EDUCATION
The engagement of universities and colleges, as well as professional organizations, has been central to
the success of the Grand Challenges for Social Work efforts to educate the next generation of social
workers to develop evidence-based interventions and policy proposals. Organizations and schools
of social work across the country are weaving the Grand Challenges into their programs in a number
of significant ways, from curriculum enhancements to core programming. For example:
• An entire DSW program at the University of Southern
California, a post-masters fellowship at Florida State
University, and a dual degree program at Colorado
State University School of Social Work and the
Colorado School of Public Health - all have been
organized around the Grand Challenges.
• New York University Silver School of Social Work
conducted #NYUSilverUp4theChallenge, a student
competition grounded in the principles of the Grand
Challenges, reflecting the unique and powerful
ways that social workers are positioned to address
the Grand Challenges. Topics ranged from the
development of programs to eradicate social
isolation, to examining food insecurity and instability
in a changing environment, to ending homelessness
by taking an anti-racist stance in efforts toward
eviction prevention.
• The University of Denver featured the Grand
Challenges in their Science for Action series, and the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School
of Social Work held a Harness Technology for Social
Good yearlong lecture series.
• Many of the Grand Challenges, including Ensure
Healthy Development for Youth, Reduce Extreme
Economic Inequality, Build Financial Capability
and Assets for All, and Harness Technology
for Social Good, have developed textbooks,
education modules, and webinars to train students,
professionals and the public.
• Faculty around the country - including Azusa Pacific
University and Fresno State University - have
incorporated aspects of the Grand Challenges into
their curricula. The University of South Alabama
uses a course in problem-based learning to
examine the Grand Challenges. New courses have
been developed to address the Grand Challenges,
including courses on Smart Decarceration at the
University of Chicago and University of Maryland
School of Social Work.
• Countless books, book chapters, journal articles,
and other publications have been written by
network members and leadership team members
about individual Grand Challenges and the
initiative as a whole.
• More than 60 departments and schools of social
work have formed the Western Consortium for
the Grand Challenges to identify, spotlight, and
implement initiatives such as teaching innovations,
new practices in field education, learning networks
for scholarly professionals, and fresh concepts
of community service.
• The GCSW has shared access to a variety of
educational events, ranging from our own webinar
Covid -19: Learning from History about Disaster
and Economic Inequality to The Art of Policy Practice:
Navigating the Legislative Process, co-branded
with Influencing Social Policy (ISP), a nonprofit
organization for social work educators, students, and
practitioners, and the National Association of Social
Workers (NASW).
• The GCSW has partnered with Prof2Prof to serve as
an intellectual hub for connecting network members
and their contributions to the Grand Challenges.
Prof2Prof is a platform that allows scholars, higher
education faculty, doctoral students, and academic
staff to share their best teaching, research, and
management materials across disciplines, and on a
global scale. This partnership is intended to advance
Grand Challenges' goals related to education;
shed light on the contributions of social work
professionals; inspire collaboration and partnerships
with other disciplines; and create a working space
for the Grand Challenges networks.
• Grand Challenges leaders and members have
continued to be highly visible at national and
regional conferences, participating in roundtable
discussions, presentations, and special interest
groups, as well as booths and networking
opportunities at conferences held by organizations
including NASW, Council on Social Work Education
(CSWE), the Society for Social Work and Research
(SSWR), The American Council for School Social Work
(ACSSW), Wichita State University School of Social
Work's POWER Conference, the Kentucky Association
of Social Work Educators, and others.
• Wayne State University has committed faculty,
staff, funding, and other resources to advance the
Grand Challenges, particularly in Greater Detroit,
and documented these efforts in Rising to the
Challenge 2017.
6 | Progress and Plans for the Grand Challenges