Gary Bachman, MSSW ’82, retired from his faculty position at Park University in Parkville, Missouri, with the rank of Emeritus Professor, becoming one of only 27 faculty members to have been so honored. He remains active on the boards of several social service agencies on both sides of the state line in the metropolitan Kansas […]
People
Utopia People News Summer 2023
New Faculty and Staff Six new staff members have joined the Steve Hicks School of Social Work’s community in the last few months. Marie Cloutier serves as Executive Director of Development and Constituent Relations. Her charge includes growing a base of donors and friends who help SHS meet its mission through financial support. She has […]
Summer 2023 Class Notes
Dorothy Z. Garza, LCSW-S, MSSW ‘91, is the Senior Director of Mental Health Services with Communi- ties In Schools of Central Texas. She was recognized as Field Instructor of the Year in 2001. Amy Trussell, MSSW ‘99, is Senior Clinical Director of Behavioral Health at Centene Corporation. “I was just promoted and now oversee three […]
Spotlight on Micaela Jones, SHS MSSW, 2023
Micaela Jones was a senior in high school when she first encountered social work. While serving as a teacher’s assistant in a sixth grade math class, Jones noticed that regardless of how engaging the lesson was, the students who were having difficulties at home were bringing those struggles into the classroom. It was then that […]
Fall 2022 Class Notes
We are proud of our alumni and the positive impact they are making in their communities. Submit your recent news here. ’88 Terri Spahr Nelson, BSW ’87; MSSW ’88: One of my longtime endeavors is being the owner of a small publishing company that focuses on resources for sexual assault and trauma survivors and professionals–a […]
Why your support matters: Destiny Ayala, BSW ’22
Destiny Ayala, a BSW student and a SWEEP mentor, was awarded a Social Work Education Enhancement Program (SWEEP) Mentor Scholarship this past year. This scholarship is granted by the school to exceptional SWEEP mentors and is funded by donors. As a SWEEP mentor, Destiny walks alongside first-year BSW students, helping them acclimate to the Steve […]
Dominique McGaha: On international social work and empowering others
It’s nighttime in South Africa, but Dominique McGaha, a Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) student, is not winding down for the evening. After a day of working in her second field placement, it is now class time for her. But Dominique embraces the busy and exciting season she’s in. After all, the international […]
Welcoming Dean Allan Cole
The Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) is already renowned among the top 10 schools of social work in the country according to U.S. News and World Reports. But we’re not done yet. Dr. Allan Cole, recently appointed to serve as the seventh Dean of the school, has big dreams for the SHSSW, namely, […]
Removing the stigma of addiction
Megan and Matthew Szabo Endowed Excellence Fund at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Liz Pires thought it odd when spoons started vanishing from her kitchen. She asked her teenage children, Matt and Megan, to please put used spoons in the sink or dishwasher and make sure they were not accidentally throwing them with […]
Why your support matters: Norma Jaramillo, BSW ’21
Norma Jaramillo graduated in the top 7% of her high school class in Lockhart, Texas. Still, she didn’t think she could go to college. “My family couldn’t afford it,” she said. But when her 12th grade culinary teacher, a UT Austin alum, encouraged her to pursue higher education, Jaramillo decided to take a chance. She […]
