NASW USC supports social work students

From immigrant rights advocacy training to intimate partner violence therapy training, the USC chapter of the National Association of Social Workers provides direct resources for students at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.

“The unit serves as a bridge, so [graduates] would continue to stay engage with the professional organization,” said assistant professor Shantel Vachani, who co-founded the NASW USC unit. “It’s really unique in that it’s not a student organization, it’s not an alumni organization, and it’s not a strictly professional organization … One of the things that we recognized is that our students today is our alumni tomorrow.”

The chapter was founded in 2015 by Vachani, assistant professor Susan Hess and senior lecturer Robert Hernandez. They believed it was important to supplement students with opportunities for learning and networking outside of the classroom setting.

According to the association’s website, its mission is to promote, develop and protect social workers and the profession while enhancing the wellbeing of individuals, families and communities.

Alix Schwartz and Neva Wallach are the co-student chairs of the NASW USC Unit.  They said the program focuses on recruiting and advancing the careers of students and alumni pursuing social work with the help of an institutional and national support system.

“When students sign up for the NASW, they become part of a network of 130,000 social workers throughout the United States,” Wallach said. “In addition, [Dworak-Peck] has an exclusive virtual academic campus — there are USC [Master’s of Social Work] students in almost every state throughout the United States. I would argue that students who have attended some of our events virtually are furthering our national reach.”

NASW USC is the only one of its kind nationwide, as it provides many opportunities and programs for students at the University interested in social work to participate in service learning and involvement.

The USC chapter hosted a Social Workers to Social Change conference in February last year, a call to action for advocacy and lobbying among the social worker community in response to a volatile political climate. 

“We try to find the intersections between different social justice issues that we just don’t see being talked about elsewhere,” Shantel said. “Almost all of our programs have been free, which is rare, and so we just really try to … build and develop a strong social work space.”

The NASW is going through a modernization process as they work to recruit more students. The organization aims to address the needs of students individually and generally as well.

They also hope to increase the connection between students, alumni and the organization in coming years to foster a network of service advocacy and professional development, Shantel said.

“We are in a time of a lot of challenging social issues,” Shantel said. “Our hope for the upcoming years is for USC NASW to become a sustainable unit within USC that is able to be a part of the national association while [staying] grounded in the USC community.”