School of Social Work Illinois State University 309'438'3631

1
School of Social Work - Illinois State University
309.438.3631
Spring 2008 Volume 1, Issue 1
School Social Work Approved
Illinois State University and the Illinois
State Board of Education (ISBE) recently approved
the school social work concentration to be added
to the MSW program. School social work will be
offered in addition to the child and family
welfare concentration. Due to requests for the
school social work preparation, Dr. Wanda Bracy,
Director, and Dr. Jim Raines, Associate
Professor, drafted a plan. On November 2,
2007, Bracy and Nina Hamilton, MSW Program
Director, met with the ISBE Commission on
Accreditation to answer questions about the
proposal. The Commission then granted provisional
approval pending final approval by the full ISBE
board. We will be admitting students to the
School Social Work concentration for 2008-2009
academic year. Advanced standing students will
begin classes during the summer session and full
program students will begin in the fall
semester. MSW applications for 2008-2009
academic year are due by February 15, 2008.

• Special Interest Articles
• Jeanne Howard helps organize national conference
• Four attend Council on Social Work Education
  national conference

Message from the Director

• Individual Highlights
• Kathy Wehrmann presents at NASW national
  conference in ChicagoPg 2
• Update on BSW Activities...Pg 3
• Students take trip to MississippiPg 4

