When asked what she would miss most about working at Widener, Laura said, "Social work is such a part of who I am.  I entered the field to actualize my Christian values, and it feels bittersweet to be stepping down.  I'll miss the wonderful relationships I've had with the faculty and my students.  I've especially enjoyed watching my undergrad students grow up and develop into social workers.  I've always felt like I'm making an important contribution in my work, and it has given my life meaning."

Upon her retirement, Laura plans to spend more time with her husband and daughter, as well as friends and family.  She is looking forward to being able to slow down a bit and enjoy visiting the small farm in South Jersey that she and her husband have been restoring.  Laura is also part of a church in the area and will be devoting more time to pastoral work with them.  As a child she played the piano and would like to take a few lessons to begin playing again.  Even though she is happily anticipating having more free time to relax and engage in other interests, Laura shared that she still looks forward to continuing to teach a course each semester at Widener.  The Center will miss Laura's expertise and hard work ethic at the Center, but the Center and future students will benefit from her continued involvement in the classroom.   The Center wishes to thank Laura for everything she has given to the department and its faculty and students and to congratulate her on her retirement!

After over 20 years with Widener, Dr. Tom Young will be retiring this June from his work with the MSW and PhD programs.  Tom joined the Center for Social Work Education after being sought out by Dr. John Poulin, a former doctoral classmate from the University of Chicago.  At the time, Tom was in Portland, Oregon and John invited him to visit Widener and give a presentation.  After the welcome reception Tom received, he decided to take John up on his offer to help build the MSW program and joined the faculty for the 1992 academic year.  That first MSW class had only 18 students, but Tom has had the joy of slowly watching the program and faculty grow over the years.

During his time at Widener, Tom has developed a deep respect for his colleagues and feels that they reciprocated the same towards him, often working together and collaborating on various articles and projects.  He co-authored an article on "Group Supervision" with Carolyn Walters and Janet Neer.  He also developed the "Helping Relationship Inventory, (HRI)" with John Poulin.  A while later, he co-authored an article with Barbara Gilin based on an international interdisciplinary course that involved taking students to visit social service agencies in Italy. He discovered that having these kinds of opportunities to work with these kinds of people brought out his creativity and helped to develop a teaching style that he did not have before he came to Widener.

When asked what the most rewarding aspect of teaching at Widener has been, Tom was quick to respond that it was having the opportunity to develop the doctoral program.  The idea came about because he felt strongly that the Center had the intellectual firepower among the faculty to offer a doctoral program and that if they were able to offer such a program, it would also enrich the teaching in the BSW and MSW programs.  As Tom says, "It has been a tremendous reward to watch my colleagues rise to the challenge and so gratifying to see them take ownership of the program."  In addition to the PhD program, Tom is also very proud of the Concentration Sequence and its content,  the "Helping Relationship Inventory" project he developed with John, and the Widener Emotional Learning Survey (WELS) that he spent almost ten years developing with Dr. Ning Wang from the Center for Education and (now Provost) Dean Stephen Wilhite.  

During his time as a professor and director of the PhD program at Widener, Tom feels his students have taught him that his influence as a teacher has had a much greater impact on them and their lives than he ever imagined.  He realized that caring about his students as people and connecting with what they want for themselves as social workers, and doing whatever he could do to bring that into being, goes way beyond any reading or lecture; it is life changing for both him and his students.  He professes, "My whole perspective has been changed by my students over the years. In essence, because of them I learned how to be a good teacher."  For these reasons, Tom admits he will truly miss his students when he retires, though he is still in contact with students who graduated from the first class in 1993.  He will also miss the professional community of which he has become an integral part.

As he says goodbye, Tom would like to leave one message with his students: "Believe in yourselves!"  He urges them to do what is good for themselves and their chosen career path.  He adds, "Look for your niche and find that community that will provide the opportunity for growth and development. Some may be fortunate to find it right after they complete their degree, some may need to go through two or three job changes, but never stop searching for the place where you belong. When you find that community, do everything you can to help build and improve it and to leave it a better place than when you arrived. But no matter what, persevere and don't give up, once you find your niche, everything else will fall into place."  In regards to his colleagues, Tom wishes to leave them with the message of "Keep on, keeping on."  He adds, "Believe in yourselves and the work that you are doing.  Just as I didn't see or know what I was capable of until I had the opportunities I received at Widener, new opportunities will come along for you.  Seize the ones that appeal to you and you will be amazed at what you can do."  

In regard to retirement, Tom has three specific plans. He has always liked photography, particularly nature photography, and he would like to return to that. He would also like to involve himself more in music. He plays some guitar, but he is also in interested in the structure of music, chamber music, and how a band puts the music together. Finally, he would like to volunteer at an organization like the Nature Conservancy that is interested in taking care of the planet.  However, Tom also intends to spend some time nurturing his continuing "intellectual restlessness" to see the new places to which that may lead.

After 20 years at Widener, Tom professes, "I am consumed with feelings of gratitude and appreciation for my colleagues and the many students I have had the pleasure of meeting and the wonderful relationships I have had."  The Center wishes to thank Tom for his many years of service to the Center and the innovation he has brought to its programs, faculty, and students, as well as congratulate him on his retirement!  As a bonus, click the link below if you would like to read Tom's inspirational speech from the 2013 Graduate Awards Ceremony.

Dr. Tom Young's 2013 Graduate Awards Ceremony Speech