FALL 2012
WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
SOCIAL WORK CONNECTIONS
Social Work Student Association
In February 2012, Ellie Zoerink, a school social worker for the Macomb
School District, approached the Social Work Student Association (SWSA)
about partnering together for National Social Work Month. SWSA
Secretary Marissa Bartolomucci stated “It was really inspiring to have her
[Ellie] reach out to SWSA and have us work with the schools and
community.” SWSA officers and Mrs. Zoerink decided that a focus on
hunger issues would be relevant to the Macomb community and would
offer a way to make a tangible difference in peoples’ lives. Two projects
were then accepted by the SWSA members as the principal activities for
the semester.
(L-R) Kara Collins, Makenzie Littig, Rikki
Johnson, Katharina Gounaris, Brittani
Christopher, and Rachael Setlock.
(L-R) Donna Aguiniga; Danielle Madtson;
Waneen Stout, Kiwanis President; Casey
Grant, Kiwanis member; Ellie Zoerink,
Macomb School Social Worker; Kara Collins;
Rachael Setlock; Eryka Darey; Marissa
Bartolomucci; and Tyler Cipriano.
Important Fall ‘12 SWSA Dates
 Alternate Tuesdays: 5PM SWSA
Meetings, HH21
 Thursdays: 4-5PM Volunteer at
YMCA Child Care.
 Oct 26: 4th Annual Halloween
Party at Peoria Children’s Home
 Nov 1: 4th Annual MSW Grad
Panel & Info Meeting
On March 31, 2012, SWSA members held a food drive for a Macomb food
bank. SWSA members staffed tables outside of Wal-Mart and the Jackson
Street Market between 10am to 4pm and asked for food donations. In
addition to three carloads of food, the students also raised approximately
$80. The food and money was then donated to Loaves and Fishes for
distribution to community members.
SWSA also committed time and resources over the course of the semester
for the second of the two projects – raising money for the Macomb School
Sack program. This program provides food to eligible children who might
not otherwise have food for the weekend. After completing a variety of
fundraising activities, including partnering with Buffalo Wild Wings for
10% of an evening’s sales, and selling hair ornaments made by SWSA
member Danielle Madtson, SWSA reached its goal of raising $500 for the
Macomb School Sack Program. When asked why SWSA was so interested
in helping this program, SWSA President Rachael Setlock stated “It was a
great feeling knowing we impacted children’s lives here in Macomb,
knowing something as simple as food for the weekend can improve
children’s outcomes.”
SWSA’s success, with these projects and their other volunteer
opportunities, are a credit to their members. Kara Collins, SWSA VicePresident, shared “I liked the way everyone stepped up and took
initiative. Some members really put in extra effort to make sure SWSA was
successful.” When asked why SWSA was important to her, member Eryka
Darey’s comment is sure to resonate with many of its members; “SWSA
gives me a sense of belonging and makes me feel I’m doing my part for
the community.”
Now for the Fall 2012 semester, SWSA is looking forward to having another
successful semester. Plans are already underway for the 4th Annual
Halloween Party at the Peoria Children’s Home and the 4th Annual MSW
Grad Panel and Information Meeting. In addition to these annual events,
members plan to continue to volunteer on a weekly basis at the Prairie
View Housing Community and the YMCA Child Care and participate in
events such as Bowl for Kids’ Sake.
Submitted by
Donna Aguiniga
SOCIAL WORK CONNECTIONS
Page 2
End of the Year Celebration
The end of the year celebration was held May
4, 2012 in Horrabin Hall gymnasium.
Practicum students and agency field
instructors were recognized at the celebration
luncheon.
In addition, the following awards and
recognitions were handed out at the
celebration:
Social Work Department Scholar
Carly Schrimpl
COEHS College Scholar Nominee
Crystal Sewell
Lillian & Florence Snyder Outstanding Social
Work Senior
Candace Wilson
Recognized for her leadership as the NASW-IL
social work student representative
Marissa Bartolomucci
Recognized for his panel participation in the
2012 Dealing with Difference institute
Cornell Bondurant
After the celebration, practicum students gave
individual poster presentations. Each poster
presentation provided an overview of the
student’s agency in-service project conducted
during the practicum.
Submitted by
Katherine Perone
SWSA Outstanding Volunteer Award
Danielle Madtson
Field Education
In this and subsequent
newsletters, I will provide
educational information
about WIU social work
department field education.
The topic for this issue of
the newsletter will focus on
practicum agencies.
A field education student,
Felicia Hunter, sharing her
experiences.
What agencies can I
consider?
Welcome back students!
This is the second issue of
the Western Illinois
University Department of
Social Work newsletter!
My name is Katherine
Perone and I am the
Director of Field
Education for the social
work department.
A question many PrePracticum students ask is
“What agencies can I
consider?”. We have over
200 approved practicum
agencies. Students are
placed in agencies
representing a variety of
fields of practice such as
child welfare, health care,
mental health, military,
geriatrics, domestic
violence, macro practice,
schools, and
corrections. They provide
client services, including
assessment, supportive
counseling, case
management, linkage, and
skill development. The
approved practicum
agency list is located at
http://www.wiu.edu/coehs/
social_work/Agency%
20List%2011-12.pdf . This
list is updated each
semester. Specific agency
information, including
former practicum student
evaluations of each agency,
is located in the social work
department office. New
agency practicum sites will
be considered if they meet
agency qualifications.
Agency qualifications
include agency
commitment to provide
services to clients, agency
willingness to provide
qualified supervision (MSW
or BSW supervision),
readiness to make available
direct service and
observational opportunities
for students, such as client
cases, groups, agency or
community projects,
agency enthusiasm to
support educational
activities as outlined in the
student’s learning plan and
required by the practicum
