Get Involved!

CSWE members are eligible to serve as volunteer leaders on our boards, commissions, councils, and other governing and advisory committees. They can also volunteer at our Annual Conference each Fall. These service and leadership opportunities are more than just resume enhancers, they are opportunities to sustain and shape social work education and the social work profession for years to come.

Our annual call for volunteers opens April 1 through April 30.

CSWE Commissions and Councils include five commissions and twelve councils serving under those commissions. Each commission and council serve a unique role in advancing social work education under the charge of each group. 

Commission and council members are appointed to terms of 3-year terms of service, with the option to renew their appointment at the expiration of the term.

Board of Accreditation: CSWE’s Board of Accreditation (BOA) is the accrediting body for social work education. As the accreditor, the BOA is responsible for both formulating accreditation standards and determining the criteria and process for evaluating these standards. BOA members conduct candidacy visits for baccalaureate, master's, and practice doctorate programs seeking initial accreditation. The BOA also discusses accreditation matters, assesses the effectiveness of the accreditation process, and makes changes, as needed, to support development and continuous improvement. 

Site Visitors: CSWE-accredited baccalaureate and master's social work programs host site visits as an integral part of the reaffirmation process. Site visitors conduct visits to programs on behalf of the BOA. The site visitor's role is to be an objective gatherer of information to inform reaffirmation decisions.

Fellowship Review Committee: The Fellowship Review Committee (FRC) serves as the primary review body for post-master's social work fellowship programs seeking initial or continued accreditation and is responsible for making accreditation decision recommendations to the BOA. The FRC is a volunteer body of social work educators and practitioners. The FRC is responsible for reviewing fellowship program self-studies, authorizing site visits, preparing summary reports of program strengths, concerns, and areas of improvement, and recommending an accreditation decision to the BOA. FRC members are expected to visit the fellowship programs whose Self-Study they have reviewed. FRC members may conduct up to two site visits per year; site visit travel expenses are reimbursed by CSWE.

Minority Fellowship Program Advisory Board: CSWE’s Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) opportunities support the mission of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to reduce the effects of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities by increasing the number of individuals trained to work with underrepresented and underserved racial/ethnic minority persons with or at risk for mental health and/or substance abuse disorders. The MFP Advisory Board supports the continued success and activities of MFP by collaborating with the CSWE staff to provide expertise in support of MFP projects and initiatives. It plays a crucial role in advising MFP staff on policies procedures and overall program planning.  

Katherine A. Kendall Advisory Board: The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education prepares educators, researchers, students, and practitioners for an increasingly global community through its programs and initiatives. Established with contributions to an endowment in honor of international social work icon Dr. Katherine A. Kendall, the Institute promotes standards of excellence for international social work to integrate related concepts into social work curricula and seeks to enrich perspectives, understandings, collaboration, and networking within the social work community. The Kendall Institute Advisory Board advises CSWE’s use of Kendall endowment funds to support the international goals and activities of CSWE. The Board collaborates with the CSWE Commission on Global Social Work Education and its Councils and with international social work associations to support the Institute’s projects. 

Center for Diversity and Social & Economic Justice Advisory Board: The CSWE Center for Diversity and Social & Economic Justice (CDSEJ) was established to advance the quality of social work education for a professional practice that promotes individual, family, and community well-being and social and economic justice. CDSEJ promotes, develops, and sustains social work leadership, teaching, research, curricula, knowledge-building, and institutional arrangements that foster the achievement of diversity and social and economic justice. It supports the commitment of social work education to provide social workers with the intellectual and practical skills needed to address issues of social inequality and injustice. 

Spark! is our members-only online community for social work educators, administrators, and students. Spark! lets members share and access curriculum resources and information, provides a safe and welcoming space to ask questions and share information, and connects you to peers across the country for collaboration and community building.

Connect with your Spark! community

Annual Conference is the largest gathering of social work educators and students in the U.S. 

Every October, Annual Conference features hundreds of presentations and education sessions, inspiring and informative keynotes and lectures, opportunities to earn continuing education credits, and endless opportunities to network, collaborate, and mingle with your peers in social work education.

Click here for more on Annual Conference

Follow CSWE across all of our social media platforms where we share important news and information about the organization and the social work education community. You'll also find advocacy updates, professional and personal development resources, and volunteer and member spotlights! We're on LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. 

CSWE Compass is a weekly email newsletter distributed to all CSWE members with an active membership. Compass is distributed every Thursday and includes important news and events from CSWE, advocacy updates, job postings, and news from around the social work education community. If you have an active membership but are not receiving Compass, send a note to comms@cswe.org.

Our quarterly advocacy newsletter dives deep into policy and legislation that is impacting social work education and the greater higher education community. Learn more about CSWE’s policy priorities, get up to speed on news from Capitol Hill, and learn ways you can get involved and lend your voice.

CSWE members, join us in the rooms where it happens and raise your voice on behalf of social work education. Members receive news and information directly from our government relations partners at Lewis-Burke Associates LLC, and they have opportunities to visit with legislators and congressional staff members in person and virtually during Hill visits. Now more than ever, CSWE members are needed as advocates and champions for issues impacting the social work profession.

Learn more at CSWE's Advocacy Hub