Skip to main content

Dews, Godwin and Palmer receive faculty promotions

Denise Dews, MSW
Denise Dews, MSW

Denise Dews, MSW, clinical associate professor. Dews, who serves as assistant director of Field Education, joined the School’s faculty in 2007 as a clinical instructor, working primarily as a field faculty member in the areas of healthcare and aging. Prior to working at UNC, she served as director of Field Education at Appalachian State University. Dews started her social work career in public child welfare before transitioning to healthcare where she specialized in critical care and end-of-life decision making across the life span. In addition to her field education responsibilities at the School of Social Work, Dews has taught several courses and seminars and has been active on campus working with other departments to think about and plan inter-professional education events.

Melissa Godwin, MSW
Melissa Godwin, MSW

Melissa Godwin, MSW, clinical associate professor. Godwin has worked with the School’s Behavioral Health Springboard since 2007. She coordinates the statewide federally funded WorkFirst/Child Protective Services Substance Abuse Initiative, an Initiative of North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services. Since 2004, she has also worked with the state to provide women’s gender responsive substance abuse services, technical assistance and training. Her clinical work has included direct practice in community health centers with high risk pregnant women, women’s outpatient substance abuse treatment, and prevention services with adolescents and school based mental health.

M. Theresa Palmer
M. Theresa Palmer, MSW

Theresa Palmer, MSW, clinical associate professor. Palmer is the coordinator of Field Education for the School’s 3-year Winston-Salem MSW Program. She joined the School’s faculty as an adjunct instructor in 2007 and transitioned as a full-time faculty member in 2010. Palmer also works with the UNC-PrimeCare program and recruits new field placement sites, coordinates student matches with integrated care sites, and serves as advising field faculty for students accepted into the PrimeCare program in Western North Carolina.