School of Social Work

Summary

The School of Social Work is proud to join the With Illinois capital campaign, which celebrates 150 years of excellence at the University of Illinois and sets the stage for continued leadership in research, education, and community impact. We have selected areas of special importance for School of Social Work fundraising below, and invite you to join us in continuing to build upon our great tradition. We also welcome other ideas that will help our School attain greatness in strengthening vulnerable families and communities.

Priorities

Making Social Work Education Accessible to All

No meritorious students should be denied high quality social work education simply because of inadequate financial means. Increased student scholarships and fellowships will make the highest quality social work education accessible to talented students in financial need, and will allow us to educate a new and more diverse generation of Social Work leaders. These funds also can enrich our courses, field placements, and experiential learning opportunities.

Leading the New Wave of Social Work Education and Research

Faculty members are the heart and soul of social work education and research; their expertise both inspires and provides innovative, cutting edge training for our students. In a world of changing social problems and rapidly emerging social work techniques, faculty members need support to bring the latest innovations to their teaching and research. We also seek funding to hire additional social work educational and research leaders, and to work on specific research problems of broad public interest.

Creating Innovative Partnerships for Community Change

No field places a greater emphasis on impacting communities than social work – it is what we are about. Our field placements and service projects create deep relationships and diverse services in communities across Illinois and around the world. Funding will support innovative community partnerships to experiment with new practices, such as new field placements and community educational programs, our innovative Community Learning Lab, and emerging public and nonprofit service initiatives.

Improving Education and Social Services through New Technology

New technologies are transforming how we serve vulnerable populations, and they offer great potential for innovative interventions, educational delivery, and social work management practices. It is critical that social workers become highly literate about and creative in using these new technologies. Funding will support course and training development to improve practice-related technology use, and will help faculty and students develop new technology applications and conduct research on new technology use in social work practice.