After working for a decade with youth and their families as a site supervisor for school-based services at the local non-profit , Cortes, 33, joined the Kent School staff in October 2023 as the Bachelor of Science in Social Work (BSW) Program Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator.

First-Gen student success
A first-generation student, Cortes grew up in Oldham County in a family that valued education.

“My mom was one of only two of the six kids in her family who completed high school, and my dad was an immigrant from Mexico who completed the ninth grade,” said Cortes.��“My parents were both laborers, and they were breaking their backs and coming home late at night, and they just didn’t want that same burden for their kids; they didn’t want that life for us.”

Each year, over a third of ���Ǵڳ�’s first-year students are first-generation. To support this growing population, UofL joined the , which helps universities share data, model innovations and scale impact to advance student outcomes. Since 2019, these efforts have contributed to a 3% increase in first-to-second-year retention for first-gen students.

Finding a supportive environment at UofL
Cortes attended other colleges briefly before transferring to Louisville, where he found a niche he didn’t expect for a “guy who grew up in Oldham County on a horse farm. The only time I came to Louisville as a kid was to go to Kentucky Kingdom or the rodeo,” he said. “So, for me to go to this city and feel as comfortable as I did is a testament to everything, all the work they did to help me, not only at Kent school but at UofL, in general.”

Cortes said the University of Louisville felt personal and was responsive to his needs, including helping him balance academics with working night shifts at UPS and fulfilling his practicum hours.

“My advisors, the staff and the professors that I worked with looked out for me as an individual,” he said. “They supported me through my journey as a nontraditional student, and were able to meet me where I was…that made me feel like more than a number or just the next student coming through. They get to know me as a whole person.”

The path to success wasn’t always a smooth one for Cortes, and there were times when things were tough, and he felt too exhausted to go on. He relied on his family for moral and emotional support, and on his UofL family, as well.��

“I remember thinking there’s no way I can squeeze in the time to write this 10-page paper and then study for this exam and read those four chapters,” he said. “There was no downtime, and I felt like I was on autopilot for the better part of those years.”

But the memories of those times ultimately made the achievement sweeter.

“It makes me feel incredibly accomplished in a way that I really can’t describe. I knew that I wanted it, but I also knew I was really going to have to work for it,” he said.

New role creates new opportunities to serve
After receiving his BSW degree, Cortes worked as a youth social worker in the Louisville community. Now, in his new career as an admissions and recruitment coordinator at UofL, he’s come full-circle and is preparing the next generation of social workers to make a difference.

“I’m now in this position, advocating for my students and providing resources, counseling, sometimes crisis management,” he said. “They all have unique circumstances and backgrounds, and even though every situation is different, I feel I was once in their shoes. I really want to pay that forward for more UofL students,” said Cortes.

Cortes says he also hopes to help grow the Kent School, encouraging others to pursue a social work degree, noting the importance of addressing mental health.

“As professionals, we need to grow and advocate for mental health and talk about it as plainly as you would a physical injury,” said Cortes. “Nobody has any problem going to the doctor with a sprained wrist, but you might be hesitant to say you’re really feeling uneasy and need to go talk to somebody about it.”

Bobby Cortes treasures the messages from former families and students about things he has taught them and the impact it’s had on their lives.��“For example, they’ve told me something we did together framed their thinking in a different way,” said Cortes. “I really, really love those kinds of a-ha moments.”

He’s looking forward to more of those a-ha moments in his new role with aspiring social workers. ��

March is National Social Work month. to find out more about Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work and Family Science.

UofL News: Talk about your passion for research.

Collins-Camargo: As a social worker, the first thing that typically comes to mind is not research. Rather, one would more likely think about helping people address life’s challenges, lifting the voices of historically underrepresented groups and individuals, and advocating for social justice for all people. But what I have come to understand over the course of my career is that if we want to do any of those things well, we must have rigorous research to inform that work. This is one of the most important things we can do for our students—help them learn not only the knowledge and skills they require to be competent practitioners, but to embrace the need to inform our work with the latest evidence regarding how to practice in a way that makes a difference.

