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Dear BPD Members,
I would like to take this opportunity and thank all of you for your assistance during my tenure
as President of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors. Jack Sellers provided an excellent strategic plan as President.
The 1999/2001 Executive Board had the opportunity to carry out the vision of the plan. Several new innovative programs and
committees have, indeed, strengthened undergraduate Education and the organization of BPD. This would not have been possible
without a creative Executive Board as well as dedicated board members, committee chairs, committee members, and more importantly,
the BPD membership, itself.
During my tenure as President of BPD, the following committees were established: the
Anti Racism Committee, Educators and Friends of Lesbian Women and Gay Men, the International Committee, and the Gerontology
Committee. The Board reestablished the Advanced Standing Committee and worked together with NADD to establish an Advanced
Standing Committee. The goal of BPD and NADD is for the Advance Standing Committee to work together to assess and determine
outcomes for the BSW and MSW students.
BPD also made significant contributions to the EPAS (Educational Policy and
Accreditation Standards) for CSWE. Thanks to the membership and an EPAS Writing Committee, BPDer's addressed issues would
have affected several BSW programs, if EPAS one was implemented. BPD must now continue to collect data so the next round
of EPAS will have the empirical data to define outcomes and assist the creation of the next EPAS.
BPD hosted the
first International Conference in Ghana, W. Africa; thanks to Ester Langston for her leadership. BPD had the first Summer
Policy Fellow in Washington, D.C., thanks to Jack Sellers for his leadership. I would also like to thank Ann Summers as Conference
Chair and Bonnie Bedics as Program Chair for two fiscally successful BPD conferences that occurred during my tenure. BPD
continues to be a major stakeholder in social work education.
The newest committee of BPD, which I am honored to
serve as Chair is the Gerontology Committee. This year the John A. Hartford Foundation will announce numerous opportunities
for baccalaureate programs and faculty that relates to gerontological issues.
If you have not done so already,
please go to www.cswe.org/sage-sw/ and to www.gerorich.org. There are many opportunities related to gerontology that are
going to be discussed at the upcoming BPD Conference.
I look forward to greeting all of you as Past President of
BPD at the Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado on October 31 through November 4. If you have not done so already, please
register. Spencer Zeiger, the new BPD President, will announce his vision for the Association. I wish Spencer the best and
I look forward to working with BPD for years to come.
Mildred C. Joyner, Past President
Baccalaureate Social
Work Program Directors
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