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I was born and reared in Northwest Georgia and graduated from La Fayette High School in 1964. I attended Anderson University (IN) with a double major in religion and English literature and graduated from Eckerd College in 1969 with a major in English literature. I then attended Indiana University for an MA in linguistics (1974) with an applied area in Spanish, pursuing a lifelong interest in language and communication. During the years of the Vietnam War, I re-evaluated my career choices toward working with persons who had been left behind by American society. I chose social work and graduated with the Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Georgia in 1976. I then worked for 16 years in community mental health in Northwest Georgia with a specialty in working with the elderly. During these years, I maintained an interest in social work education by serving as a Field Instructor for MSW students from UGA.
When the UGA doctoral program in social work opened in 1990, I enrolled and graduated in 1994. My dissertation was a study of the effect of day treatment on depressed elderly mental health clients. I was hired by the UGA School of Social Work in 1994 and received tenure as an Associate Professor in February of 2000. My academic career continued to build on my social work practice career, especially my interests in mental health and the needs of the growing Latino population in Georgia.
I taught courses in human behavior, research, assessment, psychopathology, family-centered practice, and social work with Latino families. In addition, I was a leader in developing an exchange program with the University of Veracruz in Mexico and taught numerous classes for UGA students (undergraduate, masters, and Ph. D.) in a cultural immersion program in Veracruz. A major area of service was in curriculum development where I served for many years a chair of the MSW Curriculum Committee and led the development of a new curriculum during the semester conversion process. In addition, I served for four years as director of the part-time, evening MSW program based in the Atlanta area at the Gwinnett Center.
Thus, when Dalton State College proposed a bachelor’s
program in social work with an emphasis on working with Appalachian and
Latino families, I had much interest. I consider myself Appalachian by
ethnicity, I am bilingual in Spanish, and I have experience with
curriculum development. I accepted the position as Director of Studies
in Social Work on August 1, 2001. I enjoy working in my native area to develop an excellent social work program and to provide culturally-competent bachelors-level social workers who are able to communicate effectively in Spanish with the many Latino families in the area. I also look forward to helping build a stronger social work profession in Northwest Georgia which remains home to many persons living in poverty and struggling with issues of substance abuse, family breakup, domestic violence, mental illness, immigration stress, and other pressing personal and social challenges. Research and publication:
-Over 18 publications, primarily in scholarly journals.
-Depression in the elderly
-Social development
-International social work
-Cultural competence training for work with Hispanic/Latino
clients.
I continue research in several of these areas as well as
offer continuing education classes for social workers and their
agencies through Dalton State College. |
