University of Memphis Students Give Back

University of Memphis students are giving back to the community through the social work program.  53,000 hours were donated back to the community in the 2012-2013 school year.  Students are responsible for more than half of those hours.  This amount of hours translates to about 1 million dollars in volunteer time.

University of Memphis students are giving back to the community in a big way. Recently, the Department of Social Work teamed with agencies in the Memphis area to place graduate and undergraduate students in social work settings where they can get on-the-job experiences.

By the end of the 2012-13 academic year, students will have donated almost 53,000 hours to the community. The graduate students are responsible for about 31,600 of these hours and the undergraduate students accumulated about 21,400 hours. That amount of time translates to almost $1 million of volunteered time.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to experience the clinical side of social work at Daybreak," said Rachel Duerr, a graduate student placed at Daybreak Treatment Center. "It is such a welcoming environment in which to learn and provides challenging experiences with many opportunities for professional growth and development. I am confident that when I leave my placement at Daybreak I will be prepared to step into a permanent position as a social worker.”

Ashley Higginbottom is an undergraduate student placed with the Department of Children’s Services. At her placement, she worked with the Child Protection Investigation Team, which is responsible for investigating allegations of severe physical and sexual abuse and ensuring the children are safe."I am gaining an abundance of knowledge with my placement at the Department of Children's Services," Higginbottom said. "I am confident that what I am learning now will be beneficial in the future."

The Bachelor of Arts Social Work Program places 12 student interns at the Department of Children’s Services each year. The Department of Social Work also offers internships with Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, St. Jude, the Med and other community hospitals welcoming students who are in pursuit of a career in medical social work. Synergy Treatment Centers, Friends for Life, the UT Boling Center, the VA Hospital Memphis, Compass Intervention Center, AGAPE and the Exchange Club are among many other agencies that also accept students from the Department. For more information about the Department of Social Work, visit http://www.memphis.edu/socialwork. 

For more information see the University of Memphis.