NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina's Department of Social Work has received a reaffirmation of accreditation from the Council on Social Work Education. The social work program's accreditation was reaffirmed for the maximum allowable period of eight years, with no interim report required.

The department submitted a 227-page self-study report to the council in April 2011, which was followed by a site visit in September 2011. According to Dr. Johnelle Luciani, chairwoman of the Department of Social Work, the site visitor "noted that students, adjunct faculty, alumni, field instructors and advisory council members were all consistent in their praise for the excellent quality of the program.

"The site visitor, in her exit report to the president, provost and department faculty, said the program was a gem and one from which other programs could learn a great deal," Luciani added. "She praised the program for its emphasis on diversity and said the students' understanding of diversity was comprehensive, beyond that expected of students at a baccalaureate level."

The report that the department received contained no additional recommendations or concerns. The following points were made regarding mission and goals, diversity and assessment:

• There is a clear connection between the program's mission and goals and the purposes of the social work profession as well as to the University's mission and the direction statement of the Sisters of Mercy.
• The faculty model the importance of respect for diversity as a key element for a just community.
• The advisory council, including field instructors, noted that students were willing to move beyond their comfort level and did not shy away from challenging practice opportunities. They also saw that students included the potential impact of diversity and difference as part of every assessment process.
• The site visitor commented several times on the well developed, multilevel assessment developed by the department that tracks individual student progress while identifying possible program changes.
• The field instructors commented that they received excellent training and support from the program.

The Department of Social Work is currently solidifying its reading program for the upcoming academic year, during which students will read and discuss Ann Hood's "The Knitting Circle," Ashley Judd's "All That is Bitter and Sweet" and Jennifer Finney Boylan's "She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders." Students will discuss the books' implications for social work practice as well as the role and function of the social worker in similar situations.

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