About CSWE

Founded in 1952, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is the national association representing social work education in the United States. Its members include over 800 accredited baccalaureate and master’s degree social work programs, as well as individual social work educators, practitioners, and agencies dedicated to advancing quality social work education. Through its many initiatives, activities, and centers, CSWE supports quality social work education and provides opportunities for leadership and professional development, so that social workers play a central role in achieving the profession’s goals of social and economic justice. CSWE’s Commission on Accreditation is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the sole accrediting agency for social work education in the United States and its territories.

Mission

CSWE is a national association of social work education programs and individuals that ensures and enhances the quality of social work education for a professional practice that promotes individual, family, and community well-being, and social and economic justice. CSWE pursues this mission in higher education by setting and maintaining national accreditation standards for baccalaureate and master’s degree programs in social work, by promoting faculty development, by engaging in interprofessional and international collaborations, and by advocating for social work education and research.


Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy Statement 

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is committed to valuing and reflecting the diverse  voices, perspectives, and experiences of our members throughout the organization and its  programming. We seek to include diverse voices and  perspectives, and to keep diversity, equity, and inclusion in focus as we hire staff, appoint volunteers,  elect individuals, and select vendors. This includes, but is not limited to, culture, race, religion, age,  sex/gender, sexual orientation, disability, and country of origin of people. As our understanding  deepens about the intersectional, complex, and nuanced nature of diversity, we will continue to be responsive, innovative, and forward-thinking.

How to submit 

We will follow-up with you about your submission by email. Please be sure to safelist notification emails from Submittable and check the email you used to sign up for your Submittable Account regularly. Check out the Submitter Resource Center or reach out to Submittable's Customer Support team with any technical questions here.

The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education truly values your participation in our grant program. Our aim is to support our grantees in enriching international social work education, and we value the critical information and deliverables you provide through your reports. 

The purpose of this mid-term progress report is to highlight the status of your grant project and articulate your next steps. Please complete this form within 10-14 business days.

Once this report is completed, reviewed, and approved the grantee will receive the second installment of the grant funding.
 

See below for some helpful tips:

We will follow-up with you about your submission by email. Please be sure to whitelist notification emails from Submittable and check the email you used to sign up for your Submittable Account regularly. Check out the Submitter Resource Center or reach out to Submittable's Customer Support team with any technical questions here.

Join the CSWE Center for Diversity, Social & Economic Justice in one of two ways:

Share Social Media Content

Have you viewed content that has moved you? Does it address a particular competency, either broadly or very specifically? Please share the content and source(s) of that content with us so we can amplify it in hopes that it will be of equal or more benefit to others.

Participate in a Zoom interview/conversation

Participate in a Zoom interview to address how diversity is showing up in your life. We will use clips from those interviews as microcontent to share on CSWE social media.


The CSWE Center for Diversity, Social & Economic Justice website will showcase the best multimedia and social media content to facilitate a deep appreciation of diversity within social work education, practice and research. Along with written resources, there is increasing reliance by students, educators, researchers and practitioners on multimedia content to both understand and convey various elements of social work education, research and policy. 

Your voice matters! Your views matter! We are interested in hearing from you directly – this will be original content. The goal is to share original content widely as well as amplifying vetted publicly available content that promotes diversity, especially in the context of the nine competencies. Original content will include microcontent taken from 10-15min Zoom conversations. In addition, we may plan Instagram (IG) live sessions during the APM or other CSWE convened gatherings, with short conversations about various aspects of diversity. These conversations could center around specific themes, for example an upcoming APM, on specific themed months like Black history (February), social work (March), mental health awareness, AAPI, and women’s history (May), pride (June), Hispanic heritage (Sep-Oct), domestic violence and disability awareness (October), and Native American heritage month (Nov), for example.  

Through CSWE’s social media accounts, including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, Center content will reach a diverse audience. Each post will utilize hashtags related to the specific content in addition to #CSWEDiversityCenter, #socialwork and #oneCSWE. In addition  to the original content we will create, have you viewed content that has moved you? Does it address a particular competency, either broadly or very specifically? 

Please share the source(s) of that content with us so we can amplify it in hopes that it will be of equal or more benefit to others. 


The CSWE Center for Diversity, Social & Economic Justice website will be dynamic, a go to destination for lively, respectful, stimulating dialog about what diversity means to students, educators, researchers and practitioners. 

Your voice matters. Your journey matters. This is your opportunity to submit short blog entries, ranging between 400-500 words. 

The aim of this exercise in meaning making and meaning sharing is to elicit entries addressing how diversity can be manifested in each of the nine competencies. Which vantage point reflects your journey? Are you able to speak to intersectionality, addressing either identity or experience or both, with regards to oppression or privilege? Select one or more competencies. Address the various aspects of diversity as stated in the 2022 EPAS (p. 9 and p. 16), including but not limited to age, caste, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, generational status, immigration status, legal status, marital status, political ideology, race, nationality, religion/spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status. Blog entries could include personal reflections, research and practice notes, and lessons learned in the classroom. 

Remember, this is your journey and we hope it inspires others to broaden their own understanding of experiences with privilege, power, alienation, oppression, marginalization, poverty, and outright discrimination. 


One of the challenges associated with trying to convey the letter and spirit of each Educational Policy and Accreditation Standard (EPAS) social work competency is the lack of readily available literature, particularly as it relates to the various forms of diversity. 

