UNC School of Social Work

Our School is ranked #3 in the nation!

US News & World Report has released its graduate school rankings for 2019, and UNC School of Social Work is ranked third place in the nation! This is the highest ranking our School has received to date, according to Dean Gary Bowen, and it marks an increase from our previous fifth-place ranking.

Five U.S. schools tied for the third-place rank, with each receiving the same score as its peers -- we are ranked equally with University of Washington, University of Chicago, University of California-Berkley and Columbia.

We're really proud to earn this national recognition of excellence. Congratulations to our faculty, students, alumni, staff and partners on this acknowledgement of our achievements! You can find the list of all ranked schools, along with the methodology used to determine the rankings, at the US News & World Report website.

In The News

GSDI brings digital economy expert to UNC

Arun Sundararajan headshot Arun Sundararajan will discuss "The Sharing Economy, The Fourth Industrial Revolution and The Global Future of Work" on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, at the Nelson Mandela Auditorium, FedEx Global Education Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The lecture begins at 6:30 p.m., with a book signing and reception preceding the lecture at 5:45 p.m.

Sundararajan's presentation is part of the Michael Sherraden Lecture Series hosted by the Global Social Development Innovations (GSDI) research center within UNC School of Social Work.

School names visiting professor for Spring 2020

Visiting professor Couty Sabeh speaks behind microphone The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work will welcome Yekoutiel “Couty” Sabah, Ph.D., as a visiting professor for spring semester 2020. He will work directly with Gary Nelson (who directs the School’s Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab) and will serve as guest lecturer for several courses.

Sabah’s research expertise includes virtual communities of practice, knowledge management and organizational learning in human services programs, according to UNC School of Social Work Dean Gary Bowen.

Goode receives UNC Junior Faculty Development Award

Rachel Goode stands outside the Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building at UNC-Chapel Hill Rachel W. Goode, an assistant professor at UNC School of Social Work, has been chosen to receive a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Junior Faculty Development Award for 2020.

The prestigious award will help fund Goode’s research into obesity affecting persons who do not have consistent access to adequate and appropriate food to maintain good health and energy.

“Why is it that you can be food insecure and still struggle with obesity?” asks Goode. “How can we help people in this situation have better control over their health and their eating?”

MSW students launch initiative to strengthen NC's kinship care system

In North Carolina, of the nearly 8,300 children in foster care, 25% are in homes where kin (a relative or non-relative family member) have willingly agreed to care for them. However, of this percentage, less than 6%, are living in households where adults have been legally licensed as foster parents. For MSW students Angela Krider, Erin Adams, Alecia Mitiguy and Katie Pollard, the numbers highlight a serious concern, including a need to reform the state’s foster care system.