Apply Now for 2025

Summer 2025 Advanced Standing and Fall 2025 
Applications NOW OPEN for On-Campus MSW

USC University of Southern California

News Archive

2016

  • Marilyn Flynn has been reappointed dean of the USC School of Social Work for a new five-year term.

    Flynn, the 2U Endowed Chair in Educational Innovation and Social Work, has served as dean of the school since 1997, becoming just the second woman to hold this position in the school’s nearly 100-year history.

  • The Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families (CIR) has received funding to launch an indepth study assessing the needs of veterans in the Bay Area, particularly the military-to-civilian transition issues facing LGBT veterans.

    Thanks to support from the Wells Fargo Foundation and Deloitte LLP, the San Francisco Veterans Study will poll 1,000 veterans on such topics as transition challenges, employment, finances, housing, health and access to services.

  • A few weeks back I was at a drop-in center for homeless youth and I observed the following between a homeless youth and his dog.

    “Nina, sit.” Dog sat.

    “Nina, down.” She flattened to her belly.

    “Nina, crawl.” She scooted forward a few feet on her belly.

    “Nina, shake.” Nina popped up and shook Sam’s hand with her left paw.

    “Nina, other paw shake.” Right hand shake.

    “Good girl, Nina!!”

    I turned to my student Amanda who owns three dogs and said, “My dog could never do that.”

    “None of mine can,” was her emphatic reply.

  • Professor Emerita Barbara Solomon, DSW ’66, and her husband, Donald, recently welcomed distinguished guests to their home for an evening dedicated to the importance of diversity in social work.

  • Thirteen years ago, Nils de Mol van Otterloo never could have imagined that he’d have the title of “Fulbright scholar” on his resume, let alone a career in social work. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, he had just moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music production and recording. Then something unexpected happened. He had a stroke at the age of 27.

  • As policymakers and the medical community seek to improve collaborative care to the most vulnerable populations, USC Telehealth at the USC School of Social Work announces the launch of a new and innovative pilot program with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LADMH) to provide online mental health services to at-risk youth ages 16-21.

  • The USC School of Social Work is now accepting applications for its new online Doctor of Social Work (DSW) degree, which prepares scholar-practitioners to create innovative solutions for real-world problems. The DSW@USC offers students the unique opportunity to develop an actionable solution to one of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work, an initiative by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare to tackle the nation’s toughest social problems.

  • The USC School of Social Work will graduate 1,824 Master of Social Work students this Friday, including four who will also receive a Master of Business Administration, the largest number ever for this dual-degree option.

  • Each year, the USC School of Social Work, the university and other service-oriented organizations honor faculty and students who have made significant achievements in their academic careers and contributions to the USC and at-large communities. Many were honored at this year’s Dean’s Recognition Ceremony, which also recognized new and past student leadership, those on the Dean's List and Dean's Honorable Mentions.

    Student Awards and Recognition

  • For J. Scott Watt, his sister Sally Oxley and his daughter Nadine Watt, building homes has been their family’s business since 1947. To understand their devotion to resolving the homelessness crisis, simply look to the man who founded that business – Scott Watt and Oxley’s late father, Raymond Watt. 

    “My father was always philanthropic,” Scott Watt said. “It was his philosophy to give back.”