UofL News: What are some strategies for creating additional research opportunities for students at the Kent School?

Collins-Camargo: This starts with building an appreciation for research in our students, most of whom come to us to learn how to be social work practitioners. Once we light that fire, there are many opportunities for our students to be involved in the wide range of research that is going on at Kent, including what is happening at our Center for Family and Community Wellbeing which provides an array of research opportunities for students.

UofL News: How did you know that research would be a focus of your life’s work?

Collins-Camargo: I did not know this for a very long time. I came to academia as a second career after many years as a child welfare worker, supervisor, manager and advocate. My progression into higher education happened as I continued to seek a role in which I could truly make a difference. I became principal investigator of my first federal grant a year after assuming a fulltime faculty position. I applied for the grant because I wanted to be a part of an opportunity to help child welfare workers and their organizations serve children and families—I didn’t think about it as research. The next thing I knew I was leading a four-state research project, and collaborating with the inspiring researchers evaluating each site’s intervention. Before I knew it, I was hooked, because I could hear and see the impact that was having on the people doing incredible work in child welfare agencies.

UofL News: Your studies focus on strategies to help public and private child and family serving agencies improve their work with these families. Tell us about this.

Collins-Camargo: Over time, much of my scholarship has come to focus on how these organizations, and the supervisors and managers within them, can put processes, structures and tools in place that promote the use of data to inform practice in terms of whether what they are doing is making a difference for the children and families with whom they work. When I was working in the field, we did not have access to data that enabled us to use it in this way. This also involves interorganizational relationships, because if we want to impact the well-being of children and families, both public and private agencies must be involved. In social work, our research is community-engaged, so this means getting out there and working in partnership with these organizations on how they function so they can help the families they serve, and that is an exciting privilege.

UofL News: What are some other outcomes of your research that have improved practice in the social work profession – any that make you particularly proud?

Collins-Camargo: I have had the privilege of being involved in some really incredible work—enhancing the type of supervision frontline child welfare workers receive so they are supported, and encouraged to use evidence to support the decisions they make in their work with families; working with state child welfare systems on the way they approach public/private partnerships to promote positive client outcomes; and implementing standardized screening and assessment for trauma and behavioral health needs of children entering out-of-home care in Kentucky. Most recently, I published a paper on the perceptions of public child welfare administrators on promoting equity and antiracist practice within these systems that we now understand have contributed to oppression and harm to some families. I am proud of that study because this is a defining moment in time for child welfare agencies, and they must change to antiracist approaches to promote well-being in children, families and communities.

UofL News: As you now serve in the role as interim dean, what is your vision for the Kent School?

Collins-Camargo: As an interim dean, I see my job as keeping the Kent School of Social Work and Family Science on course to promote the vision we have already established as we search for a permanent dean. We need to continue to do high quality research to address the many social problems our faculty are focused on, and to continue to prepare our students to be critical thinkers and competent social workers at all levels. For us that means continuing our efforts to build an antiracist curriculum which former Dean Jenkins initiated before he left. My short-term vision is that we will be in the best possible position to enable our new dean to be successful in leading us forward.

She replaces Karen Kayser who served as the school’s first endowed chair for the program and recently retired. BrintzenhofeSzoc shares her personal story that led to her interest in the field, along with how her growing body of research is changing clinical care in this one-on-one with UofL News.

UofL News: How did you become interested in oncology social work?

BrintzenhofeSzoc: I became interested in oncology social work when I was a teenager, even though I didn’t realize it at the time. My mother died of breast cancer when I was 13, and it was devastating to me, to my siblings (there were nine of us), and to our dad, who became our primary caregiver. We were from 6 to 25 years of age. I decided then that I wanted to work with people who were or would experience the death of a family member from cancer. I was thinking about children who had a parent with cancer and thought that if they knew how sick the parent was and could talk to someone about it, they would be more prepared to live without the parent. I wanted to be that person to whom they could talk.

I didn’t know that social workers existed when my mother died. I learned this when I was a senior in college. I took an Introduction to Social Work course as an elective, and by the end of the semester, I knew that was how I could attain my goal of working with families preparing to or grieving the death of a parent due to cancer.

