Social Work
Profoundly impact the lives of others with an affordable, UT-caliber Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from UT Tyler. We offer the only public university BSW program within 50 miles of Tyler. Our strong partnerships with the East Texas community ensure your professional and personal growth.
Meet a Professor
Ericka Robinson-Freeman, LCSW
Associate Professor in Practice
UT System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award Recipient
Robinson-Freeman is a licensed clinical social worker who holds experience in child welfare, healthcare social work with children and families, mental health and hospice care. She received a UT System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award for her dedication to undergraduate student success.
Convenient Learning Opportunities
We deliver our program in both face-to-face and online formats for your convenience. You will learn such social work foundations as promoting human well-being and applying preventative and intervention methods to social problems at individual, group and community levels.
Meet a Professor
Rich Kenney, MSSW
Professor of Practice in Social Work
Program Director
Richard H. Kenney Jr. brings with him nearly three decades of direct experience in the special education, healthcare, hospice, homelessness and corrections arenas. In addition to contributing commentaries to National Public Radio, he also has written several articles for “The New Social Worker,” “Social Work Today” and “Exceptional Parent.”
The projected need for social workers in Texas is on the rise. Because of its rural nature, aging population and mental health and economic challenges, East Texas has a unique need for social workers, according to a recent Texas Comptroller’s report.
Tell Me More
Accreditation Process
- The University of Texas at Tyler is currently in Pre-Candidacy for Accreditation by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation.
- Pre-Candidacy for a baccalaureate or master’s social work program by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation indicates that it has submitted an application to be reviewed for Candidacy and had its Benchmark I approved in draft form to move forward with Candidacy review within one year. A program that has attained Pre-Candidacy has not yet been reviewed by the Commission on Accreditation or been verified to be in compliance with the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards.
- Students who enter programs in Pre-Candidacy that attain Candidacy in the academic year in which they begin their program of study will be retroactively recognized as having graduated from a CSWE accredited program once the program attains Initial Accreditation. The Candidacy process is typically a three-year process and there is no guarantee that a program in Pre-Candidacy will eventually attain Candidacy or Initial Accreditation.
- Candidacy by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation applies to all locations and delivery methods of an accredited program. Accreditation provides reasonable assurance about the quality of the program and the competence of students graduating from the program.