Professional Continuing Education Since its inception, SWORPS has provided support services to numerous regional continuing education providers such as coordinating conferences for the Tennessee Foster Care Association and the National Association of Social Workers, Tennessee Chapter, and conducting post-vietnam stress workshops. The Professional Continuing Education program is now in its ninth year since being restructured in July 1994 with new leadership, a statewide needs assessment, and advisory groups. The mission of this program is to deliver exceptional opportunities for lifelong learning to alumni and other human across the state. We now have advisory groups in Athens, Chattanooga, Jackson, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis, Morristown, and Nashville. As this program continues to grow, it is always open to sharing new ideas and skills for future training with others in the helping professions. Its offerings are evaluated by participants and updated regularly, and the majority of programs and facilitators continue to receive very positive evaluations. SWORPS is fortunate to partner with the University of Tennessee College of Social Work s faculty, staff members, and alumni along with other local community partners and cosponsors, providers of social work and human services, professional organizations, and nonprofit and public agencies to provide valuable statewide University of Tennessee College of Social Work Office of Research and Public Service August 2002 37
continuing education programming. Very effective relationships have been established with numerous providers of continuing education, which include J The National Association of Social Workers, along with its statewide and regional Tennessee chapters J The Hospice Foundation of America (Washington, DC) J The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, St. Jude Children s Hospital, Memphis City Schools, and West Tennessee Area Health Education Center (Memphis) J Tennessee Wesleyan College and Daystar Counseling Center (Athens) J The University of Tennessee Memorial Hospital and its Graduate Schools of Medicine, College of Nursing, Home Care Services, Pastoral Care Services, and the Nursing Education Department (Knoxville and Memphis) J Comprehensive Community Services and the James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Johnson City) J Cookeville Regional Medical Center (Cookeville) J Pathways Behavioral Health Services (Jackson) J Human Services Specialist Program at Chattanooga State Community College and Family and Children s Services (Chattanooga) J Knox County Health Department, Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service, the Middle East Tennessee Region of the Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare, and the Knox County Sheriff s Department (Knoxville) J Alive Hospice, First Hospital Corporation, Belmont University and Vanderbilt University departments of Social Work, Family and Children s Services, and St. Thomas Health Services (Nashville) J Social Workers of the Lakeway Area (Morristown) University of Tennessee College of Social Work Office of Research and Public Service August 2002 38
J The University of Tennessee Chattanooga, The University of Tennessee Martin, and The UT Medical School (Memphis) J The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) J Various baccalaureate social work programs across the state These collaborative efforts allow the resources and expertise of SWORPS staff members and the skilled professional facilitators who participate in these continuing education efforts to expand the availability of high-quality educational offerings for practicing social workers and allied health professionals across disciplines. By partnering and sharing sponsorship, the resources of the College of Social Work that support professional, lifelong learning programs are maximized. All participant fees are used to offset program costs. SWORPS now offers between 30 and 40 professional offerings yearly across the state. Program staff members also assist the College of Social Work with its special homecoming events for returning alumni and friends. Most conferences and workshops are face-to-face, but some are offered through distance-learning technologies that link professionals across the state. SWORPS averages three teleconferences per year and hosts them in a variety of sites, including Chattanooga, Jackson, Martin, Nashville, and Knoxville. During fiscal year 2002, the number of participants who attended fall and spring offerings increased by 25 percent. Our statewide offerings included training on psychological trauma, ethics, short-term couples therapy, defusing hostility, public speaking, tai chi, workplace violence and street smart survival, web-page construction, organizational culture and climate, influencing congress through legislative genius, solution-focused therapy, advanced clinical skills, animal abuse and human victimization, crisis intervention, supervision, and risk management. Other topics included learning to work with abused and neglected children, University of Tennessee College of Social Work Office of Research and Public Service August 2002 39
addiction, depression, grieving clients, preparing for the LCSW exam, and the highlyacclaimed Living With Grief teleconference. The Professional Continuing Education staff are members of a number of professional organizations including the National Association of Social Workers and the Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare and serve on the local Knoxville steering committees as well as several state-related committees of these organizations. Staff members are active on a number of boards and coalitions and make frequent professional presentations statewide as a way of giving back to the communities who so generously share their time and resources with this program. University of Tennessee College of Social Work Office of Research and Public Service August 2002 40
