SU Social Work major displaced in Falk College decision
SU Social Work major displaced in Falk College decision
Falk’s decision to move its human dynamics programs exacerbates student sentiments of invisibility and stigma.
Emma Canning vividly remembers receiving a lengthy email from Falk College on April 15, detailing “a moment of historic transformation in Falk College.” The email explained the college’s decision to “reimagine” the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics as the new David B. Falk College of Sport, “further establishing Syracuse University as a leading institution for sport education and research.”
While the hope is to bolster Falk’s accredited sports-based programs, such as exercise science and sports analytics, the decision displaces a large number of students in the humanities fields who call Falk their home college. These programs include human development and family science, marriage and family therapy, public health, and social work.
Canning is a senior studying social work who found her major homeless while studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. She asked herself questions like: Where would my major now live? How could Syracuse have forgotten about the humanities fields?
Londyn Grieve, a fellow social work senior, found out about Falk’s decision from Canning in their tight-knit social work group chat. She wasn’t surprised.
“It felt like here we go again, let’s displace the humanities and the things that people actually need,” Grieve said.
Syracuse University’s social work program offers an accredited Bachelor’s in Social Work (BSW) with advanced standing. This means students can complete five years of education in four years and work towards their Master’s in Social Work (MSW), which they can complete in one year.
Canning and Grieve have not received any updates since Falk announced their decision. The email states that Syracuse University will use the change to “invest in a strategic reimagination of human dynamics academic programs with the goal of positioning them for future success and impact.”
This entails creating a “Human Dynamics Task Force,” which will be made up of academic leaders, department chairs, program directors, faculty, alumni, and community partners. The Task Force will determine the future plans for the social work program and other humanities programs that will no longer reside in David B. Falk College of Sport.
Former Vice Chancellor, Provost, and Chief Academic Officer Gretchen Ritter, now Vice President for Civic Engagement and Education, writes in the email, “These programs have a deep history at Syracuse University and have had a profound impact on the City of Syracuse, Central New York, and communities around the globe. The faculty who teach and research in these disciplines will have the opportunity to review, reimagine, and shape the future of the programs with the full support of the University.”
Tracey Masarra Marchese, a professor of practice in SU’s social work program, was one of several faculty members in the humanities programs who had no prior knowledge of the decision. She describes receiving an email about a mandatory faculty meeting, where the news was shared just before the email went out to students.
“Many of us, myself included, had no idea that it was coming,” Marchese said. “To say that all of my colleagues were happy about it would be untrue.”
Marchese is currently in her first term as a Syracuse University Senator. The Syracuse University Senate is made up of faculty members who vote on administration decisions. Often, when decisions receive pushback, the administration takes a pause and a strong look at the situation. But Falk’s decision to displace the humanities was never brought to a vote.
“My understanding is that any changes are supposed to go through the vote of the senate, but none of that happened,” Marchese said. “It was more of, here’s a decision that has been made.”
This decision was similarly jarring for students in the social work major and other humanities fields. According to Grieve and Canning, underlying Falk’s restructuring is a deeper stigma surrounding social work.
“The stigma is mainly financial from my perspective,” Grieve said. “When I tell people I’m a social worker, it’s always held up with the response of ‘Oh so you’re going to be broke.’ I’m going to be a licensed therapist, so why should I need to be explaining myself?”
Canning originally came to Syracuse University as a psychology major, but when she met Grieve and learned of the social work program, she switched.
Grieve said that one of her reasons for pursuing social work at SU rather than psychology was how financially accessible it is because of the advanced standing program. Grieve is disappointed that so many don’t know this path exists.
“It’s such a small program and it’s so under the blanket. I think it deserves more because it’s a great program and I have really gotten so much out of it,” Grieve said.
Both Canning and Grieve share a fondness and protectiveness for SU’s social work program, which is largely due to the network they have built since their freshman year and the faculty’s love and care for their students.
“Our class sizes are smaller, so as professors we want to get to know our students,” Marchese said. “I think I speak for any of our faculty when I say that we care about the wellbeing of our students, we want them to be successful.”
The relationships, trust, and support built within the social work program have made students like Canning and Grieve feel valued. However, displacing the major has reversed these feelings.
“Being a social work major and already being overlooked is hard, but being in Falk gives you more prestige and importance under your name, which you don’t really get in the social work field or any humanities field for that matter,” Canning said. “It heightens the feeling of being undervalued in a place where you already feel undervalued.”
Inevitably, Canning and Grieve are disappointed by the decision, and worried for the future of their major. On a larger scale, Canning emphasizes the importance of valuing workers in the humanities field.
“There’s a big campaign right now on ‘mental health matters’ and people are so hyper-focused on self-care and all of these things that improve your mental health, but what about the people who have worked for that campaign to happen and the people that have advocated for this mental health awareness for decades?” Canning said.
Marchese urged the University to put more faith into the social work program and the rest of the humanities, highlighting that the social work program would not be reaching nearly 70 years at SU if it were not viable and valued.
“I wish that social work was talked about more,” Grieve said. “This isn’t social work’s fault, and I hope that for the sake of the future classes and generations that come that Falk is not just pushing us aside.”