Lisa Street named associate program director for the Doctor of Social Work program
The University of Kansas School of Social Welfare has named Lisa Street as associate program director for the Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program. Street began the role during the spring 2026 semester.
Street, a social work educator for 18 years, teaches in the DSW program. Street leads the development of the school’s approach to DSW capstone projects. That process includes articulating educational philosophy, establishing goals for the culminating DSW learning product, and outlining the school’s method of scholarly inquiry for DSW capstone projects.
“I believe the KU approach to preparing DSW scholarly practitioners who solve problems of social work practice is a unique and powerful contribution to the profession,” said Street, an associate professor of practice.
“It’s a gratifying and intellectually stimulating experience to be a guide and encourager as DSWs conceptualize and implement their capstone projects and lead the social work profession with innovative, data-informed practices,” Street said.
The fully online DSW program is designed to produce expert social work practitioner-scholars who go on to teach, supervise and mentor.
KU DSW courses help experienced social workers develop leadership and administrative skills. DSW students learn to translate social work research to help agencies understand and implement best practices found in the social work and social science literature.
Along with her DSW program experience, Street has over a decade of social work practice experience in settings including medical social work, adoptions, juvenile justice, drug courts, and social work administration. She served in leadership positions as a Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work program coordinator at institutions in Missouri.
Street said she is proud to have chaired 15 capstone committees, working with practitioners as they address complex problems of practice through creative research-based and theory-based solutions.