SWORPS Continuing Education Fall 2000 Spring 2001 Offerings Date(s) Workshop Title Location Co-Sponsor(s) Target Audience # Attending 08/31/01 Tai Chi Chattanooga Chattanooga State Technical Community College, Human Services Specialist Program 09/14/01 Influencing Congress through Your Legislative Genius Nashville Tennessee Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers 09/20/01 Public Speaking Sevierville None 09/21/01 Workplace Violence and Street Smart Survival Knoxville None 09/25/01 Social Work Ethics and the Use of Psychotropic Medication in Children Knoxville None 09/28/01 Black Clouds, Blue Skies Cookeville None 10/02-10/03/01 Practical Magic: Understanding and Responding to the Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect Athens Daystar Counseling Center 10/05/01 Black Clouds, Blue Skies Knoxville None 10/09/01 Supervision, Licensure, and Risk Management for Concerned Practitioners 10/12-10/13/01 Memphis Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, Memphis City Schools Berclair Mental Health Center, and the National Association of Social Workers West Tennessee Branch LCSW Licensure Exam Preparation Cookeville None 16 9 12 10 40 11 17 8 41 21 University of Tennessee College of Social Work Office of Research and Public Service August 2002 41
Date(s) Workshop Title Location Co-Sponsor(s) Target Audience # Attending 10/19/01 Web Page Construction for Health Professionals 11/02/01 Solutions in Action: Experiential Techniques for Solution-Focused Therapy 11/08/01 Resolving Ethical Dilemmas in Work With Older Clients 11/17/01 Animal Abuse and Human Victimization: Recognizing the Chain of Abuse 02/13/02 Post Trauma Stress Reactions: Yours, Mine, and Ours Nashville None Memphis Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, Memphis City Schools Berclair Mental Health Center, and the National Association of Social Workers West Tennessee Branch Nashville None Knoxville Memphis The Knoxville Police Department; The East Tennessee Regional Office, State Department of Health; Tennessee Humane Association; Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley; UT Law Enforcement Innovation Center; UT Colleges of Social Work and Veterinary Medicine; and the UT University Studies Program Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, Memphis City Schools Berclair Mental Health Center, and the National Association of Social Workers West Tennessee Branch 02/15/02 Tai Chi and Mental Health Athens Daystar Counseling Center and Tennessee Wesleyan College 02/20/02 Short Term Couples Therapy: Principles, Models, and Techniques of Brief Therapy Chattanooga Chattanooga State Technical Community College, Human Services Specialist Program, and Family & Children s Services of Chattanooga, Inc. 02/22/02 Psychological Trauma: Diagnosis and Treatment Knoxville None 10 33 67 400 48 13 39 14 University of Tennessee College of Social Work Office of Research and Public Service August 2002 42
Date(s) Workshop Title Location Co-Sponsor(s) Target Audience # Attending 03/04/02 Ethics and Addiction Knoxville The Center for Applied and Professional Ethics 33 03/14/02 Ethical Dilemmas in Clinical Practice Johnson City James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Southern Highlands Council of Healthcare Social Workers 65 03/18/02 Defusing Hostility: Responding to Difficult Behaviors Knoxville None 03/22/02 Psychological Trauma: Diagnosis and Treatment Nashville TVA University, Office of Education, Training, and Diversity 04/03/02 Transforming Vicarious Trauma: Strategies for Individuals and Teams Johnson City None 04/19/02 Making Metaphors Knoxville None 04/10/02 Ethics and Addiction Cookeville Cookeville Regional Medical Center 04/12/02 Organizational Culture and Climate: The Power of Where You Work 04/17/02 Applied Ethics: An Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Social Work Practice 04/19-04/20/02 Knoxville None Athens Daystar Counseling Center and Tennessee Wesleyan College LCSW Licensure Exam Preparation Cookeville None 04/23/02 Ethical Healthcare Practices in Managed Care: Is That an Oxymoron? 04/24/02 Living With Grief Teleconference: Loss in Later Life Nashville Knoxville Vanderbilt University Medical Center Social Work Department The Chaplain s Office and the Department of Case Management at the University of Tennessee Medical Center 33 22 8 8 17 12 23 28 74 29 University of Tennessee College of Social Work Office of Research and Public Service August 2002 43
Date(s) Workshop Title Location Co-Sponsor(s) Target Audience # Attending 04/24/02 Living With Grief Teleconference: Loss in Later Life Martin The Departments of Social Work, Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice at the University of Tennessee, Martin 6 04/24/02 Living With Grief Teleconference: Loss in Later Life Nashville Hospice Foundation of America; Alive Hospice, Nashville 46 05/10/02 Conducting a State of the Art Suicide Risk Assessment Chattanooga Chattanooga State Technical Community College, Human Services Specialist Program, and Family and Children s Services of Chattanooga, Inc. 39 YEAR-END TOTALS 1,252 University of Tennessee College of Social Work Office of Research and Public Service August 2002 44