Message from the Director, School of Social Work

The School of Social Work offers an accredited undergraduate degree (BA) in Social Work and an accredited Master of Social Work (MSW) Program (One-Year MSW Program, Two-Year MSW Program, or Three-Year Weekend MSW Program). These are exciting times for the students, faculty, and staff of CSU, Chico, and agency field instructors, who work collaboratively to shape the School’s programs to meet current and future needs of our diverse constituencies. Our mission statement speaks specifically to those needs.

Social Work Cited Among ‘Best Careers’ in a 2006 poll sponsored by CareerJournal.com, which is affiliated with The Wall Street Journal. The article on CareerJournal.com Web site noted the four attributes most quoted were: good intellectual stimulation; strong job security; high level of control and freedom in what to do; and extensive direct contact with customers/clients. For details go to: www.careerjournal.com/reports/bestcareers/20060711-intro.html.

For many years the School of Social Work has had a reputation for service and commitment to students as its highest priority. As a result, we have a high retention rate among our majors. In addition to quality teaching, faculty provide exceptional academic and professional advising, and are highly successful in advocating for social work majors for many campus-wide awards and scholarships. Social work classes promote strong student-faculty ties and opportunities for mentoring, professional identification and development. The nature of the curriculum and the opportunities available throughout the northern California region motivate our students to quickly develop leadership skills and to fill positions and roles requiring those abilities.

The faculty, students, staff, and alumni have strong ties to northern California communities, social service agencies and institutions. Faculty are involved in numerous activities in our service area, including research, training, advocacy, service, advisory board membership, and consultation. Students benefit from faculty commitment to and involvement in these endeavors through guided student community projects.

If our School's qualities and opportunities appeal to you as a potential student, faculty member, field instructor, or advisory board member, I urge you to contact me or one of our program directors: Dr. Vincent Ornelas (vornelas@csuchico.edu), BSW Director, or Dr. Jean Schuldberg (jschuldberg@csuchico.edu), the MSW Director.

Sincerely,

Celeste A. Jones

Celeste A. Jones, PhD
Director, School of Social Work
CAJones@csuchico.edu