UAlbany's School of Social Welfare

Bachelor of Social Work Students celebrate their UAlbany 2012 Graduation

Internships in Aging Project’s (IAP) successful fundraiser to support the IAP Alumni Endowed Scholarship

Alumni of the Internships in Aging Project recently held a fundraiser – the IAP JAM – to raise funds to support stipends for future students. The Internships in Aging Project (or IAP) is a program within the MSW program at UAlbany that trains social work students to work with older adults and their families. Franklin’s Tower’s Restaurant and Bar as well as our musical guests, Holland Hopson, Kate McConnell and Gordon St Band generously donated their services to the fundraiser. Many University at Albany School of Social Welfare faculty and staff, students and alumni and friends attended the event!

School of Social Welfare to host Summit to Support Refugees and Immigrants in the Capital Region

On April 30, the School will convene a free, full-day summit in support of local refugees and immigrants who live in the Capital Region. Participants include members of the refugee and immigrant communities, educators and students, volunteers, and representatives from community-based organizations, government, and business. The summit is the result of collaboration between USCRI Albany, a local refugee resettlement agency, and the School of Social Welfare, in particular Dean Katharine Briar-Lawson, Assistant Professor Blanca Ramos, MSW student Martha Mortensen, and Public Service Professor Dahlia Herring.

For more information and to register, click here.

2012 President's Award for Leadership Recipients

Three social welfare students received a Presidential Leadership Award:
Nicole Jean, Psychology, Social Welfare and Education, Outstanding Senior Award
Molly Silvanic, Social Welfare, Education Studies and English, Outstanding Senior Award
Victoria Bonds, Social Welfare and Public Policy, Community Service Leadership Award
Hillary Closs, MSW, Sustainability Leadership Award

Click here to read the full story

Jamie Dughi, MSW student, one of nine women selected for the UAlbany’s Center for Women in Government and Civil Society Fellowship on Women and Public Policy Program.

A doctoral candidate who advocates for communities with a high incidence of HIV/AIDS; a UAlbany graduate who promoted a bill to ban texting while driving; and a doctoral student with a strong interest in issues concerning immigrants and women, are among the nine women selected for the Fellowship on Women and Public Policy Program offered by the University at Albany’s Center for Women in Government and Civil Society.

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School of Social Welfare hosts child welfare leaders from Singapore

Distinguished Professor Ron Toseland and the School hosted public and nonprofit sector child welfare leaders from Singapore. They were here to learn more about small group homes. They are featured here with Bill Wolfe CEO of La Salle School, Ron Toseland, Heather Larkin ( faculty) and Katharine Briar -Lawson, Dean. On their visit they also went to St. Catherine's, Parsons, and St. Anne's

America East Conference Spotlights UAlbany's Dr. Robert L. Miller for Black History Month

The NCAA Division I America East Conference, whose membership includes 18 of the University at Albany's varsity sports, has honored a UAlbany School of Social Welfare associate professor as "an ideal representative from the University at Albany for Black History Month."

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UAlbany Dean Katharine Briar-Lawson Named University Citizen Laureate

The University at Albany Foundation has named businessman and philanthropists I. Norman and Micki Massry and University at Albany's School of Social Welfare Dean Katharine Briar-Lawson recipients of the 2012 Citizen Laureate Awards. I. Norman and Micki Massry have been named Community Laureates, while Katharine Briar-Lawson is Academic Laureate. The Citizen Laureate Awards recognize outstanding leaders in business and industry, government and academia, and are the most prestigious honors bestowed by The University at Albany Foundation.

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A Road Less Traveled – Diabetes and Depression Among Ethnic Minorities

On April 25, 2012, the Center for Elimination of Minority Health Disparities and the Schools of Social Welfare and Public Health jointly sponsored a discussion on diabetes and depression among black women titled "A Road Less Traveled: Diabetes and Depression among Ethnic Minorities." The discussion was led by Behavioral Scientist Michelle Owens-Gary, PhD, MA, who is in the Program Evaluation Branch of the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This event was partially supported by a grant from the National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities. For photos of the event, click here.

Colors of Africa Brunch and Silent Auction - U.S.-Africa Partnership for Building Stronger Communities

SUNDAY JUNE 10, 2012 11 AM to 3:00 PM
U.S.-AFRICA PARTNERSHIP for BUILDING STRONGER COMMUNITIES “COLORS OF AFRICA” BRUNCH & SILENT AUCTION
Gospel Music, African Cuisine & Dancing
To Support Scholarships for Student Travel to South Africa
for more information click here.

We warmly welcome to our school Dr. Wansoon Chae.

She is a visiting professor from Chonbuk National University in Jeonju, South Korea. Dr. Chae is here with funding from the National Research Foundation in Korea to study the coping of immigrant women and mental health issues. She will be working with several faculty in the School of Social Welfare.

