Upcoming Admission DeadlinesBachelor of Social Work Application
Master of Social Work Application
The period for submitting a master in Social Work (MSW) admission application for 2022 is open. Prospective students must apply to the Graduate School and the MSW program. The priority deadline for 2022 enrollment is February 1, 2022. The general deadline is April 1, 2022.
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Leadership Changes
The new academic year brings about several changes in the leadership for both the Department of Social Work and the College of Health.
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Social Work Leadership Changes
We would like to thank Dr. Greta Slater for her outstanding leadership as Interim Chair of the Department of Social Work. Dr. Slater showed steady leadership during a year impacted by a pandemic and marked by several major educational events. These events included our BSW reaffirmation, the ongoing MSW accreditation, and significant growth in the size of our faculty and students. On behalf of the entire faculty and staff for the Department of Social Work, thank you Dr. Slater for your commitment to the success of our programs. Dr. Slater will return to her previous position as MSW Program Director.
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We would also like to thank Dr. Kristin Trainor for serving as the Interim MSW Program Director. Dr. Trainor provided an inviting face for our students, faculty, and staff. She contributed significantly to the success of our curriculum and left her stamp on the evolving history of our growing program. Dr. Trainor will return to her tenure-track position, which will allow her to have a larger impact in the classroom and to dedicate increased time to research.
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Dr. Matt Moore will begin a three-year term as Chair of the department. Dr. Moore will vacate his role as the BSW Program Director. During his time in this role, the BSW program showed steady growth in recruitment, retention, and management of students. He launched several marketing efforts that advanced the vision of the program to a larger scale. Working with faculty members, he significantly enhanced course content, with an emphasis on implicit curriculum. He also led the reaffirmation efforts this semester. Professor Kristina Johnson will serve as the new BSW Program Director.
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Welcome to Dr. Scott Rutledge, Dean of the College of Health
We are excited to welcome Dr. Scott Rutledge as the new Dean of the College of Health. Dr. Rutledge earned his Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of Washington and his MSW from the University of Iowa. He recently served as the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the College of Public Health at Temple. He began his journey in higher education in 2002 with stops at Florida State University and Temple University. On behalf of our faculty and staff, welcome, Dr. Rutledge, to Ball State University and the College of Health. We look forward to working with a fellow social worker for the years to come. Learn more about Dr. Rutledge.
We would also like to thank Dr. Jayanthi Kandiah for her service as Interim Dean for the 2020–2021 academic year. We thoroughly enjoyed working with Interim Dean Kandiah and look forward to ongoing interactions when she resumes her post as an Associate Dean.
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Spring BSW Graduation
This Spring, 45 BSW students completed 18,000 hours of practicum in 35 agencies, organizations, and schools throughout Indiana. We celebrated these outstanding students in a face-to-face Commencement on May 8.
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ACDC and Peer Project
The ACDC and PEER Project were active in the Spring semester. They collaboratively established the Student Association for Addressing Addictions (S3). In their inaugural semester, the S3 facilitated a community clean-up day in a local Muncie neighborhood. The association laid the groundwork for future S3 initiatives that include the development of a student safe ride program, the implementation of Drug Take Back Day, a campus prevention campaign, and a safe syringe program. The ACDC will release a community resource list in the next month.
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BSW Program Course
Our BSW Program launched a new required course for social work majors. SOCW 240 focuses on critical thinking and writing for Social Work professionals. The course is an integral step in preparing our undergraduate students for career readiness.
Career readiness is the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies that broadly prepare college graduates for successful transition into the workplace (National Association of Colleges and Employers, NACE, 2017).
The primary purpose of this course is to help students develop career readiness competencies that will support their growth throughout their educational and professional social work careers. This course places an emphasis on developing eight career readiness competencies that will prepare social work majors with requisite skills and knowledge. These competencies include: critical thinking/problem solving, oral/written communication, teamwork/collaboration, use of digital technology, leadership development, professionalism, career management, and intercultural fluency.
Our BSW program is exploring the creation of a totally online option for non-traditional learners. This program would have the same rigorous academic courses as our on-campus option, the same top-notch faculty who teach on campus, and the same Ball State degree and recognition that on-campus students receive. Our administrative team is working closely with the Council on Social Work Education and the Ball State University Division of Online and Strategic Learning. We hope to launch this new program option in Fall 2022.
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Students Give Back in Large Way
A total of 56 students volunteered for Social Work 200. The students volunteered in a wide variety of areas that included the Ross Center, Muncie Habitat, YWCA, Muncie Mission, Motivate Our Minds, Cure Hunger, Lifestream Inc, Boys and Girls Clubs, and many more. Each student was required to volunteer a total of 18 hours, but many of them put in additional time. Many students completed their volunteer hours doing virtual placements as well. From creating videos for isolated residents to mentoring youth—all this, while in a pandemic.
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Dr. Jonel Thaller
Dr. Jonel Thaller co-led a core team of volunteers to create a Recovery Cafe for Muncie. The cafe began a satellite location at the Avondale United Methodist Church (Thursdays at 6 p.m.). A larger downtown hub should open this summer with the addition of paid staff. Recovery Cafe is a national model of peer-based recovery support predicated on the notion that we are all in recovery from something and connection is healing.
