Founded in 1952, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is the national association representing social work education in the United States. Its members include more than 900 accredited baccalaureate and master’s degree social work programs and their affiliated social work educators, students, and staff, as well as practitioners and agencies dedicated to advancing quality social work education. Through its many initiatives, activities, and centers, CSWE supports quality social work education and provides opportunities for leadership and professional development so that social workers are empowered to play a central role in achieving the profession’s goals of social and economic justice. CSWE’s Board of Accreditation is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the sole accrediting agency for social work education in the United States and its territories.
Core Purpose
To ensure a well-educated social work profession equipped to advocate for and promote education, health, well-being, universal rights, and justice in a diverse world.
Mission
To advance excellence and innovation in social work education, by providing leadership and scholarship, to ensure quality in teaching and learning, supporting critical thinking, empathy, and advocacy to strengthen the capacity of our membership.
Core Values
- Behaviors consistent with anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (ADEIB) in our actions.
- Stewardship of our profession, our organization, and our processes.
- Respect, access, and justice for all planetary life.
- Innovation, foresight, transformation, collaboration, and courage to advocate and lead.
- Educational excellence that is science-based, responsive, and forward-focused.
Land Acknowledgement
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) acknowledges that its office is located on ancestral lands of Indigenous Peoples throughout the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and territories. This is true of the cities where CSWE events occur and the areas where council staff and volunteers reside.
Indigenous Peoples had and continue to have extended networks of relatives that include human and nonhuman life as well as the seen and the unseen across diverse geopolitical and ecological spaces. Sacred ties to the land and water distinguish Indigenous Peoples from all other people or cultures.
Despite the genocide, relocation, and removal of millions of Indigenous Peoples from those areas, ties to these networks and lands have persevered through centuries of oppression, colonization, appropriation, and other efforts to erase these cultures.
CSWE’s office is in Alexandria, Virginia, and we honor the 11 state-recognized ancestral tribes(Opens in a new window). Our organization is committed to achieving social justice and equity for Indigenous Peoples in ways that respect their ancient cultures and sovereign rights and that address a legacy of colonization and oppression. Social work education strives to prepare tomorrow’s practitioners to effect social change for all people.
With humility, we recognize and respect all Indigenous Peoples and their ties to the land.
The CSWE, the Indigenous and Tribal Social Work Educators Association, and the Commission on Diversity and Social & Economic Justice have collaborated on this Land Acknowledgment Statement to raise awareness of the global truth and reconciliation movement addressing historical and systemic issues of Indigenous Peoples.
For additional context, please read this full statement from CSWE and the Indigenous and Tribal Social Work Educators Association as well as a personal reflection from Dr. Rebecca Maldonado Moore.