School of Social Work and Human Services
HEAD OF SCHOOL
Professor Howard Karger
DEPUTY HEAD OF SCHOOL
Dr Gregory Marston
St Lucia Campus
Brisbane Qld 4072 Australia
Telephone +61 7 3365 2068
Facsimile +61 7 3365 1788
Internet www.uq.edu.au/swahs
Ipswich Campus
Building 3, 11 Salisbury Road
Ipswich Qld 4305 Australia
Telephone +61 7 3381 1513
Facsimile +61 7 3381 1523
Internet www.uq.edu.au/swahs
CRICOS PROVIDER NUMBER 00025B
Howard Karger
This letter is an application for the position of Dean, School of Social Work, Portland State
University.
In 2007 I took the position of Head of the School of Social Work and Human Services (SWAHS) at
the University of Queensland, ranked among the top universities in Australia and in the top 1% of
universities worldwide.
SWAHS is the largest school of social work in Australia and employs about 25 full-time tenured or
tenure track faculty, several part-time and adjunct lecturers, and post-docs. As Head I manage a $5+
million budget with research grants totalling almost $1 million.
The School employs 15 professional staff, including a school manager, student administrative
officer, finance officers, a field education director, field staff and clerical staff. SWAHS is located
in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (SBS), which includes psychology, social
science, education, journalism and communications, and political science. It is fully accredited by
the Australian Association of Social Workers.
We enrol about 650 students, operate on two campuses, and offer two undergraduate degrees: a
BSW and a Bachelors of Human Services. On the graduate level the School offers a qualifying
masters degree in social work (MSocWkst), an accredited master's degree in counselling (jointly
with psychology), an advanced MSW and a doctoral program with 77 students. The School offers
graduate certificates in child protection, mental health, social policy and community development.
From 1994 to 2007 I was professor of social work at the University of Houston and held the PhD
Director’s position from 1995 to 2002. I previously taught at Louisiana State University and the
University of Missouri.
My administrative style is based on a consultancy model, whereby I actively encourage input from
all faculty, both in groups and individually, around important issues. I believe this model is vital in
creating a shared vision around the role a school of social work should play in the university, the
community and nationally.
My qualifications include:
1984: PhD in social work -- University of Illinois-Urbana, Champaign.
1977: MSW -- University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Both degrees are from CSWE-accredited programs.
Administrative experience in a CSWE-accredited (and other) social work programs
2
1982: BSW Program Director, College of St Benedict
1986-7: MSW Program Director, University of Missouri
1995-2002: PhD Director, University of Houston
2007-- Head of the School of Social Work and Human Services (although not a CSWE-accredited
program it is AASW accredited)
Apart from helping to shape the BSW degree at the College of St Benedict, I have worked in
developing new graduate programs throughout my academic career. LSU I helped write the PhD
program proposal and successfully lobbied it through the Board of Regents. I left for the University
of Houston before it was implemented.
From 1995-2002 I was PhD Program Director at the University of Houston. Directing the doctoral
program was challenging since it had begun only two years earlier, and there were few students, no
student funding, and virtually no administrative guidelines or student policies. In conjunction with
the Doctoral Committee, I implemented a new curriculum, established student policies, wrote the
first doctoral student handbook and developed a web site for the program. When I left UH the
doctoral program had more than 40 students and funded all full-time students for two years or more.
More than 25 students received their Ph.D. degrees in social work from 1995-2002, most choosing
academic careers.
While I was PhD director, the program vigorously pursued diversity; by 2002 almost 50% of
students were African American, Hispanic or Asian and more than 65% were women. By 1998 the
doctoral program had the highest percentage of minority students of any PhD program at UH.
My administrative role at the University of Queensland UQ has provided many challenges.

I currently manage a budget in excess of $5 million. When I arrived in 2007 there was a
projected budget deficit of $2 million by 2011. By 2008 I had significantly reduced the longterm deficit; by 2009 SWAHS met its budget projections. The 2011 budget is balanced with
longer-term budget projections showing a surplus.

SWAHS had experienced declining enrolment over a multi-year period, a drop exacerbated
by the emergence of five new social work programs in the area. I worked with the faculty to
develop a qualifying MSW degree that proved successful and a new Bachelors of Human
Services at the main campus. All the programs in the School were revamped to make them
more competitive while maintaining high educational standards.

SWAHS has experienced a high rate of student attrition. To combat this, the school hired a
Student Mentor to provide support and other services, including academic assistance. A
Conversation Café was started where students meet informally with academic staff to make
suggestions and air grievances.

Faced with poor morale, I convened a strategic planning workshop designed to identify
problems, including transparency in decision-making.

Enhanced community engagement. While SWAHS historically had strong community
engagement, I formalised the process by establishing an active School Advisory Committee
composed of 16 well-respected members of the social service community. The committee is
designed to (1) address industry expectations around graduates; (2) provide feedback for
proposed curriculum changes; and (3) to engage in environmental scanning around external
developments affecting the School. In addition, the School’s Alumni Association was
significantly helped in its development and in creating longer-term goals.
3

Four months after my arrival the school was required to undergo a full reaccreditation by the
Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). Despite the rigorous review process,
SWAHS was reaccredited for the full five-year term. I was also involved in the accreditation
process for the Masters in Counselling, a program run jointly with the School of
Psychology.

My experience with US social work accreditation spans my academic career. In 1980 I
wrote the first successful CSWE self-study for the College of St. Benedict. I also
participated in writing CSWE re-accreditation studies at the University of Missouri, LSU
and the University of Houston.

In 2000-2001 I was a consultant for the University of Houston-Clear Lake and designed
their BSW program. I also wrote the self-study document that was later approved by CSWE.
Record of research and publications
My research focuses on the intersection between social policy and economics. Specifically, how the
fringe economy (e.g., payday lenders, rent-to-own stores, pawnshops, dealer-financed used cars,
etc.) impacts the lives of the poor. (A full list of publications is contained in the attached curriculum
vita.)
More recently, my research team was awarded a two-year Australian Research Council grant (copartners with the National Australia Bank and Good Shepherd) in 2009 to study payday lending in
Australia.
Books: Authored or co-authored ten books (and two monographs), two of which are in multiple
editions. The publishers include Oxford University Press, Berrett-Koehler, Transaction/Aldine,
Longman, Allyn & Bacon and Rowman and Littlefield. Shortchanged: Life and Debt in the Fringe
Economy won the 2006 Independent Publisher Award in Finance/Investments/ Economics.
Refereed Articles: 53 articles in referred journals, many of which are in tier 1 publications.
Book Chapters: 29 chapters in edited books
Juried Presentations: 19 juried presentations.
Editorial Boards: Sit on the board of six journals and the Sage advisory board.
Other: Two-time Senior Fulbright Fellow with postings to Israel (Hebrew University of Jerusalem
and Bar-Ilan University) and Africa (University of Zimbabwe).
Sincerely,
Prof Howard Karger, Head of School