Anyone who is interested in learning more about Recovery Cafe Muncie can contact a local representative at 765-273-3038, via email, or on Facebook. Dr. Thaller would like to sincerely thank all who have donated their time or money to help the cafe get started.
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Dr. Dane Minnick
Dr. Dane Minnick became ICAADA Board Certified in Problem Gambling, received $8,082 in internal grant funding from Ball State University, and presented twice at the 11th Annual Indiana Campus Compact Summit. Dr. Minnick presented with fellow social work faculty member, Dr. Thaller. He also delivered a Continuing Education training on “Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment.”
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Professor Adrienne Newman
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Dr. Matt Moore
Dr. Matt Moore had two articles published. These articles had Ball State graduate students as co-authors. The first article, “The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Substance Use and Abuse Survey,” appears in the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics. The second article, “Learning from the Experiences of Collegiate Athletes Living through a Season- or Career-Ending Injury,” appears in the Journal of Amateur Sport. Dr. Moore received promotion and tenure to the rank of Associate Professor.
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Dr. Jerry Reynolds
Dr. Jerry Reynolds had an article entitled, “Addressing Youth Sport Spectator Behavior in Louisiana: Lessons for Future Interventions and Social Work Practice,” accepted for publication in Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. Dr. Reynolds presented at three national and international conferences. His presentations, focusing on sport social work, occurred at the Applied Sport Management Association Annual Conference, the College Sport Research Institute Annual Conference, and the Canadian Conference on Leisure Research. Dr. Reynolds received a $3,000 grant from Ball State University to develop a prevention strategy to address parent spectator behaviors with local partner, DCFC. Dr. Reynolds and Dr. Moore are co-authoring a book chapter on the shifting role of parents as youth sport spectators.
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Welcome to Our New Faculty & Staff
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Dr. Stephen M. Young
Stephen M. Young,PhD, LCSW, is delighted to return to his home community to serve as an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work. After graduating with his diploma from Anderson High School, he earned his BSW and MSW from Indiana University and his PhD from the University of Georgia. Dr. Young is also a certified online instructor from the Institute on Pedagogy and Technology for online courses through Columbia University’s School of Social Work.
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Professor Kristina Johnson
Kristina Johnson earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in Family, Youth, and Community Sciences with three minor concentrations: Education, African American Studies, and Communication Studies. She proceeded to obtain a masters in Social Work from Indiana University School of Social Work. Since that time, Ms. Johnson has served many years on leadership teams in the areas of mental health, substance use, and criminal justice within Drug Treatment Court, Superior Court Probation, and residential substance use disorder treatment.
Ms. Johnson is passionate about centering equity in all of the spaces she occupies. In that vein, she currently serves on the board of directors at Trinity Haven, which has a mission to provide safe, affirming housing for LGBTQ+ youth experiencing housing instability. She is a certified yoga instructor (RYT 200) and incorporates mindfulness into all of her work. Additionally, Ms. Johnson operates her own yoga and diversity, equity, and inclusion business.
In her spare time, her hobbies include spending time with her fiancée Rachel and 4-year-old daughter, Harper. She also loves traveling and reading books that help her grow.
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Jill Oglesbee
Jill Oglesbee comes to the Department of Social Work by way of Marketing and Communications (MC). She came to Ball State and MC in 2010, first as a project manager and then as a digital strategist. While a digital strategist, Ms. Oglesbee worked closely with the Social Work department on their website and newsletters. When there was an opening for the departmental secretary, she decided to throw her hat in the ring. She was very excited to be offered the job.
Ms. Oglesbee earned her BS in elementary education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She is a single mom of three grown children, Kyla, Traister, and Aidan. She enjoys being outside hiking, riding her bike, and running. Her little dog, Reo, is her best friend and loyal companion.
“Being in the Social Work department is a great fit for me. It’s my desire to be an ambassador for mental health and help normalize the topic of mental illness to reduce the stigma. I’m honored to be in a department where I can glean knowledge from experts in the field. And, who knows, maybe one day I will join the MSW program myself.”
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Becca (Meyer) McMahan
Since graduating from Ball State in 2012, Becca (Meyer) McMahan went on to complete her MSW at IUPUI (2014), obtaining her LSW shortly thereafter. Following a stint working as a case manager with those who were aging or living with disabilities in their homes, she began working as the Homebuilders Supervisor at Bethany Christian Services. Her heart for family preservation services, with the implementation of evidence-based programming, became a quick passion.
Ms. McMahan has worn a few hats within the organization since, and moved into the role of Coordinator of Adoption Services before going on maternity leave in January 2020. When she returned from leave, she worked briefly in the new family preservation program and is now the Placement Coordinator/Supervisor within the agency’s foster care program. Because Ms. McMahan has had the opportunity to work within a few programs at Bethany in the last six years, she notes that she is grateful to see Bethany’s mission—demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus by protecting children, empowering youth, and strengthening families through quality social services—woven throughout each program at the organization.
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Give Back
Give Back Gifts to the College of Health will elevate the reach and reputation of our programs, support innovative instruction, and bolster external partnerships that prepare students to adapt and excel in demanding roles.
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Keep in touch
We love to hear how you are doing—keep us in the loop!
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Department of Social WorkHealth Professions Building
Suite 501
Muncie, IN 47306
Phone: 765-285-1016
Fax: 765-285-1029
socialwork@bsu.edu
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