St. Thomas School of Social Work

✨New Faces in the Morrison Family College of Health✨

Will Carlson is an incoming Assistant Professor for the School of Social Work. His scholarship focuses on the implementation and adaptation of services for communities affected by psychological trauma and displacement. He is particularly interested in resilience processes and post-exposure trajectories following potentially traumatic events and looks forward to collaborating with students to provide high quality, evidence-based clinical training in the in the Master of Social Work program this fall. In his spare time, Will enjoys running, cooking, and being outdoors.

Welcome Dr. Carlson - we're looking forward to having you on the team!

We are so proud of our School of Social Work triple threat Dr. Amanda Thooft (BSW '04, MSW '07, DSW '26) who served as this year's Morrison Family College of Health graduate commencement speaker!

Beyond her incredible work as a student, Amanda also teaches and supervises students in our Master of Social Work program, experience which shaped her banded dissertation theme "Supervision Matters: Shaping Competent and Confident Social Workers."

There is still a few weeks left to complete your DSW application if you're looking to start with us this fall - make sure all of your materials are received by July 31, 2026!

Our School of Social Work is hiring for a Clinical Faculty to be the Director of MSW Field Education!

The position holds an 11-month contract, check out the job description to learn more and apply: https://facultyemployment-stthomas.icims.com/jobs/9399/clinical-faculty---director-of-msw-field-education/job?mobile=false&width=1200&height=500&bga=true&needsRedirect=false&jan1offset=-360&jun1offset=-300

Welcome Dr. Paul Force-Emery Mackie to the Morrison Family College of Health as our Department Chair of the School of Social Work! Dr. Mackie has a wealth of experience as a professor and in leadership roles at Minnesota State University, Mankato. His research focuses on rural behavioral health workforce needs, rural culture, community organizing, and health care policy.

We're so grateful to have you on the team! Learn more about Dr. Mackie in our newsroom:
https://news.stthomas.edu/paul-mackie-named-chair-of-school-of-social-work/

Another school year is in the books, and it wouldn't be the end of the year if we didn't highlight our Area of Emphasis in Aging Scholars!

Thank you to everyone who joined us on May 15 for our Annual Spring Celebration and Workshop. It was a wonderful day filled with panel speakers from a range of Palliative, Hospice, and Bereavement Care settings, and of course our AEA Scholar Clinical Portfolio presentations. 💟

Our Doctor of Social Work students are defending their banded dissertation's this week.
Join us (virtually) April 21 - 23, to learn all about what Cohort 10 has been studying and researching over the course of their program.

Full Dissertation schedule and link to view:

2026 DSW Banded Dissertation Defenses Join Cohort 10 of the Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program as they present and defend their banded dissertations.

Dr. Kingsley Chigbu has been teaching in our Doctor of Social Work program for 10 years and can't wait for the new specialization in Leadership, here's what he had to say:

"I’m truly encouraged by the intentional way we infused leadership into our program and by the thoughtful curriculum that grew from that work, including complex analysis. I’m excited for us to continue setting the standard as a program that inspires and prepares future doctors and leaders."

We are still accepting applications for a Fall start in our DSW program, head to our website to learn more: https://health.stthomas.edu/social-work/graduate/doctorate/index.html

A degree in social work prepares you to work with diverse populations across a wide variety of settings such as schools, health systems, correction centers and social services agencies.

Minnesota in particular has a deficit of social workers, and we're all for filling that gap. Educating students to provide culturally responsive care with a focus on social justice is what we're all about. 💜

Our MSW application deadline for a Summer start is one week away on April 1. Head to our website to complete your application: https://health.stthomas.edu/social-work/graduate/masters/index.html

It's the third Tuesday in March, so in addition to St. Patrick's Day, we'd like to wish our students, faculty, and alumni a Happy National Social Work Day! 💚

Huge shoutout to all the alumni who stopped by our booth last week at MSSA - it was such a joy to connect and hear about what you're up to in the field.

Our School of Social Work envisions a world that affirms and sustains the inherent dignity and worth of all humans, that distributes resources and power equitably, and where all life flourishes. We are so LUCKY you've been a part of it. 🍀

Interprofessional collaboration is a core piece of our educational standards here in the College of Health. We know that the students in our different disciplines will work together after graduation. In preparation, we want to ensure their education over laps as well!

Last Friday, the Schools of Nursing and Social Work came together for a wonderful interprofessional education simulation experience. Students completed an evaluation which showed both Morrison Family College of Health and Interprofessional Education competencies gained.

Thank you to everyone who came together to learn across disciplines!