Lydia DeBiase is a Widener alum who has enjoyed a long career

 dedicated to the field of social work.  For the past 17 years, Lydia has worked for Children & Youth Services of Delaware County in the roles of caseworker, supervisor, and, most recently, placement manager.  In addition, she joined Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems in 2010 as a substance use assessor and added the role of outpatient therapist in 2011.  She has extensive experience in supervision, assessment, consultation, and working with children and families, all of which will be useful in her new roles in the Center.

Lydia graduated with her B.A. in Social Welfare from Kutztown University and her MSW from Widener in 2011.  She is now a licensed social worker and is working towards her LCSW.  Since her graduation, Lydia has returned to Widener twice to present on child welfare to students and visiting faculty, as well as served on the Center Advisory Board and with the MSW Alumni Organization.  In her new position, Lydia will work closely with Pat Fletcher, Director of Field Education, in developing field placement sites, placing and monitoring BSW and MSW students in the field, and coordinating with faculty field liaisons.  She will be primarily responsible for the BSW Field Education program and will act as the liaison for the CWEL and CWEB programs.  Lydia will also serve as the faculty liaison to the MSW Alumni Organization.  This fall she will be teaching SW 505 - Generalist Social Work Practice and SW 550 - Field Practice I.  The Center believes Lydia will be a great addition to its faculty and is excited to see how she contributes to the field education program.  Please join us in welcoming Lydia!

Dr. Linda Houser is a current Assistant Professor in the Center for Social Work Education who has been part of the Widener community since the fall of 2011.  She received her BSW from Eastern University, her MSW from Temple University, and her Ph.D from the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College in 2010.  Though she did not necessarily anticipate becoming the Ph.D Program Director, Linda could not be more excited for this new role.  She shares that the main reason she accepted this position is because the Center's faculty is so supportive and truly works together, which makes overseeing a Ph.D program and coordinating dissertation committees much easier and more enjoyable.

Linda recognizes there are many current strengths of the Ph.D program, which she would like to continue to honor, such as the program's recruitment of students with a depth of practice experience and wisdom, as well as its history of producing scholars whose work has real-world application.  In this role, Linda is looking forward to meeting with the students to help them articulate their ideas and put them into practice.  She believes the Ph.D students come with certain energy and passion that can easily translate into projects and presentations.  She would also like to continue to work on marketing the program, to reach the students for whom the Center's approach to doctoral education and part-time program would be a good fit.  Boosting the program's visibility in the region and beyond may help in continuing to grow and strengthen the program.

In her first year, Linda hopes to get to know each of the current doctoral students through individual meetings.  She would also like to visit Master's programs in the region and beyond to talk about doctoral programs in general, doctoral programs in social work, and the specific program at Widener.  Within the Center, Linda plans to begin hosting brown-bag lunches once a month around topics like demystifying the publication process, presenting at professional conferences, and more.  In addition, she plans to create a monthly newsletter for students and faculty with briefs about students' work within the program, upcoming conference submission deadlines, special journal editions, and more.  In this way, she hopes to better connect students and faculty and further the opportunities for scholarship for the doctoral students.

As Linda transitions into this new position, she will adjust to taking on additional administrative duties.  Linda will teach two classes a semester, as opposed to the three-a-semester she has been teaching, though most of them will remain Master's-level classes. She loves teaching and scholarship and is looking forward to continuing these aspects, while adopting her new duties as the director.  The Center is so pleased to have Linda take over as Ph.D Program Director and looks forward to seeing what she will bring to this role and the program!