Skip to Main Content

The University of Tennessee

College of Social Work Henson Hall

Frequently Used Tools:



Home » About Us


The University of Tennessee
College of Social Work

The University of Tennessee, with over 200 years of academic tradition, is Tennessee's premier institution of higher learning. The University is committed to excellence in education and challenges its students and faculty to excel in scholarship, in research, and in contributions to economic, social, and cultural development.

The College of Social Work is committed to advancing the mission of The University of Tennessee as the state's land-grant, flagship university, to provide a quality public education for the citizens of Tennessee through exemplary teaching, research, and service. The College of Social Work provides a professional social work education program that prepares undergraduate and graduate students for social work practice and doctoral level graduate students for social work research and academia.

The College of Social Work includes:

The educational mission of the college is accomplished by faculty committed to the use of teaching methods that support critical thinking and life-long learning. The college's research mission embraces interdisciplinary collaboration and scholarship that seeks to increase knowledge for the benefit of individuals, families, organizations, and communities. Community outreach services are rendered by both faculty, staff, and students who seek to enhance the quality of life for people and human systems in Tennessee, with particular concern for improving life conditions and greater social justice for vulnerable populations.

The Master of Science in Social Work (M.S.S.W.) program is offered on the Knoxville and Nashville campuses as well as statewide through the Distance Education Program. The Bachelor of Science in Social Work (B.S.S.W.) degree is offered on the Knoxville campus. The Doctor of Social Work (D.S.W.) in Clinical Practice and Leadership program prepares graduates for advanced clinical practice and leadership and is offered as an online program. DSW students spend one-week in intensive on-campus learning sessions. Foundation courses for the Ph.D. program are offered in Knoxville; dissertation research may be completed in either Knoxville or Nashville. Both campuses have full-time faculty, library facilities, computer labs, and field practice resources.

The Bachelor's and Master's degree programs are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). The Council does not accredit doctoral programs; however, the college's Doctral program consistently receives strong, positive reviews from the University and national recognition from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

In US News & World Report's rankings of graduate schools of social work, the UT College of Social Work is ranked 26th overall and 15th among public universities.

Organizational Structure

The College of Social Work serves the state of Tennessee as the first and oldest CSWE accredited M.S.S.W. program within the state. A description of the two campuses follows.

Knoxville: The offices of the Dean, Knoxville Associate Dean, B.S.S.W. and Doctoral Program directors, faculty, and staff of the Knoxville campus are located in Henson Hall, at 1618 Cumberland Avenue, on The University of Tennessee campus. Also located in Knoxville are the Office of Social Work Research and Public Service and the Children's Mental Health Services Research Center. The B.S.S.W., M.S.S.W., and Ph.D. programs are offered in Knoxville.

Nashville: The offices of the Nashville Associate Dean, faculty, and staff of the Nashville campus are located in the Polk Center at 193 Polk Avenue, Suite E. The Polk Center also houses offices and facilities of the Hodges Library, the Institute for Public Service, and Social Work Office of Research and Public Service. In addition to its full-time faculty members, the Nashville campus draws upon the research and teaching resources of 16 universities and colleges within the Nashville-Davidson County area. The M.S.S.W. program is offered in Nashville.

Research and Service Institutes

Children's Mental Health Services Research Center
The Children's Mental Health Services Research Center is one of only seven research centers in the nation that focuses on children and is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. The Center conducts research across the state with offices in Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis.

Purposes of the Center include promoting high-quality social work research and training of talented mental health services researchers interested in children and mental health services issues. The College of Social Work's Ph.D. program is closely linked to the Center. Four doctoral faculty members lead research teams within the Center. These teams focus on research on the structure and coordination of services, aggressive and antisocial behavior, child welfare issues, and measurement and assessment issues.

Social Work Office of Research and Public Service
The goal of the Social Work Office of Research and Public Service (SWORPS) is to improve the quality of human services practice in Tennessee, the Southeast, and the nation for the benefit of human services workers, their agencies, and their clients.

SWORPS is composed of units that work in the areas of research, publications, staff development, professional continuing education, and e-learning. The staff of 200 is made up of social workers, trainers, researchers, statisticians, editors, and other professional and support personnel. The office is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, on the main campus of the University of Tennessee with other offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, and Columbia.

Veterinary Social Work
Veterinary Social Work (VSW) was founded in May of 2002, and is a partnership between the College of Social Work and the College of Veterinary Medicine. VSW seeks to expand understanding about the services needed at the intersection of veterinary medicine and social work practice.

Ethics

The College of Social Work subscribes to the code of ethics of each of the following organizations:

National Association of Social Workers
http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp

International Federation of Social Workers
http://www.ifsw.org/en/p38000398.html