WKU News

The month of March is an opportunity to celebrate social workers and recognize the work they do to advocate for millions of people every day.

WKU’s Amy Bingham shows us what the Department of Social Work is doing to raise the profile of the profession in this week’s View from the Hill.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, social work is one of the fastest growing professions in the U.S. with 110,000 more social workers expected to enter the field in just seven years.

This is the fifth year WKU has planned events for Social Work Month to help get the word out about the profession.

“I’m really passionate about empowering people to live their best life.”

Franklin senior Austin Weiler is finishing up his bachelor’s degree in social work and will transition into WKU’s master’s program in the fall.

 “There’s a saying in social work and ‘it’s I didn’t choose social work, social work chose me.’  That’s sort of cliché but it really rings true for me.”

Weiler is among a few hundred WKU students enrolled in the program.

“People say oh I couldn’t do that job but really you could do that job because we teach you how to cope and take care of yourself.”

Department Head Patricia Desrosiers says it’s important to show the community how diverse a career in social work can be.

“It’s such a broad profession and you can do so many things that I don’t think people understand the breadth of it.”

“So you can go into public policy, mental health advocacy, case management, child welfare.”

Last week 60 WKU social work students attended lobby day in Frankfort -- giving them a taste of the type of advocating they will be doing in the future.

 “There is specific legislation we talked about and so everybody had different things.”

Just another way Weiler says the department truly prepares students to be an effective social worker and agent for change.

“Just putting a focus on being a professional social worker while you’re in the department on campus is where the social work department really shines through.”

To learn more about WKU’s Department of Social Work, visit https://www.wku.edu/socialwork; to see the activities planned for the month of March, follow WKU Social Work on Facebook.