FACULTY OFSOCIAL WORK

FALL 2019

Dean’s Message 2

Indigenous Scholars Academy 3

Francis Boakye 4-5

Heidi HeavyShield 6-7

Faculty News 8

Heidi HeavyShieldBSW’07, MSW’11 Brave Woman’s Challenge

Message from the DeanA flexible tradition

Moving is an interesting time. You leave behind memories and a place you’ve loved

for years for something new and unknown. This past August, our faculty experienced this, moving across campus to the state-of-the-art MacKimmie Tower, leaving our home of the last 25 years in the Professional Faculties Building. Instead of taking the door frame marked with children’s heights, we took founding Dean Tim Tyler’s porcelain “bedpan” trophy, which he would jokingly hand out at faculty events.

In unpacking memories and packing boxes, there was an overriding sense of optimism. It’s a time of positive renewal in the faculty. The new space and new teaching spaces (which will be ready in 2022) will provide more opportunities for community — to create a hub where students, faculty, staff and the community can exchange ideas. This fall, we also began the second year of our very popular Graduate Certificate program. The certificates are the result of years of province-wide consultation with the social work community, as well as

consultation with faculty who rolled up their sleeves to find the right approach to MSW curriculum renewal.

This fall, we also received a kick-start to our Indigenous Scholars Academy (ISA), thanks to a generous gift from philanthropist Gary Nissen. The ISA will support Indigenous scholars who have aged-out of foster care to enter our faculty. We’ll partner with them by providing material and cultural support with the hope that successive cohorts will have a big impact on the practice of social work in Alberta. In many ways, it’s the first step we’re taking on the path of reconciliation, on the path of ii’ taa’poh’to’p, the university’s Indigenous Strategy.

As I packed my own (many) boxes, I also had time to reflect that, fittingly, my own time as dean will come to an end in the spring of next year. Fitting because, in a time of renewal, it’s always good to have new leadership and a new vision for the road ahead. Whoever gets the job will be very lucky. I think we’ve built an amazing faculty here over the decades, which has been recognized in the province, across Canada and internationally.

More evidence of this standing will come next summer when the faculty hosts the International Federation of Social Work conference (SWSD2020) from July 15-18. It will be a great time to learn best social work practices and connect with thousands of social workers from around the world. Fittingly, the theme is the social work agenda for the next 10 years, because positive change always starts with reflection and a plan for what’s next.

I can’t wait to see it.

Dr. Jackie Sieppert, BSW’87, MSW’91, PhDDean, Faculty of Social Work

Dr. Jackie Sieppert, BSW’87, MSW’91, PhD, dean, Faculty of Social Work

Stay connected fsw.ucalgary.ca/FSWConnect

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Last year, the Faculty of Social Work (FSW), in partnership with the Federal, Provincial and

Territorial Directors of Child Welfare Committee, hosted the first annual National Child Welfare Convention. The innovative conference brought together researchers, social workers, agencies and leaders from Indigenous communities across Canada.

The clear message coming from the conference was that social work as a profession and Canada as a nation is failing Indigenous communities, and the child-welfare system needs a drastic overhaul. First Nations, Inuit and Métis children under age 14 make up 52.2 per cent of all children in Canadian foster care. In Alberta, a staggering 73.4 per cent of children in care are Indigenous.

Last spring, FSW received $125,000 from philanthropist Gary Nissen to ignite an innovative program called the Indigenous Scholars Academy (ISA), that will support Indigenous Scholars who have “aged-out” of the foster-care system to pursue their social work degrees at UCalgary. The pilot project is the first of its kind in Canada. The ISA will be led by an advisory committee that will include Indigenous Elders and senior leadership.

“Addressing this issue has been a primary concern of the social work profession, and indeed of this faculty,” says FSW Dean Jackie Sieppert, BSW’87, MSW’91. “The scholars we’ll be recruiting are experts in the child-welfare system through their lived experience. Who better to lead needed change in Canada’s child-welfare system than someone who has lived it? This program isn’t

Did you know? In 2017, the University of Calgary collaborated with elders and knowledge keepers to launch its first Indigenous Strategy, ii’ taa’ poh’ to’ p.

Learn more at ucalgary.ca/indigenous-strategy

really ‘for them’ — it will be ‘by them.’ I think it could be transformational.”

It’s hoped that Indigenous scholars, who intimately understand the issues in child welfare, will bring a much-needed voice and make a generational change in the system.

Nissen describes himself as “semi-retired,” although the former head of Dome Britannia Properties seems to keep pretty busy running his investment firm Canadian Avatar Investments and championing several

worthwhile causes in Calgary. He’s a long-time supporter of Inn from the Cold, where he

created Claire’s Campaign in honour of his mother. The charity provides

emergency shelter services and long-term housing solutions for

families, and programming for young mothers and children.

