School of Social Work
Values: We envision a world where all people lead fulfilling lives in affirming, just, and equitable communities.
Mission: Rooted in justice, relationship, and community collaboration, PSU SSW advances knowledge and creates social change through teaching, research, practice, and advocacy.
Values:
- Collective Care: We strive to prioritize collective well-being and promote a culture of dignity and respect.
- Responsive Learning: We strive to provide accessible, high-quality education focused on the transformation of self and society.
- Knowledge that Serves: We strive to cultivate rigorous research and scholarship that creates change.
- Community Partnership: We strive to prepare skilled practitioners to address critical community issues by partnering with and listening to communities.
- Social Change: We work to create an economically, socially, and racially just world in which resources and opportunities are equitably distributed.
Position: Created by the Oregon legislature to meet the workforce needs of the state, the PSU School of Social Work has evolved into a dynamic national leader of social change. The School provides accessible interdisciplinary educational opportunities and actively works to bring about structural change through its teaching, training, workforce development, research, and advocacy.
Programs & Research:
The School offers two bachelor degree programs, in Child, Youth, and Family Studies and in Social Work. The School also offers two graduate degree programs, the Master of Social Work (campus, distance, and online options) and Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Research. The BSW and MSW degree programs are fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Approximately 33 full-time and 55 part-time faculty provide instruction for our campus, distance, and online options. Our undergraduate enrollment is approximately 350, and graduate enrollment is 600+ students.
The PSU School of Social Work is also home to significant research, training, and public service programming. Faculty, staff, and students in the School of Social Work conduct over $10 million annually of applied social science research and training. The PSU School of Social Work ranked first in the nation in terms of annual sponsored project expenditures in the 2016 NSF Higher Education Research and Development Expenditure Survey. The School hosts a broad range of research and sponsored projects from large-scale federal grants to state contracts to smaller community-based evaluations. The facultys research initiatives have attracted support from some of the nations most respected funders, such as Health Resources and Service Administration, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Justice, W. T. Grant Foundation, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Most grant-supported projects are managed within one of the affiliated research units:
- Regional Research Institute for Human Services
- Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services
- Research & Training Center on Pathways to Positive Futures
- Reclaiming Futures
- The Center for Interdisciplinary Mentoring Research
In addition, faculty and students conduct their own studies or collaborate with other professionals and organizations within and beyond Portland State University. The university and the school share a goal to raise the research profile by continuing to contribute basic and applied research for understanding issues in the region, the nation, and internationally.