Athens, Ga. – A University of Georgia School of Social Work faculty member has been honored and recognized for “exemplary” work in her field.
Associate professor Alberta J. (Bert) Ellett received the 2010 “Distinguished Recent Contributions in Social Work Education Award” from the Council on Social Work Education at their annual meeting held recently in Portland, Ore.In addition, she has been selected by the Taylor and Francis Group as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Child Welfare, and she has been elected to a second-term as secretary of the board of directors for the Society for Social Work Research, an international, professional organization that promotes the advancement of social work research.
Ellett, a nationally respected expert in the field of child welfare, directs UGA’s Title IV-E Child Welfare Education Program, which has funded nearly 400 students under her lead. Prior to joining the School of Social Work faculty, Ellett worked for 25 years in Georgia and Louisiana in child welfare at all organizational levels, from providing direct services for abused and neglected children and their families, to the development of state child welfare policy.
Since joining the School of Social Work faculty in 2000, Ellett’s academic and practical work in professionalizing and improving the child welfare workforce has included pioneering two child welfare special interest groups at two national academic organizations, co-editing the Journal of Public Child Welfare, securing $7.8 million in external funding for UGA’s Title IV-E Child Welfare Education Program, and her own research and publishing of 27 scholarly works.
“Dr. Ellett has demonstrated exemplary performance in research, teaching and public service. Her dedication to child welfare has helped position the school as a national leader in the field,” said Maurice Daniels, dean of the School of Social Work. “Not only is she an effective researcher and educator, she truly cares about the welfare of children and has made a difference in enhancing child advocacy programs and services. We are proud to have her on our faculty.”
Ellett received the “Distinguished Recent Contributions in Social Work Education Award” for her contributions to social work education during the past 10 years. The award is given annually to a recipient who demonstrates excellence in research and scholarship, pedagogy and curriculum development, and organizational leadership. CSWE is the sole national accrediting agency for social work education in North America.
“I am certainly humbled and excited by this award, because there are many very productive and contributing academics in social work education,” Ellett said. “Recognition by peers is the highest professional honor one can receive, so this is very meaningful to me personally.”
The Journal of Public Child Welfare was established in 2004 to address a shortage in publication outlets for researchers in child welfare. Ellett served as co-editor of the publication from 2007 to 2010.As the new editor-in-chief, Ellett plans to expand the growth and quality of the publication.
Ellett’s 3-year-term as secretary of the SSWR began in February. Her goals for her new position are to increase membership in the organization and encourage more scholarly contributions from members, expand the influence of SSWR on public policy and the social work profession, strengthen the role of research and evidence-based practice on future generations of social work professionals, and advocate for increased funding for social work research. SSWR was founded in 1994 and represent more than 200 universities and research institutions in 45 states and 15 countries.
For more information on the UGA School of Social Work and Ellett’s work, see http://ssw.uga.edu:8091/plone.To access the Journal of Public Child Welfare, see http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/15548732.asp.