I had two field placements at Virginia Commonwealth University, where I earned a Master of Social Work degree. I was placed at a settlement house in Richmond, Virginia, the first year. I worked with children from the neighborhood and the older adults who attended the daycare center. I discovered that I didn’t like working with children but loved working with older adults. My second placement was at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in the outpatient clinic. Here I worked with adults who had cancer, mostly with a terminal disease, and their families. It was exactly what I wanted to do.

UofL News: Your research focuses on the experience of chronic or life-limiting disease on what is known as the BioPsychoSocialSpiritualSexualCulture (BPSSSC) aspects of individuals. Explain this, please.��

BrintzenhofeSzoc: After receiving my MSW, I worked at The Johns Hopkins Hospital on the AIDS inpatient unit. During this time, I was able to apply a core concept from social work to what I was doing on the unit. This was working with individuals and families using the lens of BioPsychoSocial care. This meant that I paid attention to the biological (illness-related), the psychological (emotions, quality of life, adaptation to the illness) and the social (family relationships, social support, communication) domains of each person and not just their diagnosis of AIDS. Through this work, I realized that there was more to the individual that didn’t necessarily fit into the BioPsychoSocial domains. The other domains that I became aware of, over time and with more experience, as they almost always came with when working with people with AIDS, included spirituality and religion, sexuality and cultural issues.

Throughout my career as an academic and as a researcher, I continued to explore how all six domains, rather than just three, were present and how they played a part in moving through the trajectory of the disease. I wanted social workers to include the whole person in their practice and research, so I expanded the concept to include all the domains I had identified and that which was in the literature. So, I expanded the core concept of the BioPsychoSocial domains to the BioPsychoSocialSpiritualSexualCultural (BPSSSC) domains.

I started using the expanded concept in my teaching to highlight the importance of spirituality, sexuality and culture in working with patients and families in medical settings. This was also a way to encourage students and future social workers to include these three additional domains into their assessments, treatment plans, outcomes and research. I wanted them to ask specific questions about these sometimes taboo topics. Over the past five years, I have assembled literature that demonstrates the benefit of including these domains in social work practice. I am currently working on a manuscript presenting the BPSSSC. The importance of expanding the lens of social work has become more evident over the past two years due to the COVID pandemic and the racial unrest we have all experienced.

UofL News: How have your findings translated into clinical care?��

BrintzenhofeSzoc: Following a cancer diagnosis, cancer patients and their family members experience a range of psychosocial distress. I was an integral member of a research team that explored the relationship between distress based on cancer sites, or where the cancer was in the body. We published an article in 2001 with the outcomes of this study. The dataset was made up of 4,496 patients with 14 different cancer diagnoses. This study had the largest sample size at the time and continues to be one of the largest sample sizes used in distress research. The outcome reported was that the prevalence of distress among all patients regardless of cancer site was 35.1%. The prevalence of distress differed by cancer site, ranging from 29.6% among those with gynecological cancer to 43.4% among those with lung cancer.

These findings were translated into clinical practice directly through changes made by the accrediting body of cancer centers, the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. In 2015 the [commission] added the requirement that all new patients seen in a cancer center be screened for distress. The mandate further states that patients who report high distress be offered an appropriate intervention. Further, annual data was to be collected and reported on the number of patients screened, the percent of high distress and the number of those who were offered intervention and accepted it. This is one example of how my findings have translated into clinical care.

I also have developed and tested several measures for use with people with chronic or life-limiting diseases. This included the following measures: Healing Experiences in All Life Stressors, Profile of Adaptation to Life among medically ill populations, Satisfaction with Life Domains Scale for breast cancer and the BSI-18. Clinicians and researchers use these measures to increase our understanding of outcomes across the BPSSSC domains and those amenable to using evidence-based practices that focus on improving these outcomes.

