To increase the number of trained mental health professionals available to support returning
military service personnel and their families, predominantly in the Fort Drum region of
Northern New York, the Syracuse University College of Human Ecology's School of Social
Work today announced that its master of social work (M.S.W.) courses will be offered in the
Watertown area. This program option also addresses the growing need for M.S.W.-trained
practitioners throughout the region in health and mental health, developmental disabilities,
child welfare, chemical dependency and other human services systems.
The deadline to apply to the Watertown M.S.W. program is May 15. An information session
will take place on Monday, April 6, at the Best Western Carriage House Inn, 300 Washington
St., Watertown. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the information session and discussion
beginning at 6 p.m. To R.S.V.P. and learn more about the M.S.W. in Watertown, call (315)
443-5555 or e-mail HumanEcology@syr.edu.
"The Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization (FDRHPO) and the Northern Area
Health Education Center's (NAHEC) Regional Recruitment Project create educational
pathways for residents that also fill gaps in the healthcare and mental health workforce," says
Erika Flint, regional recruitment project manager for FDRHPO. "The opportunity presented
by Syracuse University will address the mental health provider shortage in the Fort Drum
region in an effort that will be sustainable, helping to ensure the community will not be faced
with these same shortages in the future. We are very pleased with the level of expressed interest
already generated and are confident Syracuse University's presence in the community will be a
welcomed addition."
"We are very pleased to offer our graduate courses in social work to educate human service
professionals who, when their degree work is completed, will provide services that are so
critically necessary in the northern counties of New York state," says Diane Lyden Murphy,
dean of SU's College of Human Ecology. "This program will provide a consistent flow of
master of social work-prepared graduates to the agencies and communities, facilitating the
vision of more accessible services for all individuals and families."
"The College of Human Ecology's School of Social Work has a historically strong relationship
as a partner with human service agencies in the northern counties of New York state," says
Carrie Jefferson Smith, director of the School of Social Work. "Currently, nearly 100 graduates
of the bachelor's and master's programs in social work reside and work in the North Country
area in school districts, family counseling services, children's centers and hospitals."
The M.S.W. program will offer a foundation curriculum that includes Watertown-area classes.
Students will finish their remaining course work at the Syracuse campus and field instruction in
the North Country area.
Accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, Syracuse University's M.S.W. is an
academically rigorous 60-credit curriculum that combines program-specific courses with
elective options that enable students to tailor their studies according to their professional
interests. Students with a bachelor's degree in social work complete a 36-credit Advanced
Standing Program.
About the College of Human Ecology at Syracuse University
The College of Human Ecology is dedicated to excellence in professional academic education
and integrates publicly engaged scholarship as a philosophy and method in all of its degree
programs. The college brings together a rich history of academic programs whose signatures of
social responsibility and justice join new and evolving majors reflective of educating global
citizens whose leadership can-and does-change the places and people where they live and
work.
Previously known as the College of Human Services and Health Professions until it was
renamed in 2007, the College of Human Ecology hosts seven departments with strong roots in
SU history: Child and Family Studies; Health and Wellness; Hospitality Management;
Marriage and Family Therapy; Nutrition Science and Dietetics; Sport Management; and the
School of Social Work.
