Volume 5: Issue 16 - April 2011
In this Issue:
SSW Alumni Association Executive Committee Election Results
SSW Alumni Events
Faculty Presentations
Alumni in the News
Summer Lecture by Dr. Joan Berzoff Available for Viewing
Summer Seminars are now available for registration!
Reaching For Excellence - Seeking Qualified Nominations
Contemplative Clinical Practice Certificate
End of Life Care Certificate Program
Honorary Alumna/us Award Nominations
Volunteer Opportunities - Please fill out the SSW Volunteer Form Today!
SSW Annual Fund Fiscal Year End - June 30, 2011
Planned Giving
On-line Directory and Listservs
Make a gift
Your gift enables the School to support the changing needs of Smith College School for Social Work
students. Please give generously today. Every gift counts.
Keep in touch!
If you change your email address or your mailing address, please let us know so that we can keep you
updated on news from the School. Send changes to sswalum@smith.edu or fill out the online form at
http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/address/update.php.
SSW Alumni Association Executive Committee Election Results
The SSW Alumni Association Executive Committee elections have come to a close.
The following alumni have been elected and will begin their term on July 1, 2011:
President-Elect - Christopher Vaughan, Ph.D.'06
Region II Representative (Mid Atlantic)- Gabrielle Holder, M.S.W.'03
Region III Representative (South)- Julie Stone, M.S.W.'03
Region IV Representative (Mid West)- Fanny Gutierrez, M.S.W.'03
Treasurer - Shawna Reeves, M.S.W.'03 (will complete the term left vacant by the previous
Treasurer)
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SSW Alumni Events
2011 has been a very busy year for SSW alumni events. To see a full listing of alumni events,
please visit: http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/sswaa_events.php
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Faculty Presentations
Resident SSW faculty member Hye-Kyung Kang, Ph.D. spoke on the topic of
"Cultural Citizenship and Immigrant Community Identity: Constructing a Multi-Ethnic Asian
American Community" to a group of constiuents from both the University of Washington School
of Social Work and Smith College School for Social Work. Hye-Kyung received her M.S.W.
degree from the University of Washington and she was able to reconnect with current and
former SSW students and University of Washington colleagues. Hye-Kyung is originally from the
Seattle area and the lecture was a co-sponsored event with the University of Washington.
Resident SSW faculty member Mary Hall, Ph.D. spoke to a large gathering of the Smith College
of Atlanta and her talk was well-received by Smith College alumnae and SSW graduates. The
title of Mary's talk was “Ending Racism: The Work Ahead”. Mary has been a professor at SSW
for many years and was thrilled to be able to talk on the subject of race to a large regional
Smith audience.
To see a full listing of alumni events, please visit:
http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/sswaa_events.php
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Alumni in the News
Sarah Braunstein, M.S.W.'06 recently published her first novel, The Sweet Relief of Missing
Children. She returned to the area to give a reading at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley,
Massachusetts (she currently lives in Maine). Sarah will be doing a video interview with Cheryl
Dellecese, Associate Director, Print and Electronic Media, Alumnae Association of Smith College
on April 27th. The novel has been receiving great reviews including being picked by Oprah
Winfrey as one of 17 books to watch for in March. To find out more, please visit:
www.sarahbraunstein.com/?page_id=2
www.oprah.com/book/The-Sweet-Relief-of-Missing-Children?editors_pick_id=29448
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Summer Lecture by Dr. Joan Berzoff Available for Viewing
We still have DVD copies available of SSW resident faculty member Dr. Joan Berzoff's 2010
Summer Lecture Series presentation, "The Transformative Nature of Grief and Bereavement"
which is available to alumni who would like to host, facilitate and/or participate in small regional
alumni events throughout the country. We will provide CEUs for the event and assist with
invitations and planning. Please contact Pat Gilbert in the SSW Alumni Office if you would like to
host an event in your city. You can contact Pat at (413) 585-4290 or email her at
pgilbert@smith.edu
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Summer Seminars are now available for registration!
Please join us for day-long Continuing Education Seminars (6 hours/CEUs)
June 16, 17, 18; June 23, 24, 25 and July 21, 22, 23.
Apply by the early registration deadline (May 6) and get a tuition discount! Apply for multiple
courses and get another tuition discount! For more information on courses and to register, go to
http://www.smith.edu/ssw/geaa/academics_cesummer.php
Courses fill quickly so don't delay. Register online today for the quickest access to classes and
fast confirmation of your course preferences. Get your CEUs in time for the 2011 license
renewal!
