For 75 years, the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin has developed leaders, produced meaningful research, and transformed lives — and we’re just getting started.
As you’ll read in this annual report, we are in a time of enormous opportunity and look to the future with extraordinary faculty and staff, students and alumni, and supporters and partners. Together, they exemplify a commitment to excellence in all that they do.
In practice and policy, as well as in social work research and education, we teach students to lead. Our graduates are in arenas of high stakes, such as C-suites as well as soup kitchens, boardrooms as well as schools and hospitals, and beyond. We recognize that thoughtful, reflective, and values-driven leadership enriches any setting and missional objectives.
We recruit and appoint faculty and staff — and we admit, educate, and launch graduates — who prize innovation and ingenuity. They lead by example, they understand and know how to build relationships, and they support people and navigate systems for lasting benefits.
At 75 years young, we consistently punch above our weight class, ranking consistently among the most productive research units on the Forty Acres, and our campus footprint is much larger than one would expect.
Our 10 research institutes and centers set the standard for advancing knowledge and practice on addiction, aging, disability, housing, child and family wellbeing, behavioral health, medical humanities, social policy, and military veterans — among other domains.
Our investment in health and wellbeing, particularly with arts and humanities as a guiding focus, breaks new ground relating to the benefits of creative expression, preventing burnout, and developing interdisciplinary research.
We are welcoming more applicants than ever before, with more than a 30 percent increase in applications over the last two years. We continue to add new faculty and staff positions, expand our partnerships and establish new footholds for social workers to not just have a seat at the table, but to lead.
As we grow, our graduation rates consistently rank among the best on campus, reflecting our dedication to preparing students to transform lives without delay, and our post-graduate support is responding to the workforce needs of Texas and beyond.
Our 75th year is not a resting point. Instead, it is a launchpad. For decades, this school has written chapters defined by vision, compassion, courage, and transformation, and the next chapters are being written now.
We have great opportunity before us — the opportunity to confront the challenges before us, to develop solutions, and to transform lives.
Hook ’em Horns!
Allan Cole, Dean