course syllabus, providing
adequate office/work space
for a student, and a
commitment to social work
education. Although most
agencies are within an 80
mile radius of Macomb,
diverse geographical areas
are considered on an
individual basis.
Submitted by
Katherine Perone
FALL 2012
Phi Alpha “Through Knowledge—The
Challenge to Serve”
Kappa Sigma Chapter of Phi
Alpha
“Through Knowledge – The
Challenge to Serve”
Phi Alpha is a national social
work honor society with the
purpose of providing a closer
bond among students of social
work and promoting
humanitarian goals and ideas.
Kappa Sigma, the WIU chapter
of Phi Alpha, was established
in 2003 to recognize students
who have attained excellence
in scholarship and
achievement in social work.
Students who meet the
eligibility criteria are invited to The 2012-2013 officers are:
join. Eligibility criteria (to be
met at the end of the previous
Rachael Setlock-President
semester)
Rikki Johnson-Vice President
Kara Collins -Secretary
1. Formally admitted to Social
Karen Zellmann-Advisor
Work Program as a full
major.
Invitations have been
2. At least a sophomore status.
delivered to eligible students.
3. 9 semester hours of
Twelve new members were
required SW courses
inducted on Wednesday,
completed.
September 12, 2012. A second
4. 3.25 GPA in required SW
induction ceremony will be
courses and 3.0 GPA
held later in the semester.
overall.
Page 3
Phi Alpha logo
Submitted by
Karen Zellmann
Social Work Fall Fair
On Thursday, September
6th, the Social Work
Department hosted the 3rd
Annual Social Work Fair.
Approximately 110 social
work students met with
representatives from 22
social service agencies in
Macomb and surrounding
communities, and from nine WIU
campus organizations. The students
received information about available
services and resources, and learned
about volunteer and practicum
opportunities. The Fair was well
received by students and by agency
representatives. Student Rikki
Johnson shared “The Social Work Fair
really got me excited about
Practicum! It was really nice to get to
talk to the agency representatives one
-on-one and ask them questions. At
the Social Work Fair is actually where
I decided what my first choice for
Practicum would be!” Another
student, Makenzie Littig shared “I
thought the Social Work Fair was very
useful. I got some ideas for future
practicum sites. Being able to talk to
the agency representatives was
helpful and eased my mind a little
bit.” One agency representative
stated, “I enjoyed meeting social
work students one on one to provide
information about our
agency.” Another agency
representative stated “This has been
the best student turnout since I began
participating in the fall
fair.” “Students are asking excellent
questions to obtain information about
our agency.”
Submitted by
Karen Zellmann
Something to Get Excited For!!
Debra Rada, Prevention Educator
-Mental Health America of IL
Valley, will be coming to WIU on
November 7th to help educate
students on suicide prevention.
Debra will be facilitating hands
on exercises that aim to help
students become more
comfortable and skilled while
working with patients who may
be struggling with suicide
ideation. As Social Work majors,
this is a great opportunity to
develop or expand a specific
type of skill.
Buffalo Wild Wings will be
providing wings for the event.
Keep an eye out for more
information! Hope to see you
there.
Submitted by
Emily Savoie and Kathleen Mullins
SOCIAL WORK CONNECTIONS
WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
From the Chair
Dear Students, Friends and Alumni,
Western Illinois University
Department of Social Work
1 University Circle
Macomb, IL 61455
Phone: 309-298-1071
Fax: 309-298-1601
E-mail: social-work@wiu.edu
WWW. WIU. EDU/ COEHS/
S O C I A L _ WO R K
The Department of Social Work is getting better every day as it changes
to meet the demands of CSWE (Council on Social Work Education) and
the students and communities we serve. We are still going to expand to
the Quad Cities Campus once the university acquires sufficient funding.
Watch for an email from us when this happens.
We are also in the process of forming a Social Work Research and
Development Center. The purpose is to identify and coordinate research
interests and funding for our faculty, students and for those of you in the
practice world. Let me know your interests not only in research, but also
in areas of development. When we go after funds, we need to know who
wants to collaborate with us.
We are also doing our best to connect with our alumni to advance this
newsletter and other program events and opportunities. If you are an
alumni and do not receive this newsletter directly, let us know your email
and regular mailing addresses. We are more than happy to have you
back in our program family. Even if you are not alumni, we are happy to
put you on our list.
This year begins a new curriculum in which we have added a course on
Social Justice and Diversity and made Case Management a required
course. We are collaborating with the language department to set up a
new course called Spanish for Social Work. The target start date is Fall
2013. If you are nearby, you may want to consider enrolling in this great
course.
Our faculty continue to do outstanding teaching, research and writing,
and community service. Let them know if what they taught you has
helped in your work or in graduate school. It always helps to hear from
our graduates.
Each spring Phi Alpha members select one social work faculty member
as the Outstanding Faculty of the Year. At the May 4th celebration Phi
Alpha honored Professor Perone for her excellent teaching by naming
her the Nancy Coney Outstanding Faculty of 2012.
This year we will be doing program assessment, which includes sending
surveys to our graduates. Please complete them to help us know how
better to serve you and those coming behind you. Thanks.
I hope each one of you is doing well.
Dr. John Tracy
Social Work Department Chair
Important Dates to Remember for Fall 2012:

October 5: Social Work Admission Application due by 4:30 PM

October 23: Center for International Studies Go Global Series; Presenter—Dr. Tracy

October 28: Last day to drop a class with a “W”

November 7: Mental Health Awareness Event; Speaker—Debra Rada