Kia J. Bentley burnishes legacy with new textbook edition, FSU alumni award
Even in retirement, Kia J. Bentley, Ph.D., is continuing to build on her 35-year career as a social work educator, one that culminated in her being named the VCU School of Social Work’s first Distinguished Career Professor by VCU’s Provost in 2022. This past fall, the fifth edition of Dr. Bentley’s textbook, The Social Worker […]
Circle of honor: Denise Burnette earns AGESW career achievement award
As a child of Southern Appalachia, Denise Burnette, Ph.D., VCU School of Social Work professor, was attuned to older adults and their life stories. “They were fonts of wisdom and equanimity, bold equanimity,” says Burnette, the school’s Samuel S. Wurtzel Endowed Chair in Social Work. “As an academic, my research and teaching, at home and […]
B.S.W. leadership team presenting at national conference about shared language in centering ADEI
The VCU School of Social Work’s B.S.W. Program leadership will be presenting at the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, in March. Stephanie G. Odera, Ed.D., program director, and Allison K. Ryals, M.S.W., assistant program director, are making the presentation. BSW curriculum renewal: Creating programmatic shared language to further […]
Cassie DeSena-Jacobs presenting at national conference about course development
Cassie DeSena-Jacobs, D.S.W., LCSW, assistant professor in teaching at the VCU School of Social Work, will be presenting in April at the Social Work Distance Education 2024 Virtual Conference. Developing an Advanced Clinical Class through an Anti-Racist Lens 5-5:45 p.m. ET Wednesday, April 10, 2024What does it really mean to include anti-racist strategies in a class […]
Shenita Williams presenting at national conference about school-based mental health
Shenita Williams, Ph.D., LCSW, director of field education at the VCU School of Social Work, will be making two presentations in March 2024 at the School Social Work Association of America’s national conference in Baltimore. Dr. Williams, who also serves as an assistant professor in teaching, will be presenting the following: School-Based Mental Health: One […]
High-demand, social work-led course puts an anti-racist lens on serious mental illness
The creation – and quick evolution – of a new course on serious mental illness at VCU reflects the high demand for mental health professionals and a professional passion among not only social work students but those from other disciplines around the university. Leveraging the experience and expertise of Cassie DeSena-Jacobs, D.S.W., LCSW, assistant professor […]
Celebrating Social Work Month and our uncommon alumni
The VCU School of Social Work is celebrating our uncommon alumni, and their unlimited impact, with three events during Social Work Month in March. Graduates of the school are an integral part of a community that is making a difference in Richmond and beyond. This month — and every month — the school is proud […]
Grandfather’s need for aging-in-place resources inspires award-winning research from doc student Sunny Kim
The origin of VCU social work Ph.D. candidate Seon “Sunny” Kim’s dissertation dates to the Korean War, deeply personal work that is receiving national recognition. The Korean American Social Work Educators Association in the fall honored Kim’s dissertation work with its Outstanding Dissertation Proposal Award for contributions to aging research, policy and practice. “As a […]
In lifelong quest to reduce violence, Ph.D. alumni award winner McLeod was ‘empowered to grow’ at VCU
As David McLeod, Ph.D., thinks about his time at Virginia Commonwealth University, his reflections turn to the people and culture that accepted and poured into a doctoral student with an atypical background. A place where both his daughters were born, bookending his time in Richmond. No wonder, then, that he uses a parental analogy when […]
Hero of the Game: Athletics honors Frank Baskind
Frank Baskind, Ph.D., dean emeritus and professor in the VCU School of Social Work, was honored in December by VCU Athletics as a Hero of the Game. Dr. Baskind, who has been at VCU since 1992 and served as dean of the school from 1992-2008, was recognized Dec. 30, 2023, when VCU hosted Gardner-Webb in […]