The Network for Professional Education

Social workers and health and human service workers face a complex and ever-challenging environment. Now more than ever, the workforce is looking for lifelong learning programs to build their competencies, while state and local agencies are seeking partnerships with academic institutions to build career ladders for the people they employ. 

“The impetus for this project was that we were working more and more with community-based agencies who were reaching out to us looking for trainers with specific content expertise and they wanted an affiliation with Boston University, and we didn’t have people to fill these roles,” said Bronwyn Keefe, Assistant Dean of Workforce and Professional Development and Director of Center for Aging and Disability Education and Research (CADER) and The Network for Professional Education.

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To respond to these challenges, Boston University’s School of Social Work (BUSSW) created The Network for Professional Education (“The Network”) as a resource to provide health and social service workers with the skills needed to advance in their careers. In addition to offering nationally renowned training in aging from BUSSW’s Center for Aging & Disability Education & Research (CADER), The Network provides broader workforce development programs in a variety of topical areas so health and social service professionals and agencies are prepared for the diverse, ever-changing needs of the individuals and communities they serve.

A key component of The Network is The Trainers Hub, which showcases BUSSW alumni, staff, and faculty members who provide training and consultation in a variety of social work content areas across the country. The Trainers Hub provides an effective, efficient transfer of knowledge to and among health and social service workers, while connecting organizations that need expert instructors with experienced practitioners from BUSSW. 

“We’ve been growing it as we go in the last three years, getting trainers from around the world–we have trainers from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Middle East,” according to Alison Montague, Program Manager for CADER and The Network. “Many trainers are active in the field of health care and human service organizations: some are independent consultants and experts who are known entities in their field. While other trainers may be on staff, some are in-house trainers in an organization that we're working with to develop their workforce. We’ve also attracted some recent graduates from the School of Social Work who decided to get involved in training. We've gotten a really broad range of trainers with a wealth of experience in a short period of time.”

Prospective trainers can become certified to join The Trainers Hub after completing a three-course “Train-the-Trainer” certificate, a program designed in consultation with The Network Alumni Advisory Board. The certificate prepares instructors with best practices in training, curriculum design and implementation, and assessment and evaluation – all skills that are in demand for health and social services staff. These newly-certified experts hold in-person training and webinars, review online courses, and serve as online course authors.

“Everywhere I look, there is such a need for people in mental health training and leadership,” said Odessa Holt, MSW, MPH, LICSW, a trainer within The Network. “We are fortunate to have so many new social work and mental health graduates joining the workforce at this time when it’s desperately needed, and training can be a heavy lift for an organization. I hope people take advantage of the Trainers Hub because I think it’ll be very impactful.” 

Over the last four years, The Network has made quite an impact. The Network website and learning catalog now offer over 30 online courses and 12 online certificates for a global audience of social service professionals, which includes more than 16,000 social work professionals nationally. Mean competency rating chart pre- and post- an online hoarding training

“We went to The Network because we knew they could deliver evidenced-based training tailored to our specific population and needs,” says Jacqueline Maher, LICSW, Integrated Behavioral Health Assistant Manager for adult medicine at The Dimock Center in Roxbury, Mass. “During the planning phase, the team was so helpful. They asked all the right questions to come up with the right trainer for us.”

To date, CADER and The Network have generated over $2 million in revenue, receiving 300 applications per year on average. The Trainers Hub membership continues to grow to over 60 members and over 500 people have enrolled in the Train-the-Trainer Certificate globally, 275 of whom are alumni from BUSSW and 25 of whom are alumni from CADER programs. Training content areas have expanded beyond Aging to Behavioral Health, Public Health, Children/Youth/Families, Diverse Populations, Trauma, and Community Engagement.

For the future, The Network is focused on continuing to grow and expand by refining and adapting their current offerings and strengthening relationships with alumni. They also hope to continue expanding to include more content for non-aging-related areas outside the scope of CADER.

“Faculty thought that they always have to create content in a set way and offer it in a set cycle, but working with us has really opened doors and has started to get some faculty to say, ‘Why not push the limits a little bit more,’” said Anna Stathopoulou, Senior Manager of Operations of CADER and The Network. “So there are more exciting projects to come, for sure.”

News & Publications

For a full list of publications, conference presentations, evaluation reports, and policy briefs, please visit The Network’s website.

Project Team & Partners

Bronwyn Keefe Headshot

Bronwyn Keefe, PhD, MPH, MSW

Assistant Dean of Workforce and Professional Development, Director of CADER, Research Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Bronwyn Keefe is BUSSW’s assistant dean of workforce and professional development, research assistant professor, and director of BUSSW’s Center for Aging and Disability Education and Research (CADER) and The Network for Professional Education. Prof. Keefe is passionate about educating practitioners and making an impact on…

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