Social Innovation Symposium

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

A conversation among three social entrepreneurs working to bring social innovation to the nonprofit, for-profit, and public sectors was organized by the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work in partnership with the undergraduate Capstone Program.  more »

National Media Highlights Research Study by GSSW's Sloan Center on Aging & Work

JANUARY 27, 2012

A new study by Jacquelyn James, Elyssa Besen, Christina Matz-Costa, and Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes of GSSW's Sloan Center on Aging & Work has been highlighted nationally in Time.com, SmartMoney.com, and USA Today. The study looks at the well-being of older adults as tied to their active engagement in paid work, caregiving, education, and volunteering.

GSSW in the News
"GSSW to Collaborate on Program in Afghanistan"

JANUARY 24, 2012

A collaboration between Boston College and Hunter College aims to help establish social work as a recognized profession in Afghanistan, by developing national qualification standards and university level curricula at undergraduate and graduate levels.

Eileen Ihrig, director of international programs at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, is the co-principal investigator for the project, which will create occupational standards and training systems that focus on child protection.  Read more from the Boston College Chronicle »
Read the article from the Boston College Heights »

GSSW in the News
Doctoral Student Researches Plight of African-American Women with HIV/AIDS Who Provide Care for Family Members

JANUARY 23, 2012

Graduate School of Social Work doctoral student Charu Stokes undertook a study of 24 Boston-area African-American women — mostly single and ranging in age from 30s to 60s — coping with HIV/AIDS even as they provide care for their children or other family members. Stokes' findings suggest that women in such situations use available health care services, but eschew programs that provide assistance for child and family care. The project earned Stokes two dissertation awards.  Read more from the Boston College Chronicle »

2012 Distinguished Alumni Award Presentation

JANUARY 20, 2012

Brian Toomey, MSW '80, was selected as the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient by the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work in recognition of his 30+ years of leadership, achieving positive results on behalf of low-income, chronically ill, and disabled populations. Throughout much of his career, Brian has been at the helm, developing and managing community health care systems to meet unmet community needs.  Read more and watch video »

GSSW in the News
"Q&A: A Few Minutes With Jessica Black"

DECEMBER 15, 2011

It might seem unusual for a faculty member in social work to be involved in research that has to do with brain imaging and neural systems, but for the past several years, Graduate School of Social Work Assistant Professor Jessica Black has taken part in studies of dyslexia in early childhood through adolescence.  Read more from the Boston College Chronicle »

GSSW in the News
"GSSW Plans Forum on Spirituality in Social Work"

DECEMBER 15, 2011

The Graduate School of Social Work is expanding its annual alumni celebration into a school-wide conference that will explore spirituality in social work. The event, which takes place January 13 from 8 a.m.-noon in McGuinn 121, will include a keynote address by Edward R. Canda — whose research interests bridge religious studies and social service — as well as workshops and the presentation of the GSSW Distinguished Alumni Award.
Read more from the Boston College Chronicle »
REGISTER for the Diversity Conference and Alumni Award event »

GSSW in the News
"They're Eagles of One Feather"

DECEMBER 1, 2011

Boston College Graduate School of Social Work doctoral student Alfonso Alvarez and his daughter Luisa, also a Boston College student, feel connected even while he serves as behavioral health officer in the Army Medical Service Corps in Afghanistan. The GSSW community showed support by sending books, DVDs, & other items, and raising over $500 for a troop book fund.  Read more from the Boston College Chronicle »

Dean Godenzi to Chair 2011-2012 CSWE President/CEO Search Committee

AUGUST 17, 2011

Dean Alberto Godenzi will serve as the chair of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) 2011-2012 President/CEO Search Committee. The CSWE is a nonprofit national association representing more than 3,000 individual members, as well as graduate and undergraduate programs of professional social work education.  more »

GSSW Doctoral Student Receives NASW Foundation Fellowship

AUGUST 16, 2011

Charu Stokes, a doctoral student at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, is this year's recipient of the Jane B. Aron Doctoral Fellowship. The National Association of Social Workers Foundation awards the $2,000 fellowship to a social work doctoral candidate whose dissertation focuses on health policy and practice.  more »

NRCPDS Awarded $2.25 Million from U.S. Administration on Aging

JULY 26, 2011

GSSW Professor Kevin Mahoney and his team at the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services (NRCPDS) secured a multi-million dollar grant from the U.S. Administration on Aging, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The three-year grant of $2.25 million provides the resources to "develop workforce competencies to ensure home and community based services are based on preferences and needs of consumer."  more »

New International PhD in Social Welfare Program Established at GSSW

JULY 11, 2011

Boston College and Sovereign Bank/Santander Universities will establish an International PhD in Social Welfare Program in the Graduate School of Social Work. Through this doctoral program, Boston College will form partnerships and exchanges with Jesuit, Catholic universities worldwide to advance and professionalize the field of social welfare.  more »

