Engineering-Social Work Collaboration – International Development
Interdisciplinary social work is growing on multiple levels and across new disciplines.
The UT Austin School of Social Work is charting new territory with the innovative, interdisciplinary social work and engineering collaboration, the first such program in the country. The collaboration brings social work and engineering students together in designing and implementing projects in developing countries.
Social Work and Engineering students and faculty with Patriensa community partners in June 2011
Until recently the worlds of engineering and social work students have seemed far apart. Yet, engineering and social work are a logical match — both are project-oriented and both want to enhance people’s lives, according to Professor Janet Ellzey, Vice Provost for International Programs at UT Austin and professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department, Cockrell School of Engineering who created Projects in Underserved Communities (PUC) in 2009, along with engineering colleague, Professor James O’Connor.
In 2010, Professor Dorie Gilbert and Ellzey formed an interdisciplinary collaboration whereby social work students enroll in the 3-semester PUC program, bringing social work knowledge, values, and skills to bear on the project implementation planning. In the fall, social work students work alongside engineering students in teams to focus on project selection and planning. During the spring, while engineering students take a technical design course, social work students concentrate on a community development course. Both groups meet regularly during the spring, and social work students offer culturally-relevant community engagement strategies to ensure that the engineering projects will be well-received in the communities. In the summer, both groups travel together to implement the projects with community and technical partners. For more information about how students sign up to participate in PUC, PUC-Find out how to join! (PowerPoint); Students describe PUC experiences (PowerPoint).
Tim Bailey, MSSW Community Intern, with local community leader on project site
As part of the ongoing engineering collaboration, the school’s Institute for Community Development: U.S. and Abroad will help support the sustainability of PUC projects by placing social work interns in locations where PUC engineering projects are in need of a sustainable component. Thus, social work adds the community development component to the projects that engineers implement. In spring 2012, MSSW-CAL student Tim Bailey will complete his internship in Patriensa, Ghana. His work will include assisting the community in building the infrastructure to support the water, sanitation and environmental projects implemented by PUC. To learn more about the engineering and social work collaboration toward sustainable development, see http://world.utexas.edu/puc/.
Mary Lehman Held, LCSW, PUC Teaching Assistant, is a doctoral candidate at The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. She has a long history of volunteering in Central America, which led to her interest in working with Projects for Underserved Communities.
Additional Stories:
“Social Work and Engineering Students Collaborate on Development Projects in Ghana” (PDF)