UofL News: You have experience as a clinical social worker at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center. How did this and other work in the clinical setting influence your future research?��

BrintzenhofeSzoc: When I graduated, there were no jobs at Hopkins Oncology Center, so I applied for and was hired to work on the AIDS unit at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. It was just right for me. I was able to work with adults, mostly young adults, who had a diagnosis of AIDS. Most of the people I worked with died during my two years there. It was amazing to have the honor of working with people who knew they were dying of AIDS. I also worked with their partners, family members and friends. One of the most rewarding aspects of this job was working with the medical residents and fellows who rotated through the unit and being able to help them understand the role that psychosocial issues had on people with AIDS.

I decided the best way to learn more about this expanded lens I was working with was to go back to school for a PhD. I spent the next four years working on my doctorate at The Catholic University of America in the National School of Social Service (NCSSS). During this time, I was exposed to the literature and learned about the spiritual and religious aspects of how people experience events in their lives. Later in my career, I expanded my thinking to include the sexual and cultural domains.

After completing my PhD, I worked at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center as a clinical social worker, as a researcher in the psychosocial research program and as the social work internship program coordinator. This experience expanded my reach to include research as well as teaching. I was hired to a tenure track position at the NCSSS in 1999 and was there until 2016. I was at the University of Cincinnati from 2016 to 2021. It has been with great excitement that I join Kent School of Social Work and Family Science as a professor and Dr. Renato LaRocca Endowed Chair in Oncology Social Work. I am honored to be here.

UofL News: Describe the emphasis of UofL’s Psychosocial Oncology Social Work program?��

BrintzenhofeSzoc: Social workers make up the largest group of mental health professionals in general, in health care, and in oncology settings. Working with people with cancer, their family members and the health care teams that provide care requires knowledge about the disease, how the diagnosis and treatment negatively influence outcomes in BPSSSC, and skills based on evidence-based interventions that can provide relief. Preparing the next generation of social workers for oncology care is a major emphasis of the Psychosocial Oncology Social Work Program. We prepare social work students to work in oncology settings upon graduation and across their careers.

A second foundational aim of the program is to prepare social workers to be consumers of research and producers of research in psychosocial oncology. We work with students in our PhD program to develop their skills and knowledge in this area. A third objective of the program is to work with the community to identify and support their needs by offering continuing education, collaborating in the evaluation of and research into interventions and developing the next generation of academics in this field. The communities I am talking about include the community of oncology social workers who are at local, regional, national and international levels, people at these same levels who have experienced a diagnosis of cancer themselves or in their families, and health care providers outside of social work.

UofL News: What is your vision for the program?��

BrintzenhofeSzoc: My vision for the Psychosocial Oncology Program is to increase the number of MSW students enrolled in the specialization, which will lead to a stronger and more prepared oncology care workforce. I also want to expand the number of MSW students who, while not necessarily planning to be oncology social workers, will enroll in one or both psychosocial oncology courses.

This part of my vision is based on the knowledge that wherever social workers provide care, some of their clients, patients or residents will be dealing with chronic or life-limiting diseases. Having the background of understanding the interactions between one’s BPSSSC characteristics and health outcomes will improve care to people seen outside of cancer settings. While the courses use the lens of cancer, my goal is to help students translate this knowledge and set of skills to other groups with chronic and life-limiting diseases, disorders and conditions.

Another part of my vision is to recruit and mentor social workers working towards a PhD focusing on psychosocial oncology. Here I want to prepare the next generation of academics and researchers focusing on psychosocial oncology. Finally, I would like the Kent School of Social Work and Family Science to be known as a go-to place for help in evaluating programs and researching the effectiveness of interventions. I want this program to have the reputation of building the workforce and supporting the growth of evidence-based practice.

“Representation matters,” said Shawnise Miller, Kent School of Social Work and Family Science’s director of the Master of Science in Social Work program.

This significance of boosting minority representation in the social work field fueled Miller’s development of the . The initiative, launched in 2019, aims to increase the number of advanced social work practitioners of color through recruitment and education of students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

She says equipping students with resources and support necessary to complete a master’s degree in social work from UofL is the program’s focus.