Sloan Center Awarded Multi-Million Dollar Grant

JUNE 23, 2011

The Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College, a research center of the Graduate School of Social Work, has been awarded a $2.7 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, to research the effectiveness of flexible time and place management strategies to maximize productivity from an age-diverse workforce. This is the Center's third multi-million dollar grant since 2005. more »

Judith Holm Award Given to Recent GSSW Graduate

MAY 27, 2011

Annalee Sweet, GSSW Class of 2011, was one of two MSW graduates in the United States to win the Judith Holm Award. Named for Judith Holm, MSS, BCD, the first President of the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work, these $2000 cash prizes are awarded to student authors of papers that best demonstrate mastery of the essentials of clinical social work and readiness to enter professional practice. Sweet submitted a paper titled, "Assessment and Interventions for an Adolescent Female Client with Major Depressive Disorder." more »

New GSSW Faculty Appointment in Health & Mental Health Concentration

APRIL 28, 2011

The Boston College Graduate School of Social Work is pleased to welcome Scott D. Easton, who will join the Health & Mental Health Concentration faculty this fall. Scott is currently completing his dissertation, entitled "Men who were sexually abused during childhood: An examination of factors that influence long-term mental health," at the University of Iowa School of Social Work.  more »

New GSSW Faculty Appointment in Older Adults & Families Concentration

APRIL 26, 2011

The Boston College Graduate School of Social Work is pleased to announce that Christina Matz-Costa will join the Older Adults & Families Concentration this fall. Tina is currently completing her dissertation, entitled "Productive aging in the workplace: Understanding factors that promote or impede engagement in work roles," in the Boston College GSSW doctoral program. She earned her MSW from Boston College with a concentration in macro social work and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in the Honors Program at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.  more »

SCAN Foundation Presents NRCPDS Issue Briefs

APRIL 7, 2011

The National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services (NRCPDS) wrote five issue briefs for The SCAN Foundation as part of their CLASS Technical Assistance Series. The briefs are intended to address issues pertinent to the development and implementation of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Plan.  more »

Professor Lubben Selected as Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare

MARCH 31, 2011

James Lubben, Professor and Louise McMahon Ahearn Chair, and Director of the Doctoral Program at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, has been selected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. The Academy is an honorific society of distinguished scholars and practitioners dedicated to achieving excellence in the field of social work and social welfare through high impact work that advances social good. In addition to chairing the GSSW doctoral program, Lubben is director of the Boston College Institute on Aging, and director of the Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program.  more »

GSSW Alum Receives Dinneen Award

MARCH 25, 2011

Ilyitch Nahiely Tábora, a 2005 graduate of the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, has been featured in the Boston Globe as this year's recipient of the John A. Dinneen, S.J. Hispanic Alumni Community Service Award. The Archbishop Oscar A. Romero Scholarship Committee of Boston College annually presents the Dinneen Award to a Boston College graduate whose work best reflects the legacy of Archbishop Romero and the commitment, leadership and service to the Latino community of the late Rev. John A. Dinneen, S.J.  more »

GSSW Center Director Presents at Congressional Briefing

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

GSSW Professor Kevin J. Mahoney presented at the Congressional Briefing on "The Implications of Health Care Reform for the Social Work Profession" on February 16, 2011, in Washington, DC. Mahoney, director of the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work's National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services, spoke on participant direction as a theme in health care reform with major import for the social work profession.  more »

New GSSW Faculty Appointment

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

The Boston College Graduate School of Social Work is pleased to announce that Rocio Calvo Vilches will join the GSSW as an Assistant Professor this fall. Rocio is currently in her second year as a David E. Bell Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard's Center for Population and Development Studies, where she has been focusing on immigration, social policy, social inclusion, and quantitative and comparative methods. She earned a Joint European Master's in International Humanitarian Action at Deusto University and a PhD in Social Work at Boston College. Rocio's dissertation was a cross-examination of the welfare state as an agent of immigrant incorporation.

Upon joining Boston College, Rocio will pilot a study on how welfare expenditure and welfare scope shape social capital outcomes among immigrants and their descendants in local communities.

GSSW Professor Receives NASW Award

JANUARY 31, 2011

Professor Kathleen McInnis-Dittrich, Chairperson of the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work's Older Adults & Families Concentration, has been chosen to receive the NASW Massachuetts Chapter's Greatest Contribution to Social Work award. This award acknowledges and honors NASW members whose contributions to social work education have been outstanding. Characteristics considered include: creativity, innovation, clarity in presentation, openness to new ideas, fairness, willingness to deal with issues of oppression and discrimination, ability to integrate theory and practice, and expertise in a particular subject area.  more »