Overview of the Collection
Historical Note:
Access Terms
Administrative Information
Scope and Contents
Overview of the Collection
Collection Title: School of Social Work Records
Dates: 1964-
Identification: MS-0303
Creator:
School of Social Work
Physical Description: 5.00 linear ft
Language of Materials:
English
Repository:
Special Collections & University Archives
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA, 92182-8050
URL: http://library.sdsu.edu/scua
Email: scref@rohan.sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-6791
Historical Note:
Founded in 1963, the San Diego State University School of Social Work was the first of its kind in what is now the 23 campus
Cal-State University system. The program emerged in response to a need for more professionally educated workers in the public
welfare sector, focusing mostly on diversity, civil rights, and education. Former and current faculty include leading authorities
in a broad range of disciplines and focus areas related to substance abuse, domestic violence, child welfare, mental health
and aging, HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, and immigration.
In 1960, Governor Jerry Brown hired Dr. Ernest Witte to assess the need for additional social work programs in the state.
By 1963, Witte was appointed the first dean of the School of Social Work at San Diego State College.
In order to achieve “University” status, the San Diego College administration decided to create a new entity called the College
of Social and Health Services. The college housed a vast array of clinical programs including the School of Nursing, Department
of Speech Pathology, the School of Social Work, the Department of Health Services, a Center on Aging, and a School of Public
Health. The new programs worked closely with the School of Social Work in curriculum development.
By the mid-1980’s the Conference of International Programs approached the School of Social Work and invited it to join other
Schools of Social work in the county in hosting international social workers. It was during this time that the School received
several child welfare teaching grants from the Children’s Bureau of the Department of Health to establish teaching and training
programs promoting child wellness. In 1987, the School created a Center on Substance Abuse and was later renamed the Center
for Alcohol and Other Drugs Studies and Services.
Collaboration among the Schools of Social Work, University of California San Diego, California Western School of Law, and
the Center for Child Protection at Children’s Hospital and Health Center established a Child Abuse Interdisciplinary Training
(CAIT) project in 1988. The purpose of the program was to develop core curriculum and deliver training to social workers employed
in public child welfare agencies throughout the state.
Between 1992 and 1995 the School was engaged in another inter-departmental collaborative effort at SDSU entitled the Urban
Community Service Program. The program was funded by the U.S. Department of Education, and was intended to make university
resources and talents available to the surrounding urban community.
In 2003 the School received an award from the California Social Work Education Center for the development of a baccalaureate-level
child welfare stipend training program.
After a prolonged separation from the School, the Center on Aging once again became part of the School of Social work in the
fall of 2010. The center, along with the Department of Gerontology, was transferred to the School.
The school is currently in the process of negotiations with the University of California, San Diego’s School of Family medicine
to offer a joint Ph.D. program in International Health with an emphasis on alcohol and other drug studies.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
Corporate Name:
San Diego State University. School of Social Work -- Archives
San Diego State University. School of Social Work -- History -- Sources
Genre/Form of Material:
Institutional Archives
Publications
Title:
Social work education -- California -- San Diego -- History -- Sources
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Use:
The copyright interests in some of these materials have been transferred to or belong to San Diego State University. The nature
of historical archival and manuscript collections means that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine.
Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. Requests for permission to publish
must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. Permissions
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available
for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including
but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Conditions Governing Access:
This collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation:
Identification of item, folder title, box number, School of Social Work Records, Special Collections and University Archives,
Library and Information Access, San Diego State University.
Scope and Contents
The
School of Social Work Records documents the school’s foundation, history, and influence in San Diego. The collection is composed of correspondence, newsletters,
program fliers, student handbooks, faculty resumes, memoranda, and budgetary reports. Highlights include documentation for
graduate study groups pertaining to LGBT students, accreditation reports, and public relations studies concerning Chicano
students in the social work program. The bulk of the material dates from the School of Social Work’s foundation in 1963 to
the early 1990’s.