“Particularly among Black Americans, there is stigma around mental health, and graduating social workers of color can build trust because we share the same Black experience,” Miller said. “Our goal is to diversify the social work profession and in turn increase racial and culturally appropriate services and interventions that mirror the communities in which our graduates serve.”

The HBCU Cardinal Express to Success program centers around strategic partnerships with HBCU academic programs that don’t already have an established accredited masters social work program on campus. Miller is in process of strengthening the pathway for Kentucky State University’s undergraduate social work students.

Berrac Strode attended Kentucky State as an undergraduate and was one of the first students to go through ���Ǵڳ�’s program. Strode says he wasn’t sure he wanted to attend grad school.

“As a person of color graduating from a HBCU, I internally limited my grad school options. The HBCU Cardinal Express to Success Program broadened my options and gave me confidence and reassurance��that I could complete a graduate��program,” he said.

Strode graduated with a MSSW in May 2021, and is working in Lexington as a therapist for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. His goal is to become a licensed clinical social worker and open a practice serving at-risk youth.

The Kent School offers an accelerated admissions process and scholarship opportunities for HBCU students. Throughout their UofL education, HBCU Cardinal Express to Success participants engage in individualized research and professional coaching, career placement support and social networking opportunities.

Learn more about Berrac Strode’s story in this Q&A with UofL News.

There, at a table labeled “Therapists for Protester Wellness,” marchers likely found Millicent Cahoon, a UofL counseling psychology doctoral student, or Cheryl Ades ’92, a Kent School of Social Work alumna, among the volunteers.

Their alliance began the June day after a photographer documenting protests at their downtown core was killed by civilian gunfire, devastating other protesters.

Cahoon knew she had to do something. So she appealed to fellow mental health professionals via Facebook to join her there to help. Ultimately, about 50 people offered aid.��

“It was those who felt very strongly about the movement and wanted to advocate for the clients,” Cahoon said. “This group is just awesome. It shows therapy is not just a job for most of them. They feel strongly about helping other people.”

Counselors rotated in to listen and offer onsite encouragement, wellness exercises, educational materials and referral lists noting therapists of color and others offering services – many at reduced rates or free to those protesting. Cahoon credited Ades with helping to quickly compile resources, some for people who might be seeking emotional care for the first time.

“More than ever mental health has had a huge platform,” Cahoon said. “I really do think it’s starting to take down some of that stigma.”

Coming from an outpatient therapy job and aspiring to a private practice and research in Black mental health, the new student said she sought out the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development doctorate in part because of ���Ǵڳ�’s Cardinal Success Program. The program, at the Nia Center, is a partnership to make counseling services more accessible to West Louisville.

“I’m very thankful UofL has been so open to supporting a Black student,” Cahoon said. “They’ve been reaching out to me and being super supportive.”

A trauma specialist, Ades said she’s mindful of the protesters’ concerns, understanding that they may be experiencing ongoing trauma every day.

“I’ve wanted to give back more,” Ades said. When not working the table, Ades often joined with protesters to march, knowing the movement has sparked more attention to societal issues.

“I’ve never been prouder to be a social worker,” Ades said. “I think actually a lot more people are going to go into social work. Law, criminal justice and social work are going to explode.”

Their efforts, including “to remind people to take care of themselves during this movement,” after the height of the protests last summer.

This story was initially published in the Fall/Winter 2020 edition of UofL Magazine.��

As a Marine Scientist, Heming enforces maritime environmental laws, investigates oil and hazardous waste spills and manages federal disasters, such as hurricane response.

In 2006, Heming was deployed to New Orleans in support of hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. In 2017, she was activated for hurricane Harvey recovery. In 2019, she was activated to respond to the longest-running oil spill in in U.S. history in the Gulf of Mexico, where recovery efforts have resulted in the capture of almost 800,000 gallons of oil leaking from a downed oil rig.

Heming’s early time in the Coast Guard saw her serve onboard the largest icebreaker on the Great Lakes, ICEBREAKER MACKINAW WAGB-83, known as the “Queen of the Great Lakes.”

