A new master’s program in social work starting this fall at Southern Adventist University could help address a local shortage of social workers with advanced degrees.
The program will be the only one to offer master’s-level training in the Chattanooga area, school officials said. The nearest place to get a graduate degree in social work is the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
“The whole field of social work is moving toward advanced practitioners,” said Rene Drumm, dean of the School of Social Work at Southern. “We want to be on the cutting edge.”
Southern officials developed the program to attract students who want to advance in their current jobs or change careers. Those enrolled will have to meet only four days a month, completing the rest of their curriculum through online classes.
The school will offer two tracks — a one-year program for students who have already earned an undergraduate degree in social work and a two-year program for students looking to enter social work with a bachelor’s degree in another field.
Response to the new program has been surprising, officials said. The inaugural 55-student class is full, and already there is a growing waiting list for next year.
OPEN HOUSE
There will be an open house to meet program faculty and students at noon on Aug. 30 in Daniels Hall on the Southern Adventist University campus.
“I think it opens lots of doors for private practice in Chattanooga (and) for building capacity for agencies” that employ social workers, said Sharon Pittman, director for the new program.
Lunelle Bertresse, a 22-year-old who has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Southern, said people are excited there is a local program that can give them an edge.
“In this day and age, you want to be as qualified as you can be,” she said. “(With this program) you could get a one-up on someone with just a bachelor’s.”
The Council on Social Work Education, the national accrediting body for university social work programs, has approved the program start-up and will conduct a three-year review before granting full academic accreditation, officials said.
Joan Garrett has been a staff writer for the Times Free Press since August 2007. Before becoming a general assignment writer for the paper, she wrote about business, higher education and the court systems. She grew up the oldest of five sisters near Birmingham, Ala., and graduated with a master's and bachelor's degrees in journalism from the University of Alabama. Before landing her first full-time job as a reporter at the Times Free Press, she ...
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