I am delighted to be able to report such a
productive year for the School of Social Work.
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
reaffirmed our accreditation until the year 2015.
The approval of the School Social Work
Concentration highlighted in the cover story will
certainly boost our enrollment in the graduate
program. We also welcomed a new faculty member
to our School of Social Work Dr. Cynthia
Edmonds-Cady. She received her doctorate in
social work from Michigan State University, her
MSW from the University of Michigan, and her
Bachelors in Social Work from
Eastern Michigan University. There are
many impressive accomplishments of the faculty
as evidenced in their publications,
presentations, grants, and service activities and
awards. This issue of the newsletter presents
some of these scholarly activities. We are
very proud of what we have achieved over the
years and look forward to another productive year
for the School of Social Work. Dr. Bracy has
been the Director of the School of Social Work
since 2005.
Please visit our re-designed Web
site! www.socialwork.ilstu.edu
Harris Co-authors Book
and liberal ideological perspectives. It
illustrates differences in conservative and
liberal viewpoints using elected officials
actual written and spoken arguments. Harris
co-authored the book with fellow ISU professors,
Bernard Ivan Tamas and Nancy S. Lind. The book is
published by Rowman and Littlefield (2008).
Dr. Gardenia Harris, Assistant Professor,
co-authored the book Dynamics of Social Welfare
Policy Right
versus Left. This book examines ten key social
welfare issues confronting social work
professionals from conservative
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Social Work
Page 2 of 4
Wehrmann Speaks at NASW conference
Dr. Kathy Wehrmann, Associate Professor,
co-presented Evidence-Informed Practice
Improving Mental Health Outcomes for Children and
Families.
The NASW Illinois Chapter conference Health
Care Disparities Bridging the Gap was held
September 24 through 26, 2007, in Chicago. NASW
National President, Elvira
de Silva Craig, was a special speaker at the
awards luncheon. Wehrmann is the president of
the State of Illinois Chapter of NASW.
Donations to the School of Social Work are
greatly appreciated. Please visit our Web site or
mail check to ISU School of Social Work,
Attention Roberta, Campus Box 4650, Normal, IL
61790-4650. Thank you!
Four Attend CSWE Conference in California
The audience was enthusiastic and highly
receptive to this discussion in light of the
emphasis that is being placed on measurement of
student outcomes in the revisions of CSWE
accreditation standards, said Zosky.
Wehrmann gave a presentation
entitled Evidence-Base Practice Helping Current
and Future Practitioners Meet the Challenge.
Participation in the CSWE conference helps to
insure that
Dr. Wanda Bracy, Dr. Diane Zosky, Dr. Kathy
Wehrmann and Dr. Cynthia Edmonds-Cady attended
this years Council on Social Work Education
(CSWE) Conference in San Francisco November 10
13, 2007 . Bracy and Zosky presented a hands-on
skills workshop entitled Preparing the Next
Generation of Educators Assessing
Performance-based Course Objectives. This
workshop demonstrated how to write specific and
measurable course objectives that are linked to
program objectives. Methods for assessing these
performance-based objectives with the use of
rubrics designed for this purpose were also
presented. We received very positive
feedback, said Bracy. We even have received
requests for information from those unable to
attend.
faculty in our school stay up to date on key
developments in our respective teaching areas and
allows us to keep our school's name out front,
said Wehrmann. This year we had four
faculty members involved which is quite
impressive. Edmonds-Cady also gave a
presentation entitled Getting to the Grassroots
Feminist Standpoints within the Welfare Rights
Movement. This presentation illustrated how
standpoints were used in womens participation in
the welfare rights movement. Using a
Feministhistorical approach, data was gathered
on womens involvement in the movement from 1964
1972. An intersectional analysis of race,
class and gender, informed by feminist standpoint
theory, provides lessons for current social
movement work, said Edmonds-Cady.
This year we had four faculty members
involved which is quite impressive. -Dr.
Wehrmann
Raines Invited to Present for 5th Time
Jim Raines, Ph.D., Associate Professor,
presented Evidence-Based Practice in
Schools Where to begin and How to Start at the
tenth annual School Social Work Conference in
Orlando, Florida on April 20, 2007. This was
his 5th consecutive presentation at the School
Social Work Association of Americas annual
meeting.
Raines also has a forthcoming book on the
subject to be published by Oxford University
Press in April 2008, entitled Evidence-Based
Practice in School-Based Mental Health A primer
for school social workers, psychologists, and
counselors.
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Social Work
Page 3 of 4
Update on BSW Activities
service opportunity to use for their Pre-
professional Practice class (SW 329) in Spring
2008. There are 50 seniors completing the
first half of their field placements in a wide
variety of settings involving work with children,
families, the elderly, homeless, substance abuse
centers and community based efforts.
The undergraduates have been involved in
several activities, primarily guided by the
social work club. Most recently, they
participated in The Baby Fold Festival of Trees
and the work detailed on the last page for
Katrina victims in Mississippi. Most students
are also involved in volunteer experiences. The
juniors are beginning to identify a community
Howard Co-Plans DC Conference
Dr. Jeanne Howard, Associate Professor, worked
with colleagues from the Evan B. Donaldson
Adoption Institute and its partner to implement
the conference "Adoption Ethics and
Accountability Doing it Right Makes a Lifetime
of Difference".  Held in Washington D.C.,
October 15 and 16, 2007, the conference was the
culmination of three years of planning.
Concerns about ethical adoption policy and
practice have made headlines in recent months,
but the conference highlighted longstanding
concerns in the field.  Together over 300
policy makers, researchers, adoption
professionals and members of the adoption triad
examined such concerns and laid the groundwork
for a series of initiatives to improve
adoption.  Initial recommendations included
supporting families and working to prevent the
need for children to be separated from their
parents, supporting extended families and
cultures, reducing the influence of money in all
phases of adoption, expanding efforts to enable
adopted persons the fundamental right of
information about their birth and background, and
assuring that those involved in adoption work are
well trained and meet rigorous ethical standards.
Work is underway to develop a statement of
principles derived from conference presentations
and debate, which will serve as a model for
adoption policy and practice.
Howard (center rear) joins with other Planning
Committee members and conference volunteers at
the national conference on adoption and ethics,
October 16, 2007.
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Social Work
Thankful Students Take Trip
School of Social Work
Over Thanksgiving break, 35 students traveled
to help Hurricane Katrina victims. Jeanette
Roberts, Director of Admissions and Recruitment,
organized a work trip to Ocean Springs,
Mississippi. The volunteers were comprised of
students with their friends and family along with
Mary Campbell, Associate Professor and alumna
Lori Farley. I was moved by the number of
students who responded when they learned of the
continued devastation, said Roberts. The St
Paul Camp, affiliated with the St Paul United
Methodist Church in Ocean Springs, provided
lodging and work assignments. The ISU team was
involved in a wide variety of work from roofing
to painting, hauling drywall to a house
raised 14 feet off the ground, and listening to
the stories of families impacted by the storm and
its' aftermath. All around, the volunteers
made a major difference for families who are
waiting for help to put their lives back
together, said Campbell. We are proud of
every student, their willingness to raise the
money to support the trip, willingness to give up
much of the Thanksgiving Break and the compassion
and hard work demonstrated. This is the third
Hurricane Katrina relief trip taken by ISU
social work students, faculty and alumni.
Campus Box 4650 3rd floor, Rachel Cooper Normal,
IL 61790-4650 Phone [phone] Fax 309.438
.5880 E-Mail socialwork_at_ilstu.edu
SSW Alumni Keep in touch! We are planning to
highlight Alumni in the next newsletter! Send
an email to socialwork_at_ilstu.edu describing your
career and other accomplishments!
Students and friends working on the roof of a
family in need.
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Illinois State
University
Illinois State University School of Social
Work Campus Box 4650 Normal, IL 61790-4650