When she was looking for MSSW programs, Heming said some of the other schools she looked into were not as understanding of her “winding academic journey.” She said the fact that UofL has been repeatedly designated a “Military-Friendly” institution is what sold her on becoming a Cardinal. She intends to use her MSSW degree to help those with trauma via nontraditional and alternative therapies, including the new wave of psychedelic research that seems promising for PTSD treatment.

On Aug 4, 2021, we recognize and celebrate the 231^st birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard and its precursors, the Revenue Marine, the Revenue Cutter Service and the U.S. Life Saving Service.

Story submitted by Kyle Hurwitz, UofL director of Military and Online Initiatives.��

Tell us about your journey to Louisville.

I am from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and knew I wanted to attend school not too far from home. My older sister attended UofL, so the university was not a stranger to our household. Considering my choice of the social work major, I knew UofL would be a great fit because the Kent School was one of the top social work programs in the state. Also, the Woodford R. Porter Scholarship allowed me the great opportunity to attend school at little to no cost. With all of these factors, UofL was the best fit for me.

You’re involved in many leadership and mentoring opportunities. Talk about those, please.

The Woodford Porter Scholarship has produced a community for Porter Scholars to feel empowered and focuses on service, scholarship, heritage and leadership. As a Porter Scholar, I have to be able to maintain my focus and drive towards my education.��

I’m also involved in C.O.N.E.C.T. That stands for Caring of New Students Experiencing College Transition. CONECT has given me the opportunity to mentor incoming African American students. This past year was tricky due to COVID-19 restrictions, but I enjoyed helping and guiding my mentees. CONECT is a team effort that involves our advisors, mentors and mentees. I’m thankful to be a part of a great team.

Another mentorship experience is the President’s Council Mentoring Program. It is a one-year program that matches students with a mentor in our desired career field. This year, my mentor Ben Langley and I collaborated to expand my opportunities in social work. I definitely enjoy meeting with him and networking with other professionals. Through this program, I have decided that I want to work with children and families in Kentucky.��

What is the student experience like at UofL?

There is always something to do or someone to see. I’m grateful for the variety of RSOs here on campus because it gives students the opportunity to branch out on campus and in the community.��

How did you become interested in social work?

I was watching Netflix one day and came across the show “Girls Incarcerated,” which centered around an Indiana juvenile corrections facility. Seeing how much the ladies’ social worker had an impact on their lives during and after incarceration inspired me. After I did some research on local and state facts, I decided social work would be the perfect fit for me. In social work, I am able to serve my community, help children and families and promote social justice all in one profession.��

What are your long-term goals?

After completion of my BSW, I will be working under the Public Child Welfare Certification Program for two years in Kentucky. I have hopes of earning a MSW, and eventually a PhD in social work. There is a strong need for social workers in Kentucky, so my biggest plan is to serve my community to the best of my ability.��

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How did you decide to pursue the social work profession?

I always knew I would be in one of the social sciences. Initially, I began my studies in psychology. With psychology the practitioner is looking only at the individual and with sociology the practitioner is looking only at group of people. In social work, we look at the reciprocal nature of the person in and with their environment — this enables us to get a much better picture of what’s happening with or to the person. In turn, we can better tailor interventions to empower the person and give them tools to cope with society or curtail behaviors that limit their full potential.

Why did you choose the Kent School?

Not only did they offer me a fellowship, I also saw myself in the faculty. A lot of them are young, passionate and actually believe they change the world. Sometimes, when you do social justice work for a long time, you can get a bit down wondering if things will ever change. At Kent, I’ve learned so many strategies for change work that I know society will keep getting better. Their hope has rubbed off on me a bit.

What area of social work are you pursuing?

I am a macro practitioner. I primarily focus on policy drafting and analysis, needs and community assessments, and positively shifting mezzo level cultures (e.g. communities and corporations). In doing all of that, I am a social justice warrior through and through. I want to make sure the structural barriers to receiving the best services are eliminated or limited as much as possible. I focus on eradicating barriers to education, health and opportunity rooted in racism, sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, xenophobia and intersections of such. In my research, I focus on understanding the complexities of systems of hegemony –the dominance of one group over another. I also look at the best ways to engage oppressed populations into striving for their own liberation.

