Published on : April 7, 2023
Former Commission Rebrands to Reflect CSWE Commitment to Its Accrediting Function
ALEXANDRIA, VA, April 7, 2023 – Today, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) announces our next collective step forward in modernizing the association’s structure by welcoming the newly named CSWE Board of Accreditation (BOA) (formerly CSWE Commission on Accreditation). The CSWE-BOA is recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) to confer accreditation status to baccalaureate and master’s social work degree programs and fellowship programs in the United States and its territories.
In June 2022, CSWE members voted to ratify updated bylaws that modernize the structure of the association’s membership and leadership. Now all who study, teach, or work for accredited and candidacy social work programs have access to member benefits through their program’s membership, eliminating individual membership. The bylaws also codified student representative positions on the Board of Directors and clearer articulation between CSWE and its accrediting function.
Continuing the momentum, CSWE and its accrediting body signed an updated Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in January 2023. The CSWE-BOA’s new identity actualizes the updates to the bylaws and MOA, affirming the accrediting body’s autonomy with respect to all accreditation activities, reviews, actions, and decisions.
“Accreditation by the CSWE Board of Accreditation demonstrates that a social work education or fellowship program holds to the highest standards of quality education and preparation of social workers to create and sustain healthy communities,” said Halaevalu F. O. Vakalahi PhD, MSW, MEd, President and CEO of CSWE.
These updates to the membership structure and accrediting body agreement and identity serve to strengthen the premiere social work education organization’s two essential pillars: membership and accreditation. Each pillar stands to provide unique benefits, services, and resources to social work education programs while collaborating to achieve CSWE’s vision and mission in service to the social work profession and their communities.
“CSWE membership helps social work education programs realize the full potential of accreditation,” Vakalahi continued. “Accreditation and membership stand as the two pillars that support our broad mission to advance excellence and innovation in social work education and research throughout the United States and its territories.”