It’s International Education Week! To celebrate, we are sharing a series of articles that look at global partnerships that foster learning and understanding.

In the UT Social Work Office of Global Engagement, there is a clear mission of supporting students and faculty who want to leave to learn and return ready to lead.

“Now more than ever, it’s vitally important that we educate our students about different ways to find solutions to our common problems,” says Tanya Voss, assistant dean for global engagement for UT Social Work.

That philosophy drives Projects with Underserved Communities (PUC), a long-standing collaboration between UT Social Work and the Cockrell School of Engineering. Since 2009, PUC has engaged nearly 300 Longhorns in projects across four continents, serving more than 18,000 people. Each project is designed to meet locally identified needs while helping students develop practical skills in interdisciplinary teamwork, community engagement and problem-solving.

Last summer, five BSW students participated in four projects across India, Greece, Costa Rica and Jamaica.

Madison Palmer recently reflected on her experience as a BSW student on the team in Costa Rica, “Although our team studied social work and engineering, we quickly realized that we were not the experts in Lorena, Costa Rica — the community was. By prioritizing our clients’ needs over our own interests, we helped create a community kiosk that continues to generate funds for local initiatives. Along the way, we also strengthened the partnership that previous PUC teams had built with our NGO, demonstrating the beauty of our interdisciplinary program and the long-term impact of sustained collaboration.”

The program continues to prepare students for leadership by emphasizing collaboration, cultural humility and hands-on learning. Palmer’s team arrived in Costa Rica with engineering and social work training; they left understanding that sustainable solutions require listening before building.

Palmer explains the interdisciplinary foundation: “Without engineers, projects like PUC would not be physically possible. Without social workers, they might not center the client. Both perspectives are essential — and together, they make programs like PUC not only effective, but transformative.”

Leave to learn, return to lead

Next May, six UT Social Work students — four MSSW and two BSW — will travel to India, Greece and Costa Rica, joining nearly 300 Longhorns who have participated in PUC since 2009.

Each will arrive with training; each will return with something more valuable: the understanding that solving global problems requires learning from the communities we serve.

For more on how PUC projects create lasting change in communities and students alike, read the full story in Texas Leader magazine: https://giving.utexas.edu/building-on-their-knowledge/