Centre for Social Work Research and Professional Development

The Centre for Social Work Research and Professional Development was established as a faculty-based research centre in December 2000. Its mission is to promote and support excellence in social work research and professional development throughout Alberta, as well as at national and international levels.

The Centre provides research support to faculty, students and community partners. Some of the services provided to community agencies on a fee for service basis include identifying research needs and determining suitable research designs as well as conducting literature reviews, program evaluations, and environmental scans. The Centre can provide agencies with the skills they need to conduct their own research or Centre researchers can conduct research for agencies that are not able to accomplish these services in-house.

The Centre uses a collaborative approach to research whereby agency representatives are directly involved in the research process. Agency representatives can decide how involved they want to be and at what stages. Collaboration helps to ensure that the project truly addresses the needs of the agency and it is fundamental to building research capacity in the community.

In addition to research services, the Centre facilitates training, mentoring and professional development services to social agencies, government departments, community groups, students, and faculty. In 2004, the Centre expanded its range and types of continuing profession education offerings, and now develops relevant, high quality professional development opportunities on a fee for service basis. The Centre’s professional development team can assist community agencies with identifying their educational needs and offer training sessions that meet these needs. The Centre also offers workshops and seminars designed to meet the needs of practitioners working in diverse social work settings. The Centre’s offerings are all approved “Category A” or “B” activities for the Alberta College of Social Workers’ continuing competency program.

Some examples of recent professional development topics include: leadership, diversity, program planning and evaluation, ethics, community development, clinical practice, children and families, mental health, gerontology, and aboriginal community capacity building.

For more information on the Centre for Social Work Research and Professional Development, please contact Dr. Cathryn Bradshaw at 220-6641 or cmbradsh@ucalgary.ca .