University of Maryland School of Social Work
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The University of Maryland School of Social Work (UMSSW) was founded in 1961 and has grown to become one of the largest and most respected schools of social work in the United States. In a short period of time, the school has emerged as the leader in social work education in Maryland and has become known to national and international audiences. The UMSSW is situated within the graduate campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, enabling and encouraging cross-campus interdisciplinary partnerships. Our mission is to develop practitioners, leaders and scholars to advance the well-being of populations and communities and to promote social justice. As national leaders, we create and use knowledge for education, service innovation, and policy development.
The UMSSW program prepares future social work practitioners and leaders through a combination of coursework and supervised real-world experiences in the field (both local and global), with a strong focus on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Our students work across the spectrum of social work with individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and society—and build on this strong foundation to practice at an advanced level of clinical and/or macro social work. We offer both master’s and doctoral degrees in our program.
In addition to the School's academic side, there is a community service side. Our Center for Restorative Change, Promise Heights, Family Connections, and the Institute for Innovation and Implementation are all very active in helping with the social work needs in Baltimore and beyond.
Our Research Centers, Labs, Institutes, and related community research programs merge the values and ethics of social work with qualitative and quantitative research methods, along with advanced program evaluation and best practices development. All of this is done as we work toward improving complex social issues and providing research-informed, innovative solutions relevant to a broad spectrum of social work settings. Our research, evaluation, and training help to foster collaborative partnerships that are designed to contribute to sustained changes to practice and policy improvements as well as to contribute to the overall well-being of individuals, families, and communities.
Research, evaluation, and research-based training at UMSSW are strong points of pride for the School. Many of our researchers are national and international experts in their areas of scholarship and are sought after for consultation, training, and interviews. Their research is also often cited in scholarly journals and disseminated through other mechanisms that result in significant impact for the people and communities in which we serve.
We believe that social work, as a discipline, has a unique role to play in addressing global inequities and injustice. As such, we are eager for international collaborations and have had field education trips or semester-long academic programs in many countries including India, Israel, UK, Mexico, Costa Rica, Philippines, and El Salvador. Our faculty include Fulbright Scholars and leaders in international academic collaborations.
You can find out more about UMSSW here, and profiles of faculty here.