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Reaching for Excellence - Seeking Qualified Nominations
Alumni and colleagues are our best resources. Do you know a stellar bachelor-level social
worker who has worked in social work/human services a minimum of two years, demonstrates a
passion for his or her work and does not yet have their Masters degree in social work? If so,
nominate him/her to Reaching for Excellence: The Maconda Brown O'Connor Future Leader
Program. This fully subsidized three-day weekend includes courses and lectures at Smith
College designed to challenge and stretch clinicians - and to inspire future social work leaders!
Nominations deadline is May 15, 2011.
For more information on the program: http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/REX_F.pdf
For answers to frequently asked questions: http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/REX_Qs.pdfFor
nomination form: http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/REX_APP.pdf
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Contemplative Clinical Practice Certificate: An Advanced Certificate Program in
Spirituality and Social Work Practice
Program Dates: September 15-18, 2011 and March 15-18, 2012
The Contemplative Clinical Practice Certificate deepens the clinician's awareness of the sacred
dimension of his/her work by exploring his/her own religious histories and spiritual practices,
the clients' spiritual beliefs and practices, and the clinical relationship itself. This Certificate
Program carries 31.5 Continuing Education Credits. The application deadline is June 24,
2011. For program and registration information go to:
http://www.smith.edu/ssw/geaa/academics_cecertificate.php
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End of Life Care Certificate Program
Program Dates: October 13-16, 2011 and April 19-22, 2012
Social workers encounter death, dying and bereavement in every setting in which they work but
few have been prepared to take leadership in changing the culture in work with the dying and
with their families. This program provides social workers relational ways of learning in a
community of colleagues. The End of Life Care Certificate Program is cosponsored by Baystate
Medical Center, a part of Tufts N.E. Medical Center and it carries 51 Continuing Education
Credits for social workers. For more information, please visit:
http://www.smith.edu/ssw/geaa/academics_cecertificate.php. The application deadline is
September 7, 2011.
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Honorary Alumna/us Award Nominations
In 1997 the alumni of the Smith College School for Social Work established an award to honor
those individuals associated with the School who are not alumni. The purpose of this award is to
recognize friends and colleagues who have rendered distinguished service in the field of social
work to the SSW Alumni Association and/or the School, or who have otherwise attained
distinction deserving of recognition by the Smith College School for Social Work Alumni
Association. Do you know someone we should recognize? The deadline is September 15,
2011. For more information about the award and to see a list of previous honorees, visit:
http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/sswaa_awards.php; or go to
http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/documents/HonoraryAlum-Nominationform.doc for a
nomination form.
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Volunteer Opportunities - Please fill out the SSW Volunteer Form Today!
The School for Social Work relies heavily on the efforts and goodwill of our alumni to help us in
the areas of prospective student networking, mentoring current students, providing reduced
rate psychotherapy to students, hosting SSW events and participating in our
ongoing fundraising effort. Our Volunteer Opportunities Form has been updated to more easily
capture information on the areas of volunteer interest of our alumni. Please visit
http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/documents/VolunteerOpportunitiesfor2010-2011.pdf
for more information. You can register to be a volunteer by completing the Volunteer
Opportunities Form or by contacting Pat Gilbert, Alumni Affairs Office, at (413) 585-4290 or
pgilbert@smith.edu
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SSW Annual Fund Fiscal Year End - June 30, 2011
Please consider joining your classmates as a SSW Annual Fund donor this year - remember that
your gift is extremely meaningful to our students through scholarships. If you have already
made your gift this year, thank you so much. Solicitation letters with an enclosed reply card
have recently gone out from campus and you can make a gift on line as well at
https://www.smith.edu/future/giving/giftform.php
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Planned Giving
Please let us know if you have included SSW in your estate plans so that we may recognize you
as a member of the Smith College School for Social Work Planned Giving Society. Also, please
let us know if you are considering making a gift of stock or a related security. David Brown,
Director of Development and Alumni Affairs, would enjoy speaking with you about ways you
might consider supporting SSW through a gift of an annuity or other giving vehicle. You can
contact David at (413) 585-7964 or debrown@smith.edu
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On-line Directory and Listservs
Find classmates and search for SSW alumni in a particular geographical location! This selfservice tool is available to you now through the on-line directory. General information about
networking and navigational tips specific to SSW can be found at:
http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/networking.php; to log into the on-line directory, go to:
http://alumnae.smith.edu/ where you will find the log-in box in the upper right corner of the
page. Regional listservs are also available to all alumni; to find your moderator so that you can
be invited in, go to: http://www.smith.edu/ssw/alumni/documents/Moderators-2008.doc
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