Published on : June 11, 2025
The debut of the long-awaited Practice Doctorate Program (PDP) accreditation standards; thoughtful discussions about how to navigate anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) legislation; and the installation of a new chairperson were among the highlights of the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Board of Accreditation (BOA) meeting, held on June 4–7.
CSWE’s Executive Director of Accreditation, Dr. Shanéa Thomas, said that this meeting was especially productive.
“The discussion around our PDP accreditation standards was incredibly exciting,” Thomas said. “That is something that people have been waiting on for years.
“Our staff at CSWE and the BOA have worked in tandem with the Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) community to bring in a new arm of accreditation to the social work education continuum. As we potentially welcome more than 40 DSW programs into the fold, we are also committed to continuing to foster relationships with DSW directors, deans, faculty, staff, and students, within and outside of accreditation.”
This meeting was the last to be chaired by Dr. Tom Gregoire. Gregoire, an associate professor and dean emeritus from The Ohio State University, passed the gavel to Dr. Octavio Ramirez, a professor and director of the Bachelor of Social Work program at Fort Hays State University.
“Dr. Gregoire often says that ‘we can do hard things,’” Thomas said. “We’re holding on to that truth to weather us through difficult times. I’m looking forward to working with Dr. Ramirez and his new Vice Chair, Dr. George Ashley, to empower the BOA. This moment may feel hard now, but I am excited for this new era of compassionate and accountable compliance in social work education.”
The BOA also discussed recent rules and legislation enacted at the federal and state levels aimed at weakening ADEI efforts, which present challenges for accreditors, school administrators, faculty, and students in many states across the country.
“CSWE accredits 962 programs across the United States and its territories,” Thomas said. “We must consider the different impacts of these laws and rulings based on the location of each program. The impacts are different in Texas than they are in California, different in Florida than they are in New York . . . So, we’re working through how to ensure that people are staying accredited while still abiding by state and federal laws.
“I’m very proud of the fact that, even given those circumstances, we haven’t lost a single program to the new administrative changes. The BOA and our accreditation team here at CSWE have been able to work with each school to make sure that their needs are met to maintain compliance.”
The BOA meets three times each year (October, February, and June) to discuss important topics like these, and they confer even more regularly in virtual settings. And while challenges (including those related to the shifting legislative landscape in the United States) are not going away anytime soon, Thomas wants students and faculty to know that the BOA is poised to solve these challenges, and that they care deeply about the charge they keep.
“Students and faculty should know that these are smart, intentional, caring, compassionate people,” Thomas said. “This is a group that is devoted to ensuring that we are educating and preparing social workers in a way that will set them on the best possible course. For those who aren’t in the room to see these meetings play out, I would want them to know that this process is intentional, it is compassionate, and it is built on accountability.”
The BOA has long been recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) to confer accreditation status on baccalaureate and master’s programs. The BOA formulates accreditation standards and determines the criteria and process for evaluating these standards. Its accreditation decisions, informed and supported by the highly skilled Department of Social Work Accreditation staff, ensure the continuation of the BOA’s role as the national accrediting body for social work education.