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School of Social Work and Human Services / St Lucia Campus
Brisbane Qld 4072 Australia
Telephone +61 7 3365 2068
Facsimile +61 7 3365 1788
Internet
Ipswich Campus
Building 3, 11 Salisbury Road
Ipswich Qld 4305 Australia
Telephone +61 7 3381 1513
Facsimile +61 7 3381 1523
Internet
CRICOS PROVIDER NUMBER 00025B
HEAD OF SCHOOL
Professor Howard Karger
DEPUTY HEAD OF SCHOOL
Dr Gregory Marston

Howard Karger

This letter is an application for the position of Dean, School of Social Work, Portland State University.

In 2007 I took the position of Head of the School of Social Work and Human Services (SWAHS) at the University of Queensland, ranked among the top universities in Australia and in the top 1% of universities worldwide.

SWAHS is the largest school of social work in Australia and employs about 25 full-time tenured or tenure track faculty, several part-time and adjunct lecturers, and post-docs. As Head I manage a $5+ million budget with research grants totalling almost $1 million.

The School employs 15 professional staff, including a school manager, student administrative officer, finance officers, a field education director, field staff and clerical staff. SWAHS is located in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (SBS), which includes psychology, social science, education, journalism and communications, and political science. It is fully accredited by the Australian Association of Social Workers.

We enrol about 650 students, operate on two campuses, and offer two undergraduate degrees: a BSW and a Bachelors of Human Services. On the graduate level the School offers a qualifying masters degree in social work (MSocWkst), an accredited master's degree in counselling (jointly with psychology), an advanced MSW and a doctoral program with 77 students. The School offers graduate certificates in child protection, mental health, social policy and community development.

From 1994 to 2007 I was professor of social work at the University of Houston and held the PhD Director’s position from 1995 to 2002. I previously taught at Louisiana State University and the University of Missouri.

My administrative style is based on a consultancy model, whereby I actively encourage input from all faculty, both in groups and individually, around important issues. I believe this model is vital in creating a shared vision around the role a school of social work should play in the university, the community and nationally.

My qualifications include:

1984: PhD in social work -- University of Illinois-Urbana, Champaign.

1977: MSW -- University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Both degrees are from CSWE-accredited programs.

Administrative experience in a CSWE-accredited (and other) social work programs

1982: BSW Program Director, College of St Benedict

1986-7: MSW Program Director, University of Missouri

1995-2002: PhD Director, University of Houston

2007-- Head of the School of Social Work and Human Services (although not a CSWE-accredited program it is AASW accredited)

Apart from helping to shape the BSW degree at the College of St Benedict, I have worked in developing new graduate programs throughout my academic career. LSU I helped write the PhD program proposal and successfully lobbied it through the Board of Regents. I left for the University of Houston before it was implemented.

From 1995-2002 I was PhD Program Director at the University of Houston. Directing the doctoral program was challenging since it had begun only two years earlier, and there were few students, no student funding, and virtually no administrative guidelines or student policies. In conjunction with the Doctoral Committee, I implemented a new curriculum, established student policies, wrote the first doctoral student handbook and developed a web site for the program. When I left UH the doctoral program had more than 40 students and funded all full-time students for two years or more. More than 25 students received their Ph.D. degrees in social work from 1995-2002, most choosing academic careers.

While I was PhD director, the program vigorously pursued diversity; by 2002 almost 50% of students were African American, Hispanic or Asian and more than 65% were women. By 1998 the doctoral program had the highest percentage of minority students of any PhD program at UH.

My administrative role at the University of Queensland UQ has provided many challenges.

  • I currently manage a budget in excess of $5 million. When I arrived in 2007 there was a projected budget deficit of $2 million by 2011. By 2008 I had significantly reduced the long-term deficit; by 2009 SWAHS met its budget projections. The 2011 budget is balanced with longer-term budget projections showing a surplus.
  • SWAHS had experienced declining enrolment over a multi-year period, a drop exacerbated by the emergence of five new social work programs in the area. I worked with the faculty to develop a qualifying MSW degree that proved successful and a new Bachelors of Human Services at the main campus. All the programs in the School were revamped to make them more competitive while maintaining high educational standards.
  • SWAHS has experienced a high rate of student attrition. To combat this, the school hired a Student Mentor to provide support and other services, including academic assistance. A Conversation Café was started where students meet informally with academic staff to make suggestions and air grievances.
  • Faced with poor morale, I convened a strategic planning workshop designed to identify problems, including transparency in decision-making.
  • Enhanced community engagement. While SWAHS historically had strong community engagement, I formalised the process by establishing an active School Advisory Committee composed of 16 well-respected members of the social service community. The committee is designed to (1) address industry expectations around graduates; (2) provide feedback for proposed curriculum changes; and (3) to engage in environmental scanning around external developments affecting the School. In addition, the School’s Alumni Association was significantly helped in its development and in creating longer-term goals.
  • Four months after my arrival the school was required to undergo a full reaccreditation by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). Despite the rigorous review process, SWAHS was reaccredited for the full five-year term. I was also involved in the accreditation process for the Masters in Counselling, a program run jointly with the School of Psychology.
  • My experience with US social work accreditation spans my academic career. In 1980 I wrote the first successful CSWE self-study for the College of St. Benedict. I also participated in writing CSWE re-accreditation studies at the University of Missouri, LSU and the University of Houston.
  • In 2000-2001 I was a consultant for the University of Houston-Clear Lake and designed their BSW program. I also wrote the self-study document that was later approved by CSWE.

Record of research and publications

My research focuses on the intersection between social policy and economics. Specifically, how the fringe economy (e.g., payday lenders, rent-to-own stores, pawnshops, dealer-financed used cars, etc.) impacts the lives of the poor. (A full list of publications is contained in the attached curriculum vita.)

More recently, my research team was awarded a two-year Australian Research Council grant (co-partners with the National Australia Bank and Good Shepherd) in 2009 to study payday lending in Australia.

Books: Authored or co-authored ten books (and two monographs), two of which are in multiple editions. The publishers include Oxford University Press, Berrett-Koehler, Transaction/Aldine, Longman, Allyn & Bacon and Rowman and Littlefield. Shortchanged: Life and Debt in the Fringe Economy won the 2006 Independent Publisher Award in Finance/Investments/ Economics.

Refereed Articles: 53 articles in referred journals, many of which are in tier 1 publications.

Book Chapters: 29 chapters in edited books

Juried Presentations: 19 juried presentations.

Editorial Boards: Sit on the board of six journals and the Sage advisory board.

Other: Two-time Senior Fulbright Fellow with postings to Israel (Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University) and Africa (University of Zimbabwe).

Sincerely,

Prof Howard Karger, Head of School