presented to us—they surpassed expectations in doing so.

Meeting the needs of communities during COVID-19

While COVID-19 highlighted the issues of health disparities across our country, our faculty maintained its focus and energies on researching the crucial issues of health disparities impacting marginalized and underserved communities. As an example, the National Institute on Minority Health Disparities (NIMHD) awarded Dr. Eric Wagner, professor at FIU’s School of Social Work, $13.1 million to continue to build on health disparities research. This grant has jumpstarted many research projects led by social work faculty.

I am also incredibly proud of our students and faculty and how they’ve supported each other and the South Florida community during this pandemic. To continue their education and meet the needs of their clients, our faculty and students quickly shifted from in-person classes to virtual classrooms, and field placements were adjusted to provide educational experiences through telehealth and other virtual platforms.

The work of our students does not go unnoticed. For the 15th consecutive year, our students in Phi Alpha Honor Society were once again recognized with the National Service Award from Phi Alpha National Honor Society for their community work that included collection drives and online workshops.

Diversity & Inclusion

At FIU’s School of Social Work, we commit ourselves to build an academic community that embraces diverse cultures, backgrounds and lived experiences that reflect our diverse student population and the people we serve. We utilize anti-racist, anti-oppressive practices in our teaching and engagement with students, faculty, staff, and community. This past year we redoubled our efforts to increase the diversity of our faculty to further meet the needs of our highly diverse student population. We are pleased to have recruited and hired three assistant professors who bring diversity, talent, dedication and commitment to our School of Social Work.

Our Impact

While we have only just begun to meet the multitude of challenges we face daily, there is no doubt that we are poised and ready to meet them. Every day, we see the impact our graduates have on our communities and the changes resulting from their research and community projects. Alumni from our three programs (BSSW, MSW, Ph.D.) continue to uncover new ways to meet the needs of people through their employment in non-profit, for-profit, and government agencies and universities across the country. We are proud of the many accomplishments of our graduates and their continued commitment to making a difference in the lives of others.

We are grateful for your ongoing support and commitment to educating our future social workers and leaders. From our School of Social Work to yours, we wish you a healthy and prosperous year ahead.

Warmest wishes, Mary Helen Hayden