Fordham Westchester Social Work Program Celebrates Centennial

From Fordham University’s Westchester Campus:

With a thriving healthcare system, an aging baby boomer population and a growing need for youth and family services professionals, the demand for social workers is skyrocketing. Few colleges and universities are as uniquely positioned to help meet this growing demand as Fordham Westchester.

Fordham University has a lengthy history of successfully preparing social work students to enter the workforce. Fordham’s social work program, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees at its Westchester campus, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Aside from its exceptional academic reputation, the program’s staying power can be attributed to its comprehensive, flexible course offerings. Many classes are offered at night, on weekends or online, allowing students to complete their degrees while balancing work and family responsibilities.

“As one of the nation’s oldest schools of social work, we have serviced our communities with 100 years of excellence,” said Ji Seon Lee, Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Social Service and Director of the Fordham Westchester campus. “We are looking forward to another 100 years, meeting the changing needs of our society.”

Fordham’s social work program has never been more relevant. According to the website http://socialworkdegreeguide.com:

· By the year 2030, all 78 million members of the baby boomer population will have had their 65thbirthday, almost doubling the number of people this age now. With the huge demographic bearing down on the nation’s healthcare delivery systems, nearly 75 percent of social workers work with older adults in some capacity.

· The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that, driven by an increasing demand for healthcare and social services worldwide, employment of social workers will grow much faster than average, at 19 percent, thus creating more than 114,100 new jobs by 2022 across social work subspecialties.

The undergraduate social work curriculum at Fordham Westchester is offered through the Graduate School of Social Service and the School of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS), which was created specifically for adult students to complete their bachelor’s degree or to begin their studies at a later point in their lives. In recognition of students’ rich and varied backgrounds, PCS accepts up to 75 credits from prior college courses meeting certain criteria, and up to 30 credits for life experience through a portfolio submission.

Students who work toward their undergraduate degree in social work will learn:

· How to promote human rights and social justice and improve the well-being of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
· Professional social work values and the Jesuit educational tradition, with its focus on social justice.
· Social work competencies necessary to effectively serve diverse populations.

Students completing the Bachelor of Arts in social work will be qualified to work in a variety of settings, including mental health agencies, foster care and adoption, substance abuse, and services for the elderly, immigrants, homeless and victims of domestic violence.

The Master of Social Work (MSW) program, offered at Fordham Westchester through the Graduate School of Social Service, is highly acclaimed. U.S. News & World Report ranked it among the top 10 percent of graduate school social work programs nationwide. And GSS was ranked No. 1 on OnlineSchoolsCenter.com's list of top 20 online MSW programs.

Fordham’s MSW program has several appealing features, particularly for adult students with families and careers, including:

· Concentrations in clinical, leadership, macro practice and research.
· Flexible scheduling and student-centered plans of study, including part-time, weekend, extended and asynchronous, hybrid, and online options.
· An array of supervised field placements.
· Accelerated degree paths for BSW graduates, as well as specialized study plans for current social workers.
· Joint MSW degree programs in law, public health, divinity and psychotherapy.

“I went to the Fordham Westchester open houses, and they were very welcoming, much more so than other really prominent schools,” said Ossining resident Cynthia Duncan, who went on to earn her masters degree in social work – requiring 66 credits plus field work and an internship – in 3½ years. Duncan was eager to escape the world of financial securities after 25 years, and she had gained an affinity for social work during her mother’s time in hospice care. “Fordham is a hard school and a hard program – they get everything out of you,” she added. “But it’s really flexible, offering two-, three- and four-year programs. And the teachers are unbelievable.”

For more information on the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, contact Glenn Berman, Director of Admissions, at 914-367-3322 or Gberman@fordham.edu. For more information on the Graduate School of Social Service, contact Anne Treantafeles, Interim Director of Admissions, at 212-636-6602.

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