National conference presentation highlights KU DSW program

A presentation at a national conference highlighted the KU DSW program’s focus on leadership and translating research into practice.

Associate Professor Edward Scanlon was a featured presenter in the panel session, “DSW Programs in Action: Specializations Driving Impact in Social Work,” during the 2025 annual Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE) conference.

Scanlon is the faculty program director for the online Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare. He co-presented with directors of six other DSW programs from across the country.

“Many of the programs have some focus on pedagogy or leadership, just as we do,” Scanlon said. “But we were somewhat unique in that we simultaneously focus on teaching our students how to take scientific evidence from research on social work and turn that into practice approaches in their agencies and communities.”

Courses in KU’s DSW program offer students the chance to learn how to analyze research and identify best practices and develop their own applications of knowledge in usable forms for the communities with which they work. The KU DSW prepares students for a wide variety of social work areas as leaders, instructors, curriculum designers, and developers of innovative social work interventions.

“We build on what is called implementation science to help our graduates become leaders in community and agency settings as idea disseminators—people who translate research into practice,” Scanlon said.

This year’s GADE conference took place at Howard University in Washington, D.C. from April 2 to April 4.

"The GADE conference was really an amazing experience for me—it was a social work conference I had never attended before, so I did not know what to expect,” Scanlon said.

Topics discussed during Scanlon’s GADE conference panel discussion included varying program focuses, gaps in what social work professions cover, and preparation for leading in the real world.

“I learned a great deal about what other DSW programs are doing and how they are facing similar opportunities and challenges,” Scanlon said. “The speakers were great, and I understand a bit more about why an organization devoted solely to doctoral education in the social work is so important.”

The KU School of Social Welfare DSW program’s inaugural class started online in fall 2023, and by the fall of 2024 had 40 students enrolled. The DSW is a fully online doctoral degree program that specializes in developing leadership and management skills. The first KU DSW graduates are scheduled to complete their capstone projects and earn their doctoral degrees in summer 2025. Read profiles of current KU DSW students.