by Henrika McCoy, MSW, PhD
Jane Addams College of Social Work
Following graduation from the University of Chicago with a social work degree in 1975, Barbara Coats began her career in social work, which included positions in medical and psychiatric social work. In 1993, her love of students, community, teaching, and learning brought her to the Jane Addams College of Social Work (JACSW), where she remained for 28 years until her retirement on June 30, 2021. Prior to becoming the director of field education and community partnerships, Barbara served in the College as a field liaison and the director of the BSW program. As field director, Barbara focused on engagement within communities of color in Chicago, and made it a priority to cultivate field sites where students could have opportunities for learning the skills and knowledge needed for organization and community macro practice.
Barbara’s commitment to the mission of Jane Addams, and to ensuring that students truly understood the importance of social work and their role as social work students, is legendary. Upon her retirement there were numerous accolades, with the following two comments capturing them all. “Barbara is amazing! She stands out in my memory as such a wonderful source of support and insight” and “Barbara is a compassionate, strong, and bold leader—inspiring my own career into field education! The ripple effect she has had on generations of social workers and the impact on social justice is immeasurable.” Barbara has left large shoes to fill and a huge hole in our hearts. Our loss is a gain for the communities and projects to which she will now have more time to devote herself. Congratulations Barbara! We wish you well, and you will truly be missed!
From 1996 until his retirement in 2020, Dr. William “Bill” Fisher served as a member of the faculty of Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. He held leadership roles as the assistant dean of field education and as chair of the Department of Graduate Social Work. As the assistant dean for field education, he is known by his faculty and community colleagues for his excellence in teaching, advising, and educational administration. Most significant has been his contribution to the Springfield College Field Education Department, where he successfully led a busy program, managing field placements for over 250 MSW students and developing approximately 500 field agency partnerships, while also advising students and teaching the yearly seminar in field instruction.
Over the past 40 years, Trudy Zimmerman has offered her educational and administrative knowledge to Boston University’s School of Social Work. From the start of her career at Boston University in 1980, Trudy made her mark in the School of Social Work. She was known by colleagues as someone with “exquisitely good judgement” who shared her wisdom and kindness to all. Trudy was viewed as an “invaluable source of help” and a “beacon of light” for many students. Her devotion to social work was so palpable that one colleague shared, “Trudy’s insights, experiences, and commitment to the signature pedagogy of social work education is an extraordinary strength and great light in BUSSW.”
Ronnie Glassman was presented her award by members of the NANFED Board of Directors Pictured from left to right: Angela Savage, Michele Sienkiewicz, Ronnie Glassman, Theresia Johnson-Ratliff, Julie Kates, Froylana Heredia-Miller, and Kimberly Gibson
Dr. Ronnie Glassman was honored with the Dean Schneck Memorial Award for Distinction in Social Work Field Education at NANFED’s annual reception at the 2019 CSWE APM in Denver. At the presentation of the award, Dr. Glassman was acknowledged as, “one of the early leaders of field education as we know it today; an advocate, organizer, and role model for hundreds of field directors over her long career.”
[Editor’s Note: Riva Zeff, MSW is retiring after 50 years in foster care, adoptions, and social work field education. To celebrate her contributions during 11 years (3 as co-chair) on the Baccalaureate Program Directors Field Education Committee, three current and former field directors recently interviewed her. Our Kudos for this issue are compiled excerpts from that interview. The full interview is available through StoryCorps at https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/reflections-of-a-social-work-field-educator.]
[Editor’s Note: Judith Perlstein, MSW served as the Assistant Director of Field Education at Boston University School of Social Work from 1993–2018. Prior to working at BUSSW, she was the director of training at the Somerville Mental Health Clinic for many years. She was a 1974 alumna of the Smith College School for Social Work. This Kudos tribute is written by Trudy Zimmerman, Assistant Dean of Field Education at Boston University School of Social Work. Trudy’s testimony is a reflection on the power of relationships and how they are sustained in the complexity of the work we do as field educators.]
After years of service to the Simmons University social work community, Kim Kelly Harriman announced her departure from the school in September 2018. Kim performed extraordinarily well in many roles over the past 12 years, including: Adjunct Instructor, Field Liaison, Associate Professor of Practice, Coordinator of the Academic Services Center, and most recently as the Director of Field Education and Student Affairs. Since 2014, Kim has been Editor-in-Chief of the Field Educator, and we are delighted that she will continue in that position as she transitions from academia to direct clinical practice at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Kim’s thoughtful editorials will continue to provide us opportunities to reflect on the current, complex issues happening within our communities, and their impact on all of us, particularly in the work of our students in the field.
[Editor’s Note: Theresa Kelly McPartlin was named winner of the 2017 Heart of Social Work Award at the Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Dallas, TX on October 21st, 2017. The award is presented annually by the North American Network of Field Educators and Directors in recognition of a field instructor that has made exemplary contributions to field education and the social work profession. What follows is taken from the remarks made by Carey Winkler, Director of BSW Field Education for the School of Social Work at St. Catherine University & the University of St. Thomas, at the award presentation and in her nomination submission in support of Ms. McPartlin as an excellent candidate for the award.]
[Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the Winter 2017 edition of the University of Michigan School of Social Work’s newsletter Field Notes and is reprinted here with permission.]
