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University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice

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The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice (abbreviated as SP2) is the graduate school for social work, social policy, and nonprofit leadership at the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League university in Philadelphia.

School of Social Policy and Practice
Arms of the University of Pennsylvania
MottoLeges sine moribus vanae
TypePrivate social work, social policy, nonprofit leadership school
Established1908 (1908)
Parent institution
University of Pennsylvania
DeanSara S. Bachman
Location
Caster Building, 3701 Locust Walk
,
Philadelphia
,
PA
,
19104
,
USA

39°57′09″N 75°11′51″W / 39.95247°N 75.19753°W / 39.95247; -75.19753
Campus
Websitesp2.upenn.edu Edit this at Wikidata
Map

For more than 110 years, SP2 has been a powerful force for good in the world. Through research, academics, and engagement, the School drives innovation in policy and practice that creates lasting impact and develops leaders committed to tackling society's most complex social challenges in pursuit of social good.

History

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The school began in 1908 when a “Course of Training in Child Helping” was developed under the direction of the Children’s Bureau of Philadelphia. Carl Kelsey was a consulting director in the 1908-09 academic year, and his colleague, James P. Lichtenberger, had full control in 1909-10. At the time, Kelsey and Lichtenberger were the only Sociology faculty members at the university. They co-taught the two-year, core course, “Theory of Sociology,” as well as “American Race Problems,” “Social Debtor Classes,” “Standards of Living,” and “Sociological Field Work."[1] In 1910, the School greatly expanded. Its “Committee of Direction” was increased to fifteen members and its faculty, including group instructors, to sixteen.

In 1914, the school changed its name to the Pennsylvania School for Social Service.[2] In 1918, Virginia P. Robinson was named Supervisor of Field Work and, within a year, Associate Director of the school. Over the next thirty-five years, Robinson twice served as acting head of the school. In 1919, Kenneth L.M. Pray joined the school's faculty and became the school’s first full time Director in 1922, and later became Dean in 1935. Jessie Taft also joined the faculty in 1919. Taft was an educational theorist and practitioner in psychiatric social work who was then Director of the Mental Hygiene Clinic at the Seybert Institution. Working closely with the world-renowned psychiatrist Otto Rank, she developed the “functional school” of social work, the philosophy which guided the school for fifty years.[3]

In 1933, the school was renamed the Pennsylvania School of Social Work, and in 1935 the Trustees approved the formal affiliation of the school with the university. In 2005, the school changed its name to the School of Social Policy and Practice to reflect the inclusion of graduate programs in policy, leadership, and philanthropy, as well as expanded joint degree programs in public health, bioethics, government administration, and criminology.[4]

Programs

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SP2 offers six degree programs: Master of Social Work (MSW), Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership (NPL), Master of Science in Social Policy (MSSP), Clinical Doctorate in Social Work (DSW), Doctorate in Nonprofit Administration (DNPA) and PhD in Social Welfare and eleven dual degree programs.

Notable alumni

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Notable faculty

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  • Peter Frumkin, Mindy and Andrew Heyer Chair in Social Policy
  • Richard James Gelles, Joanne and Raymond Welsh Chair of Child Welfare and Family Violence
  • Jessie Taft, educational theorist, professor, and practitioner of psychiatric social work

Research Centers & Special Projects

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See also

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References

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