A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK

"The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain...until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life."
-Jane Adams

The tradition of Augsburg College has always been "education for service." It was a natural extension of this history for students in the 1960's to be engaged in work in the community. The War on Poverty was in full swing; the demand for professionally educated social workers far exceeded the supply. To better prepare and encourage the increasing number of students interested in entering the social work profession and to ground them in the social service systems, the Department of Sociology provided a few related social work courses.

However, nationally, many entering the field at the baccalaureate level had no preparation in social work. The Council on Social Work Education recognized this gap, and in the late '60's announced a decision to accredit social work programs at the baccalaureate level. Dr. Joel Torstenson, long-time chair of the Sociology Department, gained the support of the College to initiate a social work program and to seek accreditation for it. In 1971, Dr. Paul Steen, who had had a long and distinguished career in the field, was recruited to plan, develop and seek accreditation for a social work program.

Anthony Wagner joined the faculty in the early '70's, assuming the directorship of the Social Work Program in 1976, to replace Dr. Steen who planned to retire. Mr. Wagner left the College shortly thereafter to pursue an opportunity in the field. Edwina Hertzberg came on board in 1977 to direct the Program and continue the process of initial accreditation. Douglas Perry, who had taught with the Program earlier through field placement, filled out the two person social work faculty (with senior social work majors numbering 35 that year). In 1978 the Social Work Program became a separate department.

At the same time, St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, had decided to develop a social work program. A joint program was developed with Augsburg, wherein Augsburg students had the opportunity to engage in rural social work through spending their junior Spring semester at St. Olaf, while St. Olaf students spent their senior fall semester at Augsburg learning urban social work. (The Joint Program continued until 1991, after St. Olaf's accreditation by the Council on Social Work Education, at which time St. Olaf decided not to continue the joint program.)

Augsburg College was awarded initial accreditation for its Social Work Program in 1980. Immediately the Academic Dean, Dr. Charles Anderson, began pressing for an MSW Program. Meanwhile, the Program faculty had grown to three full-time and one part-time person with another member added in 1980. Initial accreditation was reaffirmed in 1982, and affirmed in 1986 under the leadership of Maria Brown, Chair. Meanwhile, typical of the tenor of the '80's, the number of social work majors had severely reduced-never of course, in quality.

When Augsburg's Weekend College began in 1982, the Department of Social Work, recognizing the potential of students among otherwise employed adults, early included this route to social work education for Augsburg's students. To meet the new challenge, additional faculty were added for a total of five full-time and two part-time members. For purposes of assuring continuity and quality assurance, all faculty were expected to teach both in the day and weekend classes.

Following reaccreditation in 1986, with the strong encouragement of President Charles Anderson, planning for the MSW Program began in earnest, under the chairpersonship of Mary Lou Williams. Application for candidacy was sought and in 1991, approval was granted by the Council on Social Work education for the enrollment of students in Fall, 1991. Francine Chakolis agreed to direct the MSW Program. In that year the Department grew to a total of nine full-time plus one part-time faculty. In 1992, the Academic Dean accepted the Department's Program plan for a restructuring of its administration to a Department Chair and Program Directors of each of the programs (BSW and MSW). In the Spring of that year, Dr. Rosemary Link was elected chair.

After a tough, detailed (process of curriculum and organizing building, accreditation for the MSW was awarded by the Council on Social Work Education in 1994, a moment as exhilarating as the process had been exhausting. Each year, approximately sixty students are admitted to the MSW Program.

The BSW continues to grow. In the 1993-94 academic year, BSW students numbered 130, two thirds of whom attend during weekdays, one third on weekends.

The Department faculty continues to grow to address the enlarged social work student population and to meet the professional standards of accreditation. In 1995 there will be 17 full-time and six adjunct faculty in the Augsburg Department of Social Work.

More on the history of the Social Work Department and faculty can be found in the newly released book "The Anderson Chronicles: An Intimate Portrait of Augsburg College 1963 - 1997" by Richard C. Nelson, Professor Emeritus of History, Augsburg College and Dave Wood (Kirk House Publishers). It is available through the Augsburg College Bookstore and The Youth and Family Institute of Augsburg College at http://youthfamilyinstitute.com and search on "Chronicle

The Founding Faculty of the Social Work Department

Below: Members of the Sociology Faculty of 1974 (sitting) Paul Steen, Chairman Joel Torstenson, Robert Grams, Gordon Nelson, (standing) Valerie Pace, Jerry Gerasimo, and Tony Wagner.

The Social Work Department had its roots in Sociology & Social Welfare

"SOCIOLOGY 101"
by Nancy Holland

Originally appeared in 1974 Augsburgian

What is social welfare all about? What do you do at your placement? In the midst of many transitions, Augsburg's social welfare department strives steadily toward its goal of preparing students to be adequate social workers at the BA level.

The two questions above are the primary components of a social welfare education and more closely related than at first glance. Finding out about social welfare comes from actual experience in the field and then sharing those widely varying experiences in classes. Background of the field, practice in labs and practice in the field, and subsequent discussion put together a picture of "Where am I going? What is the purpose of the field? Do social workers help people? What are the shortcomings? Do social workers just screw up people? What are the 'systems' and where is my place in relation to them? What are my responsibilities as a social worker? What makes a good and bad social worker?" The variety of placements and opportunities is virtually limitless and Augsburg's broad offerings are only a small sample of what is available.

Below: Sociology Professor Jerry Gerasimo participates in a small group discussion

One Augsburg junior works at Pharm House. Her comments illustrate one kind of social work: "Working at Pharm House involves primarily drug crisis and intervention. The volunteers are there to answer the phone and walk-ins concerning any information they want to know- most of it regarding drugs. There is one-to-one counseling and group work. First hand experience in handling crises, where it's vital to make a decision, could hardly be as effective in a classroom. Also, picking up the little things that a chemically dependent person might mention would be seen best in such an agency. The training, as far as communicating with others and listening to them is something to be carried over into everyday life. . ."

Below: Kathryn Sanoden finds that Sociology can be studied right from the newspaper.

A senior's experiences at Pillsbury House, a community services agency, are quite different. She says: "I'm treated like I'm a staff member and I do different things there such as senior citizen shopping trips, acting as a group leader, and being a senior citizen pal. (I think my placement is valuable and essential to my social work education) because actual experience is a lot different than reading in books. Dealing with people is different than I expected. It also gives you a good idea of what to expect when you get out and get a job - like hours and frustrations that come with the job. It also gives you a good idea of the type of field you might want to go into. I think (field experience) should be indoctrinated into every major field."