It’s my joy to welcome you to the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) and to The University of Texas at Austin, located in one of the most vibrant and interesting cities you will find.
The SHSSW is a dynamic, innovative, passionate, and inclusive community of scholars, teachers, learners, and change agents who embrace both the challenges and opportunities that face our society.
Our faculty are not only accessible, but they are also among the best researchers, practitioners, educators, and leaders in the nation, and in fields as diverse as social work, psychology, law, medicine, sociology, and the humanities. The emphasis we place on interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching benefits undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students alike by providing different angles of vision into the most pressing personal and social needs.
SHSSW students are bright, creative, active, and devoted to bearing witness to the values inherent to social work and to perpetuating those values in their work and in their communities. Our staff are excellent and ensure that students have a positive educational experience in a high-touch and rigorous environment. Faculty and staff work together to ensure the SHSSW has the greatest impact on social work research, education, and practice, and on effecting change in service to social justice.
I assume that you have visited us virtually because you value what a social work education and social work professionals offer, which includes helping to ameliorate personal, social, and systemic problems, and you embrace opportunities for effecting change to enhance the public good and promote human flourishing. If so, I invite you to spend some time on the SHSSW website to learn more about our great school and university. Even more, I hope to have an opportunity to welcome you personally to this remarkable community.
Sincerely,
Allan Cole
Dean