From Seattle to Boston and Tallahassee to Anchorage, the Steve Hicks School of Social Work branching its leadership across the nation.
What starts on the Forty Acres changes the world. And what starts at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work changes social work education across the country.
SHS is becoming an incubator of leaders as SHS graduates and former faculty of SHS are quickly making their names known as leaders at top social work schools across the nation. Utopian Magazine sat down with four of these deans to discuss how SHS influenced their social work knowledge, their careers, and their preparation to become a dean at top schools across the country.
Donna Aguiniga, Exploring the Frontier of Alaska
The University of Alaska at Anchorage is home to the only master’s level social work education program originating in The Last Frontier, which gives SHS alum Donna Aguiniga (Ph.D. ’10) a critical role in preparing social workers for service in the 49th State.
“There’s always more room to bring social work to the forefront,” Dean Aguiniga said. “When we talk behavioral issues, substance abuse, school interventions, or any other key issue, social work has unique value in addressing the challenges that our society and state faces.”
In August 2023, she was appointed as UAA’s Assistant Dean of Social Work, which is the position that directs the school of social work. Dean Aguiniga now oversees what is the largest social work faculty UAA has ever had. With 14 full time positions already in place, the school is actively recruiting for another three tenured and tenure-track positions.
Since the start of the 2023-24 academic year, Dean Aguiniga said there’s been “unprecedented” recognition and support for social work within the university and the state. She credits SHS for the perspective she learned from mentors like emeritus professor Dr. Calvin Streeter, who helped shape the way she focuses on teaching and teachers as a philosophy of her dean role.
“For someone who is teaching, even one course a semester, that teaches you the primary needs of working with students,” she said. “It made me a better instructor, but it got me thinking early on about how to support faculty to be instructors. Supporting my instructors is how I succeed as a dean!”
Barbara Jones, Innovating in Community Leadership at Boston University
For Dean Barbara Jones, taking the dean role at Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW) was an unprecedented opportunity to join a top social work school dedicated to social justice, teaching and research excellence. She brought her deep and longstanding commitment to fostering community, culture, and belonging to this new role, specifically in the area of health social work.
As the former associate dean for health affairs at SHS and chair of the Department of Health Social Work at Dell Medical School, Dean Jones has a deep passion for social work leadership and health social work. To her, leading in that space is a mission-critical initiative that radiates throughout social work education and amplifies how we make a more comprehensive social work education.
“When we think about social work in health, we often talk about how social work needs to be joining teams, offering our voice,” said Dean Jones. “As social workers on interprofessional teams, we also need to be leading in this space. Social work has so much to contribute to the creation of value-based healthcare that focuses on health equity and access to care for all.” During her time in Austin, Dean Jones played a key role in promoting social work and interprofessional health initiatives, emphasizing the often overlooked, but critical, relational aspect of leadership and the significance of nurturing an individuals’ sense of purpose and community. Drawing from her interdisciplinary clinical research and leadership background, Jones envisions social workers to be not only a part of a team, but to also be leaders driving discussions and initiatives in diverse professional settings.
In her transition to BUSSW, Jones remains committed to creating communities where individuals can “feel like they’re in an environment where they’re seen and held and then [they] can do great things from there.” Her approach to fostering collaboration centers on building a hopeful and futurefocused environment — encouraging faculty, staff, students, alumni and community partners to actively contribute to shaping the school’s upward trajectory and stellar reputation.
“I’m thrilled to be the dean of BU School of Social Work and I’m excited about lifting up the incredible work they’re already doing,” said Dean Jones. “I’m inspired to continue to enhance the opportunities for growth in our Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health (CISWH) and our Center for Aging & Disability Education & Research (CADER). BUSSW is made up of social work leaders and innovators and I am honored to join the school. I’m so grateful for all that I learned in my leadership roles at UT Austin, and that I get to bring that experience with me to contribute to the vision of BUSSW as we move forward into the future.”
