Social Work Student Association
Issue 2:October 8, 2012
Be informed on your local and presidential candidates and issues! Check out: www.votesmart.org and www.govtrack.us
Faculty Facts: Michael Ottone Hometown?
Gaithersburg, Maryland
with your degree, to grow and develop as a person and as a professional are your responsibility. Yet, this is an experience you should enjoy and remember. Make friends, have fun, learn, and develop your passion!
Micro and macro?
Education? Associate’s Degree in Mental Health, Montgomery County Community College, BSW, University of Maryland Baltimore County, MSW USC – Columbia
What classes have you taught? SOWK 723:Advanced Social Work Practice in Groups SOWK 724: Advanced Social Work Practice with Individuals and Families
This is not an easy question to answer. Realistically, as your career progresses you will encounter tasks and opportunities which are micro, macro, and mezzo. But you may never again have the time and opportunity to focus so in depth on one or the other. Where do you want to be in 3-5 years, after graduation? What is your expectation for your career path? What populations do you want to work with? What type of service provision? Focus on your short-term goals and identify what will best help you attain those goals. You will always be learning, through training and continuing education, so what you do not focus on now you may be able to pick up in the future.
Favorite thing to do in Columbia?
SOWK 726:Supervision and Case Consultation SOWK 718: Systems Analysis of Social Work Practice
Advice for graduate students? It seems like a cliché to say this, but it is very true. The benefits, strengths, and rewards you gain from this program are driven by what you put into it. Your effort and desire to gain information, to learn what you can do and what you want to do
I am a huge Gamecocks fan and my family and I attend the football games, as well as many other events throughout the year. I am a passionate baseball fan and I have coached for a long time. I believe in being involved in my community. I am a member of my local school improvement council, my local recreation center park improvement committee, and I am the current President of the South Carolina chapter of NASW.
True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice
cool kids say… Want to stay up-to-date on current events? There are FREE copies of the New York Times in the Russell House everyday! If you’re looking for something cool to do on a lazy weekend the Columbia Museum of Art is FREE on Sundays. Best part: you can still sleep in…they are open from 12 – 5 pm. Networking 101: Include food! Part of networking is being able to build relationships with people. What better way to get to know someone than over a meal? Check out the Out-To-Lunch program where you can get a voucher to take your professor to any dining facility on campus! And guess what?! It’s FREE! Look like a cool kid and impress your prof. by checking out where you can pick up an Out-toLunch voucher! The website even gives suggestions for topics to talk about. You will be a networking pro in no time!http://www.housing.sc.edu/ace/otl.html
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Want to work in Mental Health or with Veterans?! Meet second year MSW Will Phifer Columbia Native Army Veteran B.A. Psychology, The Citadel
For anyone considering or currently going Micro, Will would be an excellent resource. Having spent his first year with Forensic Services at the South Carolina Department of Mental Health facilitating psychosocial rehabilitation group therapy to patients who were diagnosed with chronic mental illness and judicially committed to inpatient psychiatric treatment, and currently spending his second year with Primary Care Behavioral Health (BH) at the Wm. J. B. Dorn VA Hospital. At the VA, Will conducts individual BH initial intakes, follow-up BH individual therapy, healthcare management, suicide screenings and risk
assessments, cognitive functioning screenings,leads a 10-session Anger Management Group and in the coming weeks will start co-leading a new primary care PTSD outpatient treatment group. Will loves his field placement because he learns something new from every interaction. His supervisors have been outstanding and the other staff and medical professionals are more helpful than he could ever have imagined. After graduation, you may see Will either working for the VA or Department of Defense in an inpatient or outpatient setting with dual diagnosis patients suffering from substance abuse disorders and combat trauma. He would love to continue his travels around the country, or even the world--like he did in the Army. Want to know
more? Ask Will: phiferw@email.sc.edu