Where did you complete your practicum?

In undergrad, I did my first practicum at the Neighborhood Place and my second at Volunteers of America Mid-States. My master’s practicum was as a research assistant looking into ways to increase the diversity of faculty in and outside of the social work department. I was very blessed to receive a fellowship for my PhD so there was no practicum or assistantship of sorts. I also work closely with Dr. Shawnise Miller with the MSSW program and I serve on the Diversity Committee with Dr. Emma Sterrett-Hong.

Can you tell us briefly about your research and dissertation?

In short, I study systems of hegemony. I do this via a critical educational theory called conscientization. This theory helps me to investigate the needs of a community relative to their oppression and then ally with community members to fight for equality and justice. My dissertation is focused within the hegemonic system of racism. I’m looking into the cognitive, emotive, and social processes Black Americans progress through when learning of racism. More importantly, I’m interested in their process of deciding to resist the internalization of racist rhetoric and fight against implicit and explicit racism on a micro, mezzo and macro level.

What professional interests would you like to pursue after graduation?

I’d like to obtain my LCSW and eventually become a professor.

Do you have any advice for students considering a doctoral education in social work?

Intellectually, if you aren’t prepared to work independently to fill in the blanks, go get knowledge on your own, decide what’s important to research, etc. Then maybe take a summer to read in your area. It’s better for you to come into the program knowing what some might consider ‘too much’ than not knowing enough and having to catch up.

There is nothing that can prepare you emotionally for a doctorate. One minute you’ll be up emotionally and the next you’ll be down. It’s all worth it in the end. I look back at my time at Kent with fondness. I’ve learned so much and grown so much. I feel truly ready to enter academia. Kent didn’t try to change me into a stuffy professor, they helped me make professorship fit my style, values and goals.

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“Students pursuing the DSW through the online platform can satisfy all degree requirements in three years without disrupting their careers,” said David Jenkins, dean of the UofL Kent School of Social Work. “This program transforms experienced professionals into scholars, teachers and organizational leaders positively impacting vulnerable and marginalized populations.”

���Ǵڳ�’s has grown to more than 50, including bachelor’s, master’s and certificates, with nearly 70 total programs expected by Spring 2022. ���Ǵڳ�’s online learning experienced more than 40% growth from 2019 to 2020, enrolling 1,534 students in Fall 2019 and increasing to 2,156 students in Fall 2020. ��

“Our online programs deliver the same renowned education and degree as students would receive in-person, developed and taught by UofL faculty,” said Gale Rhodes, vice provost and executive director of the Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning. “Online students walk away with the same pride in their degree, ready to take the next step in their life and pursue career progressions.”

UofL entered the emerging field of fully-online education 20 years ago with the launch of three master’s degrees in 2001. Since then, online education at the university has made a significant impact on the communities of Louisville and beyond.

Online programs allow UofL to reach beyond Kentucky, with 36% of students living outside the Commonwealth, excluding the reciprocity Indiana counties. Military-connected students make up 20% of online learners, making higher education attainable even while students are deployed overseas. Military-connected designation encompasses Active-Duty, Coast Guard, Reserve, National Guard, veteran or dependent.

“As we move into 2021, the non-traditional student population remains a high priority for the university. Our focus is to reach these students and provide them the opportunity to receive high-quality, market-driven online education that aligns with employer demands,” Rhodes said.

In academic year 2020-2021, UofL launched 13 new programs in market-demand areas including analytics, business administration and health administration. ���Ǵڳ�’s MBA program became available as a completely-online option in 2019.��

Online education is appealing to non-traditional learners and working professionals, as it allows them to balance work, life and education without having to deprioritize the things that matter most.

“I needed flexibility, there’s no way I could earn an education in-person. I needed a program where I could also go pick up my son from daycare or go to work,” said Sasha Hill, UofL online engineering management student.

The is awaiting final approval by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary ����ֱ��, and will begin accepting applications in July. Learn more about online social work programs through this .