About 3,000 professionals engaged in social work education are expected at the Council of Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting Oct. 23-26 in Tampa. Among those preparing to attend are members of UCF’s School of Social Work, which is chairing the national event.

“It’s a busy but very exciting time for us,” said Professor Bonnie Yegidis, the school’s director and chair of the CSWE’s 2014 APM Regional Planning Committee. “This is a huge opportunity for the School of Social Work and UCF to gain national visibility at a premier social work conference.”

As with previous CSWE APMs — this year marks the 60th, the meeting will include sessions on hot topics in social work education, such as cultural competence and disaster and traumatic stress; plenary speakers; scholarly presentations and other activities. Yegidis and the planning committee helped select the topics, speakers and presentations, and they will co-host the meeting’s opening reception.

The conference provides a showcase for scholarship in social work education. Seven faculty members from the School of Social Work will make peer-reviewed presentations on their research, some jointly with colleagues from other institutions. In addition, a recent alumna and faculty member from the school will present a peer-reviewed poster on their research. The presentation titles are listed below. (See Research Faculty for a profile of all faculty researchers in the School of Social Work.)

Presentations by UCF Social Work Researchers (bold text):

Advancing Social Work Education: Innovations in Technology and Social Work
– Mary Mann, Shawn Lawrence and Bonnie Yegidis

Educating Students to Work with Well and Frail Elders in Rural Communities
– Kristina Hash, Denise Gammonley and Lenard Kaye

Strategies for Infusing Group Work Content in Social Work Education
– Greg Tully, Jen Clements, Carol Cohen, Olga Molina and Mark Smith

Groups for Latino Adolescent Survivors of Parental Intimate Partner Violence
– Olga Molina

Advancing Social Work Education: Preparing Students to Work in the Reform Environment
– Yvi Goddard (B.S.W., ’14) and Mary Ann Burg*

Advancing Social Work Education: Strengthening the Bridge between Theory and Practice
– Shawn Lawrence, Mary Ann Burg* and Eileen Mazur Abel**

Complexities of Intersectionality: Exploring the Lived Experiences of Black Deaf Women
– Reshawna Chapple

*Chair of the Health Track for this meeting                                                  **Retired associate professor of social work, UCF

(Photo by Abi Bell)