Nissen says that working with Inn from the Cold helped he and his partner, Dina Klopp, become more aware of the issues facing Indigenous

peoples in Alberta. “I’m learning more about what

many of those people have been through with residential schools,”

he says. “I’ve had a chance to meet a number of families to understand a little

bit more about the struggles they go through. So, it’s something I’ve had on my radar for a while;

how can I maybe help a bit more in this area? I also like to support initiatives that give young people a hand up [Nissen is also a huge supporter of Big Brothers Big Sisters], so the Indigenous Scholars Academy felt like a natural fit.”

FSW has announced that all of its Positive Disruption event registration webpages will now include an optional donation button, so attendees can support the Indigenous Scholars Academy. If you’d like to support the initiative, you can also do so online: netcommunity.ucalgary.ca/IndigenousScholarsAcademy.

Changing the system from the inside outIndigenous Scholars Academy could provide lasting change to Canadian social work

Philanthropist Gary Nissen gave $125,00 to ignite the Indigenous Scholars Academy

FACULTY OF SOCIAL WORK | 3

Welcoming newcomers to CanadaBy Jennifer Allford

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Photo: David Kotsibie, Persuasion Photo

Welcoming newcomers to CanadaBy Jennifer Allford Interested in a flexible approach to MSW education? Apply for certificates in infant,

child and youth mental health, family and group counselling, and advanced social work practice by April 15, 2019. Find out more: go.ucalgary.ca/new-msw.html

Dr. Francis Boakye, PhD’09, arrived in Canada in 2000 via Norway, Russia, and the country

where he was born and raised, Ghana. So, he knows first-hand the struggles faced by many newcomers.

“It’s like you’re unable to fully become part of the community. You’re unable to have your voice heard or be part of a group that can pursue social justice and rights,” he says. “And you’re economically vulnerable. You have to really think and really arrange yourself and think about ways of surviving.”

After about four years of settling himself and his family in Calgary,

Boakye decided to go back to school. He had completed a

master’s in information science in Norway, but he wanted to switch gears, do a PhD in social work and devote his career to making life easier for other newcomers to

Canada. “I always had that urge in

me,” he says. “I studied in Moscow, I also studied in Norway,

and I had the experiences of just being a stranger, a foreigner. The issues that

newcomers face in all these countries came together to affirm my true interest in social work.”

After finishing his PhD at UCalgary, Boakye spent a couple of years working at the United Way before moving to the Centre for Newcomers in 2010. He’s taken on different roles over his nine years at the organization and currently serves as its vice-president of strategy, while also working as a sessional instructor at the Faculty of Social Work (FSW).

Boakye built on his PhD research looking at immigrant youth involved in gangs to help work on Real Me, a collaborative program led by FSW researcher Dr. Hieu van Ngo, PhD with dozens of partners with dozens of partners that’s aimed at kids in gangs or at risk of joining a gang. The youth receive counselling and mentorship; academic, employment and life-skills support; and as opportunities to take part in “pro-social” activities such as sports. Their families, meanwhile, get coaching and access to resources.

“The program is both an intervention and a prevention program,” Boakye says, “Their background can be rooted in trauma and poverty. Sometimes, they’re simply marginalized or isolated in school.” Since 2004, Real Me’s “identity based wraparound intervention” approach has helped about 135 youth and their families. “So we’ve served nearly 700 or more newcomers and their families. We’ve seen parents with mental-health issues that have never been diagnosed, siblings having mental health issues, and some of them have very traumatic situations that have not been discussed.”

Over the course of any given day, Boakye and his colleagues at the Centre for Newcomers see people walk in from all over the world and every walk of life.

“Working as a VP for the centre, it’s not something that I consider to be just a title. For me, it is more about the work I do,” says the tireless educator, community worker and advocate. “Just seeing people, reminding myself of when I came and then making that connection — and making sure the programs we deliver are all consistent with the needs of newcomers.

“My job is really driven by my passion for newcomers.”

Dr. Francis Boakye uses his PhD in social work to make life better for immigrants

Interested in volunteering for the Distress Centre? You can find opportunities by visiting distresscentre.com.

My job is really driven by my

passion for newcomers.”

Dr. Francis Boakye, PhD’09,

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Share your story, or suggest an idea for an alumni profile.

social@ucalgary.ca

When you meet Heidi HeavyShield, BSW’07, MSW’11, she will likely introduce herself

by her Blackfoot name, Ah-ksis-to-aki.It means “brave woman” in English and was

given to her by her aunt after HeavyShield finished her undergraduate degree in social work from the University of Calgary.

