News Archive

Each year, the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work honors students who have made significant achievements in their academic careers and contributions to the community. We are proud to recognize the following students for their outstanding accomplishments.

Social Work Alumni Association Award

Recognizes great potential to contribute to the social work profession and the USC alumni community.

Dear members of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work community:

The University of Southern California annually recognizes 240 graduating students whose contributions have significantly enriched the quality of life at USC. These students surpass expectations through their leadership, volunteer work and community engagement. They all share a commitment to bettering their campus, the city of Los Angeles and the world.

Students are nominated by faculty members, and then each nomination is reviewed by at least three faculty and staff members who vote to award the 240 students university-wide.

Making health care more inclusive and accepting of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning patients means that seasoned providers and new clinical staff have opportunities to work together and bring barriers and solutions to the forefront.

At the beginning of February 2020, Jesiah Ahlemeier, MSW  ’16, began working in the ICU at M Health Fairview St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota as a case manager and discharge planner. Within a month, she was in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Life post-graduation can be intimidating, but it does not have to be. Here are 10 tips designed to help recent graduates navigate life after completing their MSW or MSN.

A host of emotions surround graduation. Pride, excitement and anticipation are as commonplace as anxiety, fear and uncertainty as graduates close one chapter and boldly step into a new one. For many, finding not just a job — but the right job — is a top priority.

In ordinary times, hospice social worker Andrea Nava is what people would call a “hugger.” The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work alumna maintains a warm closeness with her clients and their families, and those familial displays of affection are part of the regular day.

But during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hospice care agencies and nursing care facilities enforcing strict social distancing policies to minimize the risk of infection, Nava has had to adapt.

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) student Anthony Lista, RN, was just learning the ins and outs of his new job as director of population health for a large nursing home operator, Genesis Healthcare, when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Then everything changed, including his job duties. Lista answered the call to serve as a member of his employer’s infection prevention team. The position focuses on reducing the spread of the new coronavirus among a nationwide network of nursing homes.

MSW alumna of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, Megan Ford (name has been changed to protect anonymity), works the graveyard shift at a Los Angeles County hospital, five days a week. She has been a medical social worker for 17 years, and under more stress in the last six weeks than over her entire career.

In March 2020, Los Angeles Councilmember Gil Cedillo asked Jose Ruiz, MSW ’17, if he could upscale his community garden to provide 300 Emergency Grab-n-Go food bags each week to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Ruiz had just last year taken .16 acres of space in the Westlake neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles and created a farming community.