Dorsa Sobhani, who came to Canada as a refugee, is currently a second-year social work diploma student at MacEwan University and plans to apply to the degree program when it is offered in the fall of 2016.
MacEwan University's new Bachelor of Social Work degree is unique in North America, says Kathaleen Quinn, chair and assistant professor of social work.
"We're looking at the particular issues we have in northern Alberta in a different way to create a program that uses sustainability in all its forms – economic, social and environmental – as an overarching theme closely linked with indigenous knowledge. That's what makes this so exciting."
Quinn says that in addition to providing graduates with the skills to help individuals, the degree will empower students to look for ways to create positive and systemic changes in society as a whole.
Graduates will be prepared to tackle many pressing social issues, including the growing gap between the rich and poor, accommodating the increasing numbers of new immigrants and refugees, and finding new ways to integrate indigenous knowledge in ways that can inform and sustain northern Alberta's large and growing indigenous population.
Strong ties to community agencies are integral to the program, especially later in the degree when students have the choice to specialize in areas such as social and environmental sustainability, health and mental health practice, urban indigenous issues, children and families, community practice and international social work.
Until now, people in Alberta who wanted to pursue a degree in social work had two choices: try to claim one of the limited seats at the University of Calgary or head to another province. This new degree program at Edmonton's MacEwan University will welcome its first cohort of students in the fall of 2016, with the first class of students graduating in spring 2017.
BY THE NUMBERS |
3.5% Alberta’s job vacancy rate, the highest of any province
3 Saskatchewan’s national rank for job vacancies
10 Number of economic regions in Western Canada that have the highest job vacancy rates in Canada
Source: Statistics Canada: Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, Q1 2015 |
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