SWK Emphasizes Diversity

The UNCG Department of Social Work is committed to providing a learning environment which prepares our graduates for practice in diverse environments. Undergraduate and graduate students experience diversity through local and global collaborations. This process began with the joint field program with North Carolina A&T State University, which has been operating in our BSW Program since 1973. That diversity provided the basis for the development of the Joint Master of Social Work Program (JMSW) which was implemented in 1997.

The diverse learning environment is further enriched through the establishment of the Center for New North Carolinians and global education.

JMSW Program

North Carolina A&T State University, a historically black university, and UNCG have joined together to offer the Master Degree in Social Work. Students take courses on both campuses and are taught by JMSW faculty from both universities. The students in the program have remarked "We don't just study diversity, we live diversity." One example of this is the recent student trip to Jena, Louisiana to protest social injustice.

Center for New North Carolinians

There is a shortage of professionally trained people in North Carolina who are able to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to immigrants, as well as a lack of bilingual and bicultural leaders within the newcomer populations who can assist their communities with acculturation. The Center for New North Carolinians (CNNC) was established to address this shortage and to establish enduring connections between immigrant populations and existing communities all across North Carolina. The CNNC provides outreach and educational programming, research and evaluation, information services, technical support, and immigrant and refugee leadership development.

International Opportunities

Social work students have opportunities for global education in Europe and Latin America. The Department has a long standing, well established educational program with the Glasgow (Scotland) School of Social Work. Educational opportunities are also offered through our partnership in Costa Rica. These experiences are being expanded through the development of educational links in central Mexico.