Betsy Voshel retired in January 2017 after a long and distinguished career which includes 22 years at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Battle Creek, MI, 4 years leading Field Education at Western Michigan University, and 13 years leading the University of Michigan School of Social Work (U-M SSW) Office of Field Instruction (OFI). Betsy recently reflected on her career and her contributions to this school. Read more »
Field education trailblazer Carolyn du Bois retired from her role as Director of Field Work at Smith College School for Social Work (SCSSW) this past January. Carolyn’s tenure at SCSSW lasted over 30 years, most of which was spent as the Director. She was indeed one of the longest serving Field Directors in New England, a leader in NECON, and was known for her tenacious belief in the centrality of field education in professional clinical social work training. Over the span of three decades, Carolyn expanded Smith’s national field program and oversaw many significant changes in response to a growing program, changing times, and feedback. She trained and supervised a cadre of faculty field advisors and worked diligently with agency directors of training and supervisors to create high quality internships so students would receive outstanding professional training that reflected the needs of clients across the country. Carolyn was instrumental in creating the very successful Supervision Certificate Program due to her commitment to supervision training and concern that social work graduates were not getting sufficient clinical supervision post-graduation. Read more »
[Carol Heinisch was named winner of the 2015 Heart of Social Work Award at the Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Denver, CO on October 17, 2015. The award is presented annually by the North American Network of Field Educators and Directors in recognition of an agency-based field instructor that has made exemplary contributions to field education and the social work profession. What follows is taken from the nomination submitted by Kathryn Ross, Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, in support of Carol Heinisch as an excellent candidate for the award. – Editor’s Note]
Editor’s Note: In July 2015 Jo Ann McFall completed her term as Chair of the Council on Social Work Education’s Council on Field Education and simultaneously retired from 23 years at the School of Social Work at Michigan State University. Jo Ann is the 2015 recipient of NANFED’s Dean Schneck Memorial Award for Distinction in Social Work Field Education. Field Educator invited Lisa Richardson to pay tribute to Jo Ann’s contributions as a leader in field education.
I still remember the first time I was in a meeting with Jo Ann McFall. It was in Philadelphia, at the 2008 Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Program Meeting, when I was just slightly over a year into my position as MSW Field Director. Like many social work field directors, I came from direct practice into the role. Probably also like many, I spent most of the first year discovering what I didn’t know about field education. The early morning meeting was for Consortium Chairs of the North American Network of Field Educators and Directors (NANFED). Like so many other occasions in that first year, it was accelerating my sense of what I did not know. But I was struck by Jo Ann’s contributions: insightful, direct, pragmatic, and credible. I was relieved to identify someone who I could reach out to as a mentor.
This speech was delivered by Eileen McKee, Assistant Dean Field Education, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto at the 2014 CSWE APM in Tampa, Florida. In it, Ms. McKee honors Illana Perlman, MSW, field instructor, director of education and trauma social worker at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto. Ms. Perlman is the recipient of NANFED’S 2014 Heart of Social Work Award. – Editor’s Note
As the signature pedagogy of social work education, the Heart of Social Work Award is a meaningful way to recognize, not just the passion and experience that social workers share with their students, but also those field instructors who go beyond, who exemplify a theoretical basis and structure to their teaching, and who are capable of articulating their strategies while also meaningfully advocating for field education. The Heart of Social Work Award is an excellent forum to recognize these qualities, and I am delighted to speak about the 2014 recipient, Illana Perlman.
Fierce. Compassionate. Inspiring. Welcoming. Artful. Imaginative. Encouraging. Supportive. Joyful. A true visionary with the scholarship and sensitivity to back it up.
These are just a few of the words used to describe Emeline Homonoff, or Emmie as she is affectionately known, by her students, colleagues, and counterparts in field education throughout the country and beyond.
This speech was delivered by Deborah Winters of the University of Southern California, at the 2013 CSWE Annual Program Meeting in Dallas, Texas. In it, Ms. Winters honors her colleague, Nancy Jefferson Mance, recipient of NANFED’s 2013 Heart of Social Work Award. –Editor’s Note
The Heart of Social Work Award, presented annually by the North American Network of Field Educators and Directors, is the ultimate award that can be given to a field instructor for excellence in field education. There is no one more deserving of this award than Michael Herskovitz. Mike, as he is affectionately called, is a dedicated educator who has committed a good portion of his professional career to educating future social workers, serving as a field instructor for over 30 years for Adelphi University social work students.
At the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW), University of Toronto, we have had the good fortune to witness breakthroughs — innovations that occur when experience combines with passion. It has been my pleasure to work with a field instructor who demonstrates this combination. Illana Perlman holds the critical role of Educational Coordinator at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, a bustling teaching hospital in Toronto. Illana collaborated with FIFSW in developing a rotational practicum model, and has made impressive contributions to field education scholarship.
George Baboila is the recipient of the 2011 “Heart of Social Work Award” from the North American Network of Field Educators and Directors (NANFED) for excellence in field instruction. Mr. Baboila is one of three co-directors at the Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services (IPC). He received the award due to his contribution to inter-professional supervision, his teaching at St. Catherine University and the University of St. Thomas School of Social Work, his leadership in the social work community and, above all, his ability to supervise students with complex needs.
