2023 – 2024 Social Work Program Reports

Welcome and a Learning Community

Antoine Coulombe continues as the Chair of the Bachelor of Social Work. In September 2024, we welcomed 54 new students. Despite transitioning from our familiar Jack Bell Building, our students actively contribute to a vibrant community. This September, the new cohort of students participated in a highly competitive election featuring a record number of candidates. We eagerly anticipate the fantastic initiatives they will bring forward.

Strategic Renewal and Collaboration

Over the past year, we have begun a comprehensive review of the BSW program’s strategic components, as identified in our last accreditation evaluation. A key initiative has been our ongoing collaboration with the Equity Office to enhance the equity component of our admissions process, aiming for a more inclusive and fair framework.

This year, we have laid the groundwork for a strategic renewal of the BSW program. We are partnering with UBC’s Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) to align our program with the recently revised CASWE-ACFTS accreditation policy. This effort is crucial to maintaining our high standards and ensuring compliance with the latest accreditation requirements. In addition, we are evaluating the BSW program to ensure it conforms with UBC’s Academic Calendar guidelines. This involves identifying gaps and planning necessary updates to keep our program current and compliant.

JEDII and Community Engagement

We are committed to improving our program by integrating diverse perspectives, including Indigenous and decolonizing viewpoints, BIPOC and anti-racist insights, and queer perspectives. We are working with various school initiatives to incorporate these perspectives into the BSW program better. These insights are essential for creating a more inclusive and equitable learning environment, better equipping our social work students to engage with diverse communities.

In 2025, we will host a series of town halls on these critical topics to foster open dialogue and gather diverse perspectives. We invite students, staff, faculty, and community members to participate, ensuring all voices are heard in our ongoing efforts to enhance the BSW program.

We look forward to your continued support and engagement as we work together to advance equity and excellence in social work education.

Over the past year during which I chaired the MSW Program and Field Education Committee, I have been kept busy with numerous administrative and programmatic duties.  Throughout my appointment as Chair, I have enjoyed meeting with groups of students (e.g., September orientation, Convocation ceremony) and engaging with them during individual sessions (e.g., consultations, advice, appeals).  UBC MSW students routinely demonstrate tremendous scholarly curiosity, compassionate yet forceful personal determination and an earnest commitment to social justice.

Foremost among my program-related tasks this year was oversight of the preparation and submission of the MSW Program self-study report necessary to retain our program’s accreditation status with the Canadian Association of Social Work Educators (CASWE).  Together with the assistance of the UBC Centre for Teaching and Learning and School of Social Work colleagues, Barbara Lee, Lea Caragata, Rita Amisano and Emily Chen, we mapped the existing program’s curricular content, curated numerous School, Faculty and University documents and reports, and compiled the voluminous self-study report and supporting documentation.  The report production process began in Spring 2024 and continued through to submission in November 2024.  The next stage in the accreditation review process will involve an external on-site evaluation, currently scheduled for mid-Winter 2025.  We hope to receive news of full accreditation by Spring 2025.

Secondarily, I recently began enacting the Chair’s responsibility for shepherding forward the renewal of the MSW program in response to the dynamic social, scholarly and practice environments within which the profession of Social Work operates.   Following upon work begun several years ago by my program chair predecessor, Christiana Bratiotis, the MSW Program and Field Education Committee continues engaging with our student constituencies and community partners to propel the renewal of the MSW program forward.  This process involves significant revisions and additions to the Graduate Course Calendar and the reformulating of timelines and pathways to program completion for future cohorts of UBC MSW students, while also assuring that adherence to relevant professional standards and principles.  At this time, we anticipate that the renewed UBC MSW program will be fully ready to admit incoming Graduate students into a fully revamped course-based MSW program in September 2026.