Stories
Featured News from KU Social Welfare
Aurea Bailey, who will receive her MSW from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare in May, currently lives in St. Robert, Missouri. Her family had to move there abruptly when her husband was relocated, but the nature of the online MSW program through Jayhawk Global kept options open for Bailey.
KU in the News
Student Stories: KU Social Work
Carl Willey, a Master of Social Work student at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, was taught to treat others with kindness and to look out for people in need. He grew up in a small town in Parsons, Kansas, and wasn’t sure what his professional path was as an early adult.
Research Stories: KU Social Work
Research and development expenditures spanning all University of Kansas campuses climbed to $610.6 million in fiscal year 2025, surpassing the previous record of $546.1 million by 12% and marking a full decade of sustained research growth.
Alumni Stories: KU Social Work
Senna Hargett, KU BSW 2023, combines nursing skills with social work education in her work at Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care.
Community Engagement Stories: KU Social Work
At the School of Social Welfare, Community Care Days offer a welcome pause from the pressures of academics. The series gives students, faculty and staff a chance to recharge and connect with one another through scheduled events.
Giving Stories: KU Social Work
Creating a home base for KU social work students allows them to “see the breadth of things you can do in the social work profession,” said Michelle Carney, dean of the KU School of Social Welfare. Watch a video about the School's new home in Green Hall.
Faculty & Staff Stories: KU Social Work
Berringer, an assistant professor at the KU School of Social Welfare, dedicates her research to exploring the relationships, paradoxes, and tensions inherent to the LGBTQ movement in the United States was sparked in her childhood, going to elementary school in Greenwich Village in New York City. She was interested in the gay liberation movement as it happened around her and, later, in the social movement’s intersections with social work.
School of Social Welfare News
MSW Spotlight: Aurea Bailey
Aurea Bailey, who will receive her MSW from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare in May, currently lives in St. Robert, Missouri. Her family had to move there abruptly when her husband was relocated, but the nature of the online MSW program through Jayhawk Global kept options open for Bailey.
Seminar to prevent sexual violence on campus earns national recognition
More than 7,000 KU students have completed the Prevention is Possible Seminar since 2018. The program - a partnership between the KU Sexual Assault Prevention & Education Center and the KU School of Social Welfare - earned a 2025 NASPA Innovative Program Award.
KU among top-ranked public institutions for research expenditures in social work
Research and development expenditures spanning all University of Kansas campuses climbed to $610.6 million in fiscal year 2025, surpassing the previous record of $546.1 million by 12% and marking a full decade of sustained research growth.
Social Work MSW Macro Spotlight: Melissa Wilson
Wilson, MSW 2023, graduated from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare with a macro specialization to do just that. Wilson always wanted to help people through her career. Her job at the Missouri State Public Defender's office as a mitigation specialist helps her do that.