The Macro Social Work Student Network (MSWSN) is hitting the road this month. MSWSN member and Silberman School of Social Work Student Andrew Calderaro will be visiting six universities this month to discuss macro social work and bringing MSWSN chapters to more campuses.
This past June MSWSN held a very successful conference on the state of macro social work, Macro in a Micro World! What the 2012 Rothman Report Means for Social Change Hopefulness . 80 community practice social workers and students from around the country participated in the event. Since then MSWSN has been hard at work advocating for macro social work on college campuses. The School Organizing Program will help them continue and grow their efforts in this area.
The School Organizing Program is a special and unique brand of organizing. It is special because social work students do it on their very campuses; it is unique because many of us are quickly in-and-out of our programs, so we have to organize within a specific scope of assets and timeframe.
The Program’s mission is to engage social work students to use and improve their organizing skills to enhance awareness about the necessity of macro social work, effect change in school curricula, and leave their macro social work programs in a better place than when they entered them. (Source)
On November 2nd the Association of Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA) awarded MSWSN the Student Recognition award at the 2013 CSWE/APM. They were nominated by Dr. Terry Mizrahi. Julie Birkenmaier, chair of ACOSA’s awards committee, stated in a letter to MSWSN that:
The selection committee was highly impressed with the many accomplishments of this student group, including the creation of a network of students, a conference, and the foundation of campus chapters of the MSWSN. We are pleased to recognize your efforts to elevate macro social work practice within social work education, and to influence the career choices of future social workers to make an impact on our neighborhoods and communities.
Get Involved
You can learn more about MSWSN by visiting their new website MSWSN.org.
