The College of Human Ecology at Cornell has announced that its undergraduate social work program will close at the conclusion of the academic year 1999-2000.
"It is critical to stress, however, that our current program will continue through spring 2000, which will see all our current students through" said Dean Francille Firebaugh, who made the announcement April 21. "After that time, the college will no longer offer this option."
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of social work at Cornell, the college hosted a dinner May 6 with keynote speaker Leon Ginsberg of the University of South Carolina School of Social Work and will have a special seminar and recognition reception today.
The undergraduate social work program consists of nine courses and a two-semester internship program. Upon completion of this course of study, most students are accepted into accelerated Masters in Social Work programs and obtain a master's degree (MSW) in one year, instead of two. That is because the Cornell program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, and graduates complete the first year of the MSW program in this process. Students are prepared both for graduate study and for employment in beginning-level social work positions, working with clients at the micro level (individuals, groups, families), the mezzo level (organizations and agencies) or the macro level (communities, state or national policy-making groups). In addition to careers in mental health, graduates of the program have gone on to work in such fields as public health, medicine, law, higher education, public policy, the corporate sector and international development.
"We take great pride in the many accomplishments of the program and the important roles held by graduates from the program," Firebaugh said.
Ginsberg spoke on "Social Work: The Next Hundred Years" at the 25th anniversary dinner at the Statler Hotel. Also, special recognition was given to Jeanne Mueller, professor of policy analysis and management, on the occasion of her retirement.
Today, May 7, a special a seminar will feature Ruth Brandwein, professor in the School of Social Welfare, State University of New York at Stony Brook, and a former commissioner of the Department of Social Services in Suffolk County. Brandwein will address issues of health and mental health in the 21st century. Distinguished panelists from Ithaca and Tompkins County will respond, including Mary Pat Dolan, commissioner of the county Department of Social Services; Anthony DeLuca, commissioner of the county Department of Mental Health; Jim Johnston, executive director of Family and Children's Services; Beth Jenkins, executive director of the Tompkins County Mental Health Association; Larry Roberts, advocacy coordinator with the Tompkins County Mental Health Association; Lynn Gerstein, executive director of the Alcoholism Council of Tompkins County; and Myra Kovary, advocate for recipients of mental health services. The seminar will take place in the Flora Rosa Room, 200 Savage Hall, from 1 to 4 p.m. and is open to the public.
Following the seminar, social workers from human service agencies who have been field instructors supervising students in internships this year will be honored at a special reception.
The decision to close the social work program, which was located in the Department of Human Service Studies (HSS), comes after a task force studied the matter of the continuation of the program and its fit in the college's new Department of Policy Analysis and Management. Faculty from the former departments of Consumer Economics and Housing and HSS comprise the base of the new department and voted to not support a new program in social work after the year 2000.
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