School of Social Work

SSW Welcomes New Director of Development

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

After an extended vacancy, we are pleased to announce the arrival of Terry Moynahan (SSW’04, macro concentration) as the School’s new Director of Development. She will officially join the School of Social Work on January 31.

For Newcomers, a BRIDGE to Graduate Education

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

In his cap and black wool coat, Ali Abdullahi looks like any other graduate student in Boston bundled up against the December cold. Despite looking the part of a BU student, Abdullahi, who is from Somalia, did not always think graduate school was a possibility.

“If it wasn’t for BRIDGE, I would never have even thought about going to graduate school,” said Abdullahi, currently a part-time student in BU’s Masters of Social Work program.

Run through the School of Social Work, the BRIDGE (Building Refugee and Immigrant Degrees for Graduate Education) Program gives immigrants and refugees the opportunity to earn graduate level education in social work and ultimately to fill highly skilled positions in the health and human services sector.

Current and past BRIDGE participants represent countries around the world, including the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Iran, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Somalia, Uganda and Vietnam.

“BRIDGE opens up access to graduate social work education for a variety of refugee and immigrant groups,” said Program Director Lee Staples. “Our long-term goal is to increase the number of social work professionals who themselves are members of culturally and linguistically diverse, under-served newcomer groups.”

The program is structured in four phases: Preadmissions, Pre-Matriculation, Master of Social Work Program and Post-Graduation/Career Development. In 2011, 17 new students enrolled in BRIDGE’s first phase, the program’s largest cohort to date.

“Currently, there is a wide gap between most newcomer communities and graduate level academics,” said Staples. “This program helps bridge that gap by providing academic, social and financial support along a continuum, beginning with potential applicants who are considering graduate education all the way through to MSW alumni.”

“Those of you interested in coming to the School will bring tremendous diversity to the student body and to the curriculum,” School of Social Work Dean Gail Steketee told the cohort. “Our faculty and classes are so much enriched by your presence.”

Orientation, a free ten-session course run during the winter, eases BRIDGE students’ transition into graduate level classes and coursework. Prospective students can inquire about the differences in macro and clinical concentrations, the application process, and the challenges of balancing graduate school and working.

Once BRIDGE students enter the MSW program at BU, they continue to receive support and guidance from the BRIDGE coordinator, Mojdeh Rohani (M.S.W. ‘99), and from the BUSSW faculty. The program also provides students with career planning resources and networking opportunities after graduation.

“I would not have had the opportunities to do the things I am doing now without the foundation of clinical training I received from BU’s School of Social Work,” said Saida Abdi (M.S.W. ‘10), the Community Relations Director at Children’s Hospital’s Center for Refugee Trauma and Resilience.

Abdi, who immigrated to the United States from Somalia, took part in BRIDGE during its pilot stage and was the program’s first graduate.

“I cannot express my feelings of pride and happiness to see all of you,” she told the program’s 2011 cohort. “You don’t know how much you are needed. Every one of you coming through this program is a gift to the world and society.”

As a whole, the BRIDGE alumni agreed the program did serve as an effective bridge between their diverse backgrounds and their academic success in graduate school.

“This is the best program you are going to have,” said Abdullahi. “The BRIDGE program prepared me for graduate school 100 percent.”

SSW-Hosted Leadership Summit Puts Focus on Social Work Safety

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

Alongside the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the School of Social Work hosted the second Leadership Summit on Social Work Safety on November 19, 2010.

SSW Remembers Professor Emerita Betty Milhendler

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

Professor Emerita Betty Milhendler passed away December 7, 2010 at the age of 87. Ms. Milhendler joined the School of Social Work in 1962. With a focus on social work practice and casework, Ms. Milhendler served as assistant professor from 1962 to 1969 and associate professor from 1969 until her 1983 retirement, where she was named professor emerita.

“Betty was a remarkably energetic woman who delighted in talking with her colleagues and teaching students,” said Dean Gail Steketee. “She especially enjoyed the benefits of dance and helped others understand this in the context of social work. She attended our annual faculty emeriti cookout this past August and engaged in excited conversation, even as she was already very ill. We will miss her very much.”

After her retirement from Boston University, Milhendler joined the Prometheus Dance Elders Ensemble and was featured in a 2008 Boston Globe article that discussed her second career. The ensemble, made up of dancers between the ages of 55 and 85, is a paid, professional dance group that performs throughout Massachusetts.

Milhendler, of Cambridge, graduated from Ohio University in 1945.

In lieu of flowers, expressions of condolence can be sent to:

    Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
    1055 Commonwealth Avenue
    Boston, MA 02115

    Ohio University Foundation
    Betty Milhendler Award, School of Dance
    P.O. Box 869
    Athens, OH 45701

    The Dance Complex
    536 Massachusetts Avenue
    Cambridge, MA 02139

Dean Emeritus Hubie Jones Awarded $50,000 Purpose Prize

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:00:00 EST