The University of Washington School of Social Work is the social work school of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

, a public research university in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. The School offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate degree programs in social work with an enrollment of more than 600 students. The School is located in the University District neighborhood of

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

adjacent to the main University of Washington campus. Beginning in the early 1900s, the School developed from a single course to an independent department accredited by the

Council on Social Work Education The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is a nonprofit national association in the United States representing more than 2,500 individual members, as well as graduate and undergraduate programs of professional social work education. Founded in 19 ...

. Today, the School is ranked as one of the United States' best graduate programs in social work by the ''U.S. News & World Report''.

History

1900s

In 1918, the University used Red Cross funding to establish a social casework course in the Department of Sociology in order to train caseworkers to provide services to families of servicemen returning from World War I. This represented the first formal social work training in the state of Washington.

1930s

At the height of the Great Depression in 1934, UW established the graduate program at the School with funding from the Washington State Emergency Relief Association in response to the need for public agency social workers and administrators in the region. The School's graduate program became independent in 1934 under the direction of Arlien Johnson and was formally accredited by the Council on Social Work Education during the same year. Ernest Witte becomes the school's director in 1939, adopting a two-year masters program, and expanding the curriculum and fieldwork opportunities. The School gained independent status as a professional school in 1958. The undergraduate program was established in 1959 and formally accredited by the Council on Social Work Education in 1975. The School officially added a doctoral program in 1975 and a three-year evening master's degree program in the 1980s.

Achievements

Rankings

In 2016, the ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the School third among the United States' nearly 220 schools with master of social work degree programs.

Research

Current research centers include the Social Development Research Group, the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute, and Partners for Our Children.

Partnerships

Since 2006, the School of Social Work has partnered with the

Royal University of Phnom Penh The Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP; km, សាកលវិទ្យាល័យភូមិន្ទភ្នំពេញ; french: Université royale de Phnom Penh) is a national research university of Cambodia, located in the Phnom P ...

in Cambodia to develop social work curriculum and train social work professionals to address pressing societal problems, following years of civil discord.Gillet, Kit
"Cambodia Trains Social Workers to Curb Reliance on Foreign Aid"
''The New York Times''

References

External links

School of Social Work Website
{{Authority control Schools of social work in the United States Universities and colleges established in 1934 1934 establishments in Washington (state)