School of Social Welfare Dean's Update

In this month's newsletter, we share stories about the KU School of Social Welfare's research and training efforts to support the social work workforce in Kansas:

Nearly 650 students are enrolled in KU social work degree programs this fall, including 241 BSW students; 351 MSW students taking classes in Lawrence, Overland Park, Salina or online; and 50 doctoral students in the DSW and PhD programs. We look forward to educating, training and supporting these students to advance their careers as qualified and compassionate social workers.

As always, please reach out with questions or concerns at any time at kusswdo@ku.edu. Your feedback and collaboration are extremely important to us.

Take good care and Rock Chalk,

Michelle Carney, PhD, MSSA
Dean and Professor
KU School of Social Welfare

A KU School of Social Welfare training program that addresses mental health workforce shortages has received funding to continue through 2029.

The Integrated Health Scholars Program (IHSP) received a $2.4 million award through the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program, funded by the Health Resources & Services Administration.

IHSP partners with community agencies to train Master of Social Work students to provide integrated behavioral health services in rural, high-need Kansas communities. The program addresses critical gaps in care – in Kansas, 96 of 105 counties are in Health Professional Shortage Areas for Mental Health.

At heart, Simranpreet Kandola is a listener. Her interest in social work is grounded in her eagerness to hear other people’s stories. 

Kandola, a student in the Advanced Standing Master of Social Work program, will tell you she’s timid. She’s being modest – the soft-spoken Kandola stood in front of several hundred people in the Lied Center auditorium and delivered a commencement speech in May. 

“I was really surprised to have been chosen for that. Honored, honestly,” Kandola said. “I think it's encouraged me just to do things I didn't think I could do.”

It is important to Assistant Professor Kathryn Berringer that LGBTQ history isn’t erased. She keeps artifacts and books detailing these histories in her office and works with youth leaders and community elders in Michigan to preserve historical archives.  

Berringer dedicates her research to exploring the relationships, paradoxes and tensions inherent to the LGBTQ movement in the United States. Her interest was sparked in her childhood, going to elementary school in Greenwich Village in New York City. She was interested in the gay liberation movement as it happened around her and, later, in the social movement’s intersections with social work.

A new home for the KU School of Social Welfare on the University of Kansas campus helps the school to think about its future differently. The School moved to a renovated floor in Green Hall in January 2025.

Creating a home base for KU social work students at all stages in their education – from first-year undergraduate students to doctoral candidates – allows students to make connections and “see the breadth of things you can do in the social work profession,” said Michelle Carney, dean of the School of Social Welfare.

“We’re really invested in students graduating. One of the most important things in this new space was, ‘How do we situate the supports that we have for students so that they can access them easily?’” Carney said.

As the School of Social Welfare grows into the future, alumni and friends can support the School by contributing to scholarships for social work students.

Make a gift to support scholarships for future Jayhawk Social Workers. 

Researchers from the KU School of Social Welfare implemented an intervention for Kansas child welfare caseworkers that lowered secondary traumatic stress and boosted workforce resilience.

The research was funded by a six-year, $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. Social Welfare team members included Becci Akin, principal investigator and professor; Brennan Miller, co-principal investigator and research associate; Kortney Carr, assistant professor; Vickie McArthur, program manager; and Shelby Clark, who received her Ph.D. at KU.

“One thing I think is cool about this study is that people often view resilience as a trait. Either you are resilient, or you aren’t,” Miller said. “But we viewed it as, ‘Can you employ this as a skill?’ And our results suggest you can.”

Photographic Journeys in Asia: Visual Exploration of Climate & Environmental Challenges
Tuesday, Nov. 4
6:30-8 p.m.
Kansas Union, Jayhawk Room

Supporting Families with Parental Substance Use: Role of Family Treatment Courts & Lessons for Social Workers
Wednesday, Nov. 5
12-1:30 p.m.
Online
CEU:1.5

Healing at Every Level: Clinical Strategies for Youth DBT and a Vision for Rural Behavioral Health
Friday, Nov. 7
8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Center for Counseling and Consultation, Great Bend, KS
CEU: 3.5 (2 diagnosis/treatment, 1.5 general)

DSW Info Session
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 12-1 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 20, 12-1 p.m.
Online

MSW Info Session for Career Changers
Wednesday, Nov. 19
7-8 p.m.
Online

Looking Back to Move Forward: Social Work, Labor, and Economic Justice
Thursday, Jan.22
12-2 p.m.
Online
CEU: 2

Whether you just received a promotion, started a new position or project, or moved across the country, the School of Social Welfare wants to keep updated on your life adventures. Update your contact information and share your alumni news.

Joyce “Lynn” Wagner Knight, MSW 1989, passed away on Aug. 29, 2025, at age 60. Read obituary.

KU Social Welfare faculty and research staff presented their work during the 2025 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Denver.

Michelle Levy and Jason Matejkowski shared alumni career results from the Integrated Health Scholars Program. The program trains Master of Social Work students to provide integrated behavioral health services in rural, high-need Kansas communities.

Christopher Ward, MSW program director, shared “Adjunct Self-Assessment: A Teaching Practice Pilot Study” during Friday’s poster presentations.

View photos from the 2025 CSWE Annual Program Meeting.

Read more about recent research presentations.

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university’s programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and procedures and is the Title IX Coordinator for all KU campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, civilrights@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY. Reports can be submitted by contacting the Title IX Coordinator as provided herein or using the Title IX online report form and complaints can be submitted with the Title IX Coordinator or using the Title IX online complaint form.

The University of Kansas is a public institution governed by the Kansas Board of Regents.