By Lily Nussbaum | Staff Writer
This past weekend, an assembly from the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work attended the North American Association of Christians in Social Work Convention in Chicago to network and present to fellow Christian professionals.
The group included alumni, current Ph.D. candidates and Dr. Jon Singletary, dean of the School of Social Work. They all presented on various research topics, ranging from navigating motherhood and balancing a profession to the alignment of Catholicism and critical race theory.
“We really focus on helping students explore social work and service to others from the perspective of their faith,” Singletary said. “This is an organization and a conference that’s committed to that same goal.”
Over the past couple of years, Singletary said the doctoral program has grown and become more focused on high-quality research. He said the convention serves as an outlet for doctoral candidates to nurture their development as emerging professionals.
“For doctoral students to be able to step into a space where they can develop those skills, refine their research and their ability to present their findings, really is meaningful to them as they become scholars themselves,” Singletary said.
Three current Ph.D. students attended the convention, including Boise, Idaho, doctoral student Veronica Timbers. During the conference, Timbers said she presented sessions entitled “Can Social Workers of Faith Be a Bridge in the Social Language Divides?” and “Everything God Creates is Beautiful: LGBTQ Community Responses to Church.”
“To see my research actually come to a place where it can impact and really matter and change the way that we’re thinking about doing things or the way that we’re practicing social work, is just really rewarding,” Timbers said.
The latter presentation is one of three articles included in Timbers’ dissertation on clinical work with trans and non-binary people in rural areas. She said she plans on defending the dissertation sometime in the spring. Timbers said presenting and getting feedback on her research is a vital step in her doctoral process.
“I want to have a greater impact than just my own ideas,” Timbers said. “This was a way to take it to that next level and expand it and allow it to have more ripple effects that reach further than I could by myself.”
The School of Social Work hosted a dinner during one of the nights at the convention and invited everyone with a Baylor connection to join. At this dinner, alumni, current students and faculty got the chance to discuss research. Alumni were given the opportunity to give encouragement and feedback to doctoral students, and students were able to learn about new positions and opportunities they can apply for.
“Seeing them out in the world doing it — like doing the work, presenting themselves, publishing, serving on the board — it’s exciting to both share the space with them but also sort of follow behind them and gain from their knowledge,” Timbers said. “It was never formally set up that they were going to be mentors, but they always have.”
Singletary, who is stepping onto the board of the North American Association of Christians in Social Work, said Baylor’s involvement in the convention and organization for the last 20 years shows how well their two missions align. He said Baylor’s School of Social Work will be a co-sponsor in two years when the convention is in Dallas.
“When we think about our strategic plan Illuminate and its focus on both elevating our Christian mission and the role of scholarship, this really is a gathering that does that for our students, faculty and alumni,” Singletary said.