Here is your opportunity to contribute towards a section on the Center website that allows for the showcasing of existing peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, books, research reports, and other written resources. 

Examine the nine competencies – pick one or two or all and use the online form to share a resource, along with just a couple sentences to justify the inclusion of that source. What specific benefit did you derive from that resource that may help others to appreciate the depth and breadth of that competency? How does that resource address knowledge, skills and values particularly with regards to promoting diversity and mastering that competency? 

The goal is to provide students, educators, researchers and practitioners access to the state-of-the-art literature to vivify each of the competencies.    


 

Thank you for your interest in serving as a CSWE Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) volunteer. Please review the position descriptions below before filling out the application form. We welcome you to apply for multiple roles based on your availability to fulfill the outlined responsibilities.
 

CSWE MFP adheres to the principle that diversity of persons, perspectives, and program representation is a strength in guidance of the program. The volunteers shall reflect the diversity of the profession and of those we educate and serve. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at mfp@cswe.org.

Thank you for your interest in creating a curricular guide as part of the EPAS Curricular Guide Resource Series. Curricular Guides are used as an educational resource in various settings, particularly in the classroom. Please read the following guidelines to understand the curricular guide development process. 

Curricular Guides are created jointly with Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) staff and task force participants, led by two co-chairs and nine competency chairs. Task force members can be selected by CSWE staff and co-chairs or by an open call. Task force participants may include CSWE members, social work professionals, and/or interdisciplinary professionals. 

Each guide takes approximately one year to create with copyediting, printing, and promotion of the guide completed by CSWE. Curricular Guides are grant-funded, costing approximately $45,000- $50,000 to produce. CSWE recommends proposers identify or already have a funding source; CSWE may supplement additional grant sources on a case-by-case basis. 

Use this form to propose a curricular guide. CSWE administration will review the form and contact you within 2 weeks of review. 

 Submit your ADEI curricular resources! 

CSWE invites members to submit curricular resources related to anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI).  These crowd-sourced submissions will be housed on the CSWE website and available to members as a repository of resources, such as ADEI-related readings, activities, projects, or case studies. 


The 2022 Educational Policies and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) affirms and strengthens the enduring commitment of social work education to principles of ADEI. 

CSWE continues to support social work programs in developing a workforce of social workers who are knowledgeable about the ways positionality, power, privilege, and difference affect practice areas, and how social workers challenge systems of oppression that affect diverse populations. 

Please join CSWE in continuing the efforts of supporting programs in ADEI best practices and efforts!



Doctoral Student Policy Fellowship Application 2025-2026

Application Deadline: Monday, January 20, 2025

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is excited to announce that applications for the 2025 – 2026 CSWE Doctoral Student Policy Fellowship (DSPF) Program are now open! The goal of the two-year DSPF program is to develop a cohort of doctoral level social workers who influence social policy through the federal legislative policy process.

This two-year fellowship will offer opportunities for experiential learning through placements in congressional offices, with CSWE government relations at Lewis-Burke, or other federal agencies and advocacy groups. This virtual opportunity does not require the fellow to relocate to the Washington, DC area, unless by choice and self-funded, to participate in a DC-based fellowship.

 All placements will center on connecting fellows’ research interests to policy and informing policymakers on how the social work profession can play a key role in the shaping of federal policy. Fellows will work and learn alongside legislative and advocacy professionals on issues of social work and social justice and learn to link their academic research with legislative policies and developing easy to read advocacy materials and policy briefs. Ultimately, this fellowship seeks to cultivate a cadre of social work researchers who can both advocate for investments in social work and adjacent social policy and disseminate this information among their communities of practice.
 

Program Purpose

The objectives of the CSWE Social Work Doctoral Student Policy Forum & Fellowship are to:

  1. Create an opportunity for doctoral students to make a stronger link between their research and policy;
  2. Expose social work researchers to the ways their research experience and backgrounds are used by practitioners in government to influence and inform policy;
  3. Promote the value and significance of investments in social work and social work research on Capitol Hill; and
  4. Cultivate a cadre of social work researchers who can both advocate for investments in social work education and research, as well as disseminate this information amongst their communities of practice. 

 
Guidelines

Eligibility
  Applicants must be currently enrolled doctoral students at a U.S. domestic higher education institution. They must be at least in their 2nd year of coursework and in the pre-dissertation phase of their program during the 2024–25 academic year.

Support for Participation
  Up to 20 individuals will be selected to participate in this fellowship. Fellows will receive a $2,000 stipend in year 1 and a $2,000 travel award in year 2.

Application Process
  There will be a two-part application process. Applicants will apply through an online portal housed in CSWE’s Submittable site (linked above). Applicants will do the following: 

  1. Complete all the questions and a personal statement in the online application; and
  2. Identify two individuals to submit letters of recommendation on behalf of the candidate. The first recommendation must be from the applicant’s doctoral program director. The second recommendation should be from someone who knows the applicant in a professional or academic setting.  

Successful first round applicants will be selected to undergo an interview process with representatives of each partnering organization, from which the Social Work Policy Fellows will be selected. Applications will be assessed by the applicant’s academic achievements, the strength of the personal statement and letters of recommendation, representation reflecting the breadth and diversity of the social work profession, and the demonstration of a commitment to the inclusion of policy considerations in their dissertation research.

Program Timeline Overview
 To review the fellowship timeline and required events, please view the CSWE DSPF website here.

For any questions or concerns regarding the application process, please contact Education@cswe.org

Council on Social Work Education