Get to know BUSSW’s Off-Campus Program Advisors
100 Years of Advising… and Counting!
Cape Cod Campus Faculty Advisor : Bill Dawber
Mr. Dawber has been a Faculty Advisor with the SEMA Program since 1984, the second year of the program’s existence. Having graduated from Boston College School of Social Work in 1964, he spent the initial 12 years of his professional career working within the Massachusetts State Correctional System. Positions he’s held have included functioning as a therapist to inmates as well as various supervisory and administrative roles. He has been an administrator and therapist at a private psychiatric hospital. In addition he has been a therapist in a number of community mental health clinics and is currently associated with Bayview Associates in Plymouth, MA, a division of South Shore Mental Health.
Fall River Campus Advisor : Patrick McCarthy
Dr. McCarthy has been a faculty advisor with the Fall River Program since September of 1984. In addition he has taught adult psychopathology at Boston University and at Boston College. He received his MSW and PhD from Boston College in 1975 and 1992, respectively. In addition to being a faculty advisor, Dr. McCarthy has a private practice in Mattapoisett, working primarily with adults and couples. When we asked Pat to share with us his favorite experience as an advisor he said, “Probably my most enjoyable times would be participating in the half-way celebrations and being able to witness Jim Garland work his group work magic by bringing out his ukulele and getting everyone fully involved. Priceless. Another favorite moment was with my NIF students at the very beginning going through the ‘what brings you to want to be a social worker’ sharing. After going around and students responding with variations of ‘I like helping people’ or ‘people always tell me I’m a good listener,’ the last student (who was not the oldest student to pass through the program) responded ‘I’m sixty years old and I am going to have to continue working for a long time. I need a job where I can sit down!’”
Fall River Campus Advisor : James E. Tooley
Mr. Tooley became an advisor for the SEMA Program in 1983. He was the first faculty advisor hired for the OCP Fall River. He is currently in full-time private practice in New Bedford, MA, with Southeastern Counseling Associates, focusing on individual, family, and couples’ therapy. He also provides consultation to school systems, utilizes EMDR and EAP services. He received his MSW in 1976 from Boston College Graduate School of Social Work with a concentration in clinical casework. James shared this interesting story with us:
“A recent experience is one that I find very satisfying. For a couple years, I taught at Providence College’s BSW program as an adjunct professor (1998-2000). While there, I taught a senior integrative seminar. A young women who grew up in NYC in a nonconventional undergraduate environment, was an outstanding student who had much promise. I choose her paper for an award and for her to read portions of it at a senior awards event. I never knew what happened to her until two years ago when the class of 2015 entered the program. When I got my assignments of students and meet with them, low and behold this very student was now an advisee of mine. I am proud to say she is near graduation and an excellent student and I will be proud to call her a social worker and colleague come May 2015. Thank you Michele Marcello.”