By SUSAN JONES
An online open forum on Jan. 16 about qualities needed in a new dean for the School of Social Work drew several alumni and current students, many with strong opinions of what the University should prioritize in job candidates.
The forum followed separate similar events exclusively for faculty and students in the school. The search advisory committee is co-chaired by Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, dean of the School of Education, and Louise Sciannameo, associate provost for strategic communications, who led the forum. The executive search firm WittKieffer is helping with the national search.
Current Dean Betsy Farmer announced in November that she will step down from her role and return to faculty in July 2026. She has been dean since 2018.
Sciannameo said the committee has been tasked by the provost with finding three unranked finalists for the job. The committee plans to do the first round of interviews near the middle of the semester, with finalists coming to campus before the semester ends. The hope is to have a new dean in place in summer 2026, she said.
Serwaa Omowale, a two-time alum of Pitt’s School of Social Work and now an assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in the School of Public Health, said the next dean should have both practical social work experience and a background in social work education.
Valire Copeland, another two-time Pitt social work alum and a professor emeritus, echoed Omowale’s criteria, but also said, “you want someone who knows where the profession is going in the future, and so someone who can have a vision for the school.”
Andrea McCatty, an alumnus of the social work PhD program, stressed continued support for the Center for Race and Social Problems.
One senior undergraduate student said he thinks the curriculum needs to be overhauled to be more current with what’s happening in the field. One of those issues concerns the use of AI in social work, Omowale said. The student said there needs to be more clarification on the uses and ethics of AI in social work curriculum.
Copeland said the MSW curriculum has probably not been updated in seven to 10 years and definitely needs to include courses on disabilities and neurodivergence.
Another alumnus, Keith Caldwell, who works at Pitt as executive director of place-based initiatives for the Office of Engagement & Community Affairs, said he’d like to see a curriculum that frees up space for more multidisciplinary work and work-based field placements. Right now, the MSW degree requires completion of a minimum of 60 credits — 42 class and 18 practicum.
Finding more funding to support field placements also is important, McCatty said.
Another undergraduate student commented that attendance is an issue in some classes, which hurts both those who don’t come to class and those who do, because of the discussion-based nature of social work. He also said that expensive required textbooks often are used very little.
People who pursue social work as a career, he said, are “doing so because they love it, because they want to help people, because that’s their passion, and that should be reflected in the intensity of this education. People want to learn. They want to learn how to best help their clients. They want to learn how to best make change in a macro-level field. And it feels like that intensity and that passion is not mirrored by the Pitt social work program.”
Caldwell noted that every day he sees Pitt social work alumni in leading nonprofit organizations, serving in civic leadership roles and working in philanthropy, particularly in Pittsburgh. “It's an amazing network to see the professionals that our school continues to put into the field every single year. And to be clear, this isn’t just like folks who have been in the field for 30 years. It’s everything from folks who have been in the field for 50 years to five months. I’m seeing folks every day who are doing the work locally.”
Several of the alumni spoke of their pride in having a Pitt social work degree and in the need to carry on the school’s reputation and legacy.
“Pitt has a really good reputation, so that’s really helped us to get access to a variety of resources,” McCatty said.
“Everybody wants a Pitt graduate around the country,” said Copeland, who now is a part-time faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “We have one coming in to UNCC next week, one of our doctoral graduates. And one of the faculty at UNCC in the School of Social Work, when I met her about a year ago, she said she regretted not taking a job at Pitt in the School of Social Work. So Pitt has a presence, and historically, it has always had a presence.”
Those who did not get a chance to participate in one of the forums can still comment through an online survey.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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