HEARTS Initiative Partners Receive $75,000 Grant

The HEARTS Initiative partners have received a $75,000 grant from the Charles R. Wood Foundation. HEARTS are Healthy Environments and Relationships That Support youth to reduce costly, later life consequences of adverse childhood experiences (ACE). Partners include St. Anne Institute, LaSalle School, Troy Housing Authority, The WAIT House, Community Hospice, Homeless and Traveler's Aid Society, Prevent Child Abuse New York, and the UAlbany School of Social Welfare. The partners will work together to improve program and community responses to prevent and address ACEs and their costly health and social consequences. Details.

SEED Program Provides Business Training and $385K in Microloans to Local Entrepreneurs, Generating 52 New Capital Region Jobs

ALBANY, N.Y. (January 25, 2012) – In just six months, the University at Albany's Small Enterprise Economic Development (SEED) program has invested $385,000 in the Capital District and created 52 new jobs. This unique job-creation partnership between UAlbany, SEFCU and Empire State Development (ESD) is the Capital Region's first character-based microloan program.

The SEED program links faculty, staff and graduate students from the UAlbany School of Social Welfare, the UAlbany School of Business and its Small Business Development Center (SBDC) with $2.5 million in financial support from SEFCU and $96,700 from ESD. It is designed to stimulate the creation and growth of small businesses in the Capital Region. Read more...

University at Albany, SEFCU, Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and Empire State Development's Small Enterprise Economic Development (SEED) Program Receives 2012 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award

Character-Based Microloan Program Recognized with National Award

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 11, 2012) -- The Small Enterprise Economic Development program (SEED), a partnership among the University at Albany, SEFCU, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Empire State Development (ESD), has been named a 2012 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award recipient. The Tribeca Film Festival, in association with Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen and the Disruptor Foundation, recognizes individuals and organizations for "innovative ways of looking at – and often dramatically changing – the world we live in." Other 2012 recipients include Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter and Square; music icon Justin Bieber and manager Scooter Braun; Def Jam Records founder Rick Rubin; and noted oncologist Steven A. Curley.

SEED strives to improve local New York Capital Region economies by promoting and fostering small business and microenterprise development. It gives small businesses the necessary training and access to capital to make their company a success.

SEED links entrepreneurs with the expertise and educational resources of UAlbany's School of Social Welfare, the UAlbany School of Business and its Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and the financial resources of SEFCU and ESD. During the training, program participants learn the key components of small business ownership such as business planning, legal issues, marketing, and financial management. The SEED team consists of a program coordinator, UAlbany student interns, and business community volunteers who serve as mentors assisting candidates with the development of their business models and providing social support, including capacity building.

To date, the pilot program, using principles of character-based lending, has interviewed 150 program applicants with 33 accepted to complete the training. Eighteen loans have been made totaling $630,000. The program has helped establish nine new companies, expand nine existing businesses and create or retain 68 jobs. The individual entrepreneurial business ventures range from a web portal for people with disabilities to restaurants, taxi and concierge services, a spa and a recyclables redemption center. Hear some of the entrepreneurial stories here.

What first started with a concept developed by SEFCU President and CEO Michael J. Castellana, UAlbany School of Social Welfare Dean Katharine Briar-Lawson, UAlbany School of Business Dean Donald Siegel and Bill Brigham, Director of UAlbany's Small Business Development Center, has led to $2.5 million in financial support from SEFCU and $96,700 from ESD to stimulate the creation and growth of small businesses in New York's Capital Region. SEFCU's revolving loan fund uses character-based lending as the underwriting criteria. This non-traditional form of lending assesses an entrepreneur's creditworthiness based on his or her relevant expert knowledge, entrepreneurship, good knowledge of the relevant market, and ability to handle crises.

The program's key goal is to improve local economies in the Capital Region and surrounding counties by promoting and fostering small business and microenterprise development within distressed communities.
SEED will receive the award on April 27 at the Third Annual Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards, hosted by NYU Stern School of Business.
"UAlbany's SEED program is honored to be recognized with a Tribeca Disruption Innovation Award," said UAlbany President George M. Philip. "In just eight months, the program has invested more than $750,000 and created area jobs. It clearly illustrates the role of a research university in job creation and is a superb example of public-private partnership."
"As we predicted, the SEED program is proving to be a success in creating a positive economic ripple in the Capital Region. It is great for the program to receive national attention. We've only seen the tip of the iceberg with this program. Great things are yet to come," said Michael J. Castellana, SEFCU President and CEO.
"The Tribeca Disruption Innovation Award is another indication of the SEED program's ability to leverage public-private partnerships to generate economic growth and create jobs," said ESD Capital Region Regional Director Peter Wohl. "We're honored that SEED has been nationally recognized as a real model for small business, character-based lending initiatives."
Individuals may apply to participate in the SEED program by contacting Ryan Busch, Program Coordinator at (518) 485-7697 or via email at rbusch@albany.edu.