UMD News Releases

The UMD Department of Social Work Graduate School Fellow Lisa Humphrey has been awarded a $3,000 Consuelo W. Gosnell Memorial Scholarship by the National Association of Social Workers.

The scholarship recognizes Master's degree candidates in social work "who have demonstrated a commitment to working with, or who have a special affinity with American Indian/Alaska Native and Hispanic/Latino populations, or in public and voluntary nonprofit agency settings." The award is one of up to ten scholarships granted by the National Association of Social Work for the 2007-2008 academic year.

The scholarship is designed to honor Consuelo Gosnell, a Mexican born social worker, who "worked diligently to ameliorate conditions for critically under served American Indians and Latinos."

The primary mission of the UMD Department of Social Work is to promote the well being of all individuals, families, groups, and communities and to advance social justice through teaching, research, and service.

The Department provides student-centered graduate social work education to prepare advanced practitioners for northern Minnesota and beyond. Priorities of the Department include preparing culturally competent advanced generalist social workers, emphasizing services with American Indians and their communities, services to children and families, and social work education for practice in rural settings.

In October 2004, the UMD Department of Social Work was one of only five universities in the country to receive a $400,000 grant from the United States Children's Bureau to enhance the preparation of Masters of Social Work (MSW) students for employment in critical placements such as tribal and/or public sector child welfare settings.