Ohio University students working toward a degree in social work are no longer in the same college as those studying the biology of animal life or the history of human events.
This summer, OU’s social work program moved to the College of Health Sciences and Professions. A planning process of more than two years preceded the program’s departure from the College of Arts and Sciences.
“We decided to move as an opportunity to collaborate with health-related professions,” said Warren Galbreath, interim chair of OU’s social work program. “We saw that a lot of times, social workers work in health science arenas.
“We are excited about the change, because it is going to create new opportunities for our students and new opportunities for our faculty to collaborate with research that is being done in that particular college.”
The switch between colleges will cause administrators to examine the program’s curriculum and consider revisions and updates for future years. Students will immediately be able to gain hands-on experience with rounds, an opportunity offered by the College of Health Sciences and Professions.
“That will be great, especially for those social workers that will want to be working in a medical arena,” Galbreath said.
Though the name of the host college has changed, the location has not. The almost 80 students in the undergraduate and master’s social work program will remain in Morton Hall, with plans to move to Grover Center on the horizon.
“I do not anticipate that being anytime soon,” said Howard Dewald, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “With the reorganization, there is still faculty that will have to move first. It is in no way an imminent type of move, and there is no pressure for anybody to locate in any way or another.”
If the social work program continues to be housed in Morton, students will maintain their access to the building’s resources.
“Our formal relationship has ended, but we need to overlap our resources and that will still continue,” Dewald said. “There are not any issues that way. We will be happy to maintain both relationships.”
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