Social work program moving closer to accreditation

The Social Work program at Winston-Salem State is closer to being an accredited program.

Isiah Marshall, an associate professor and coordinator of social work, said that the Council on Social Work Education visited in February. The results were reported to the program in June.

Representative James Adams, a commissioner from the CSWE, conducted the site visit. Based on the program's documents and a review brief, he recommended a second view of candidacy.

During the visit, Adams met with the social work faculty to discuss the curriculum and the administrators regarding accreditation. He also met with the majors to get their opinion about the program.

Adams gave a preliminary report to the social work program to continue candidacy.

Marshall said that everyone is pleased with the outcome of the visit.

"The students reacted very positively to Dr. Adams," Marshall said. "They were very excited and felt comfortable in letting him know what the program was doing."

Lauren Pointer, a junior social work major from Burlington, said that she was excited about the commissioner's visit.

"I, personally, am not worried about accreditation," Pointer said.

"They [faculty and administrators] are doing what needs to be done to ensure that our program gets their accreditation."

The next visit will be between November and February 2011. The outcome of this visit decides whether they will be scheduled for the full initial accreditation site visit next fall. If so, they will have to prepare for another visit in four years. Site visits must be conducted every eight years.  

Marshall said that graduates of the now unaccredited program are working in the field, and attending graduate schools of Wake Forest Law School, and UNC-Charlotte.

WSSU does not have a graduate program for social work. Marshall said that it would be a good idea to catch students on their off years because most schools take graduate applications for social work every two years.

"Yes, it [a graduate social work program] seems to be an area to be explored," Marshall said.