Michael Spencer, Making History at Washington
When Dean Michael Spencer (MSW ’92) began his permanent role as the Ballmer Endowed Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Washington, he was already making history. Dean Spencer is the first Native Hawaiian to ever hold a Dean position at the University of Washington, and when he reflects on his new responsibilities, he harkens back to being in Austin for the first time.
“Coming from Hawaii to Texas, I kind of backed into a MSW based on the community work I was doing,” Dean Spencer said. “Meeting other social workers got me to UT because, one, I wanted to expand my geographic horizons and, two, well, I just love the color burnt orange.”
Born on Oahu and educated at the University of Hawaii for his undergraduate work, Dean Spencer came to the Forty Acres as a young father and was working on services to people with disabilities, especially in light of the then-recently passed American Disabilities Act. It was his time as a TA in Dr. Ruth McCoy’s class, however, that first showed him that teaching might be his calling – specifically when he was given the chance to give a lecture.
“That lecture said I can stand in front of a classroom, speak well, and do this,” he said. “But it also made me realize that I was young, eager, and wanting to change the world. I wanted find a way to be a part of the best in higher education, and to be the best, you have to learn by watching them, listening to them, and emulating them.”
Although he originally planned to work after his master’s, friends from SHS convinced him to apply for a doctoral program, leading him to the University of Washington for the first time. It would eventually lead him to a 20+ year career at the University of Michigan, which prepared him to return to Seattle as a celebrated scholar and higher education leader. His calling to higher education started as service in a classroom, but now Dean Spencer gets to impact lives for the better far beyond just one class.
“In social work, we work every day toward justice, not just in my lifetime but for generations to come. That’s the lesson,” he said. “This journey has been the journey of a lifetime, and it started right there in Austin.”
David Springer, Bringing the Vibes to Florida State
After 26 years at the University of Texas, Dean David Springer went home to Tallahassee to start critical work at Florida State University. His first mission? Take a little bit of Austin, Texas back with him.
“When I meet with students, I prefer doing it by bringing in tacos and vinyl records,” Dean Springer said with a laugh.
Dean Springer, a three-time graduate of Florida State, was a key member of the self-described “FSU West” that was built at SHS under former Dean and fellow three-time FSU graduate Barbara White in the late 90s and early 2000s. It was Dean Springer’s initial work under Dean White that taught him about building community as a leader, and where he learned that “leadership starts by knowing each other.”
Throughout his time at SHS and the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Dean Springer embodied a dedication to cultivating community and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of social work. Now, he’s executing at FSU a vision that reflects his belief in the power of interdisciplinary collaboration, and the importance of aligning efforts toward a shared set of social work values.
“I’m truly blessed because the arc of my story is this intersection of being shaped by Florida State as a young scholar, and growing up as an academic at UT Austin,” Dean Springer said. “And now, having this opportunity to return to the place where I entered as a first-generation college student? I’m bringing with me lessons learned from various leadership opportunities that shaped me at UT Austin. It prepared me to be where I am right now in this moment.”
Future Leaders Still in the Making
SHS grows leaders in social work education today and will continue to grow leaders in the future. In fact, this next academic year will begin with another member of the SHS leadership tree taking a Dean position at another esteemed school.
The University of Denver became the latest school of social work to draw leadership from SHS, recently announcing that Henrika McCoy, Ph.D., as its next Dean of the Graduate School of Social Work, beginning June 15. McCoy, who currently serves as associate professor and the Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Fellow in Services to Children and Families at SHS, will serve as Morris Endowed Dean of the Graduate School of Social Work and as a tenured full professor.
“I am filled with gratitude for those who came before me and laid a strong foundation and the support I’ve received throughout my career. Both have prepared me up for this opportunity and I am eager to start the work that lies before me,” said Dr. McCoy. “The opportunities provided to me by the University of Texas and with the Steve Hicks School of Social Work are greatly appreciated, and they have been instrumental in my preparation to become a Dean.”