The UNC School of Social Work is holding several information sessions and an open house this fall for prospective master's students. Each event includes an overview of the master's of social work (MSW) program, tips on admissions and financial aid, and a presentation by a faculty member.

Each year, the UNC School of Social Work presents the Distinguished Alumni Award as a way of honoring those who embody social work values and carry our mission of service into the field.

During the School's commencement ceremony in May, Bobby Boyd, Ella Craig, Michelle Hughes and Constance Renz were honored with awards.

The latest news reports and statistics are sobering: Last year alone, 128 U.S. Army soldiers committed suicide, the most since 1980 when the Army began tracking the numbers. Potentially more troubling — that January would set a record for the first month since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in which more troops died from suicides than were killed in combat.

Over the years, research has shown that Latino youth face numerous risk factors when integrating into American culture, including increased rates of alcohol and substance use and higher rates of dropping out of school.

But a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows adolescents who actively embrace their native culture — and whose parents become more involved in U.S. culture — stand a greater chance of avoiding these risks and developing healthier behaviors overall.

Charles Keith Springle was a “kind and gentle person, just the kind of person you want in a social worker,” and he was well prepared to assist soldiers who were mentally scarred by combat.

That’s how former School of Social Work colleagues and others remembered Springle after learning that the Navy commander and UNC-Chapel Hill graduate was among five people U.S. military officials say were shot and killed at a military clinic in Baghdad on May 11. Springle, a decorated officer, husband and father of two, was 52.