RU School of Social Work earns important national accreditation

CSWE

The baccalaureate and masters programs in Social Work at Radford University have been re-accredited by the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE).

At the master's level, RU is now one of four social work programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia and one of 13 Virginia baccalaureate programs to earn accreditation at the undergraduate level. Nationally, Radford joins more than 400 accredited undergraduate programs and 230 accredited master's programs.

"We are always assessing our programs and student learning for continuous improvement to the curriculum," said School of Social Work Director Diane Hodge. "Successful re-accreditation is a complete team effort by the entire school-students, faculty, support staff, advisory committee and administration."

RU was originally granted CSWE accreditation for its BSW program in 1976 and its MSW program in 1996. Hodge was notified of the successful re-affirmation of the school's accreditation by mail in March, capping a three-year effort that included site visits, training workshops for faculty, updates of all courses and syllabi and updates to the school's library, academic and financial resource base.

"The achievement underscores the track record of the faculty and staff in the School of Social Work to fulfill its mission of service to our community through continued improvement in teaching and learning," said Kenneth Cox, dean of the Waldron College of Health and Human Services.

Accreditation is important to the graduates of the undergraduate and graduate programs who, upon graduation, are eligible to sit for licensure exams by state boards of social work, including the Virginia Board of Social Work.

The School of Social Work serves almost 300 students at its graduate and undergraduate programs in Radford and at the Roanoke Higher Education Center. Its alumni serve the region as part of organizations such as the Veteran's Administration, New River Valley Community Services and area departments of social services.

The CSWE is a partnership of educational and professional institutions, social welfare agencies and private citizens recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the sole accrediting agency for social work education. The nonprofit national association represents more than 2,500 individual members, as well as graduate and undergraduate programs of professional social work education.

Mar 31, 2015