“I’m really grateful to have a traditional Blackfoot name, but ‘brave woman’ — that’s a pretty huge thing to live up to,” she says.

It’s a challenge, however, that she tries to live up to, every day. “For me, it’s about being courageous in the work that I do, and advocating for vulnerable people,” HeavyShield says.

“And it’s about being grateful and trying to live in a really healthy way: body, mind and spirit. I have to practice what I preach.”

This year, HeavyShield marks her 12th year working as the Indigenous program co-ordinator at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre.

Part of the Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta, HeavyShield says a highlight of her career is the fact that she can combine her Indigenous roots — healing circles and ceremonies, for instance — alongside her clinical social work practice. “That freedom and flexibility — it’s important,” she says. “It’s difficult, I know, to combine that in many settings, but here, you can.”

HeavyShield never planned to work in corrections. She knew she wanted to be a teacher or a social worker, but she had other plans: a

position in a school, perhaps, or helping families or international development.

Her UCalgary professors, however, had other plans for her. In 2007, when she opened up the letter containing her practicum information, she found she had been placed at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre.

“Instantly, fear set in,” HeavyShield recalls with a laugh. “What had I gotten myself into?”

Remembering her Indigenous name, however, she stepped up to the challenge.

HeavyShield has never looked back, and, when her practicum finished, she joined the centre’s team full-time. She also completed her master’s degree in social work at UCalgary then, in 2014, she began working as a sessional instructor within the Faculty of Social Work at UCalgary’s Lethbridge campus.

HeavyShield credits her family (her mother is renowned artist Faye HeavyShield) and early schooling in Calgary for much of her success as a social worker and educator.

“It is tough work at times, but culture and ceremony help me,” she says, noting that she often draws on the strength of family who lived before her.

“I call on them when I need guidance, a reminder that I’m where I’m supposed to be and doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” HeavyShield says.

“I ask them to help me walk in a way that will make my ancestors proud.”

Indigenous roots guide healingHeidi HeavyShield combines her Indigenous roots with clinical social work to make a difference in Southern AlbertaBy Shelley Boettcher

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It is tough work at times, but

culture and ceremony help me.”

Heidi Heavyshield,

BSW’07, MSW’11

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Photos: Kloie Picot, One Shot More

$1.98 million for research aimed at transforming field educationDr. Julie Drolet, PhD, a researcher at our Edmonton campus, recently received a $1.98-million Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) partnership grant to study field education in Canada. With an unprecedented growth in social work education programs and rising student demand for placements, field education is in crisis, as there are not enough placements for students.

“The crisis is at a tipping point and needs to be addressed before it negatively impacts the learning needs of students and, ultimately, the ability of the profession to deliver quality services to our communities,” says Drolet.

Drolet, who will lead a team of 13 co-investigators, 51 collaborators, and 39 partners from Canadian and foreign post-secondary institutions. She is also involving provincial, national and international social work associations; government departments; and private, public and not-for-profit organizations.

It is a critical development for social work education and the profession of social work in Canada and internationally,” she says.

David Este wins Lee Lorch AwardLast fall, Dr. David Este, PhD, was recognized with the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ (CAUT) prestigious Lee Lorch Award, one of CAUT’s highest honours. It’s the first time a UCalgary professor has won this award that recognizes an academic who has “excelled in each of

the three principal aspects of academic life: teaching, research, and service to the institution and to the community.”

Time of transitionIt’s definitely a time of transition in the faculty. Along with new spaces for our Calgary and Edmonton campuses, we’ve also had several long-time faculty members moving into retirement or taking on new opportunities after many years of service. Dr. Avery Calhoun, PhD, who has held many leadership roles in our faculty over the years, retired last winter from our Edmonton campus. Dr. Rachael Crowder, PhD, leaves our Lethbridge campus for a move to P.E.I., where she becomes the executive director of the P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre. This spring, our longest-serving faculty member, Dr. Jacqueline Ismael, BA’75, MA’76, PhD — an icon in the social work community in so many ways — also announced her retirement after 29 years. Finally, Les Jerome, MDip’09, who has won many teaching awards over the last few years, also announced that he will also be retiring in December, following his current sabbatical.

In case you missed it

Dr. Julie Drolet, PhD

For more information, please contact us

T +1.403-220-7083E social@ucalgary.ca

Faculty of Social WorkUniversity of CalgaryProfessional Faculties Bldg.2500 University Drive NWCalgary, AB T2N 1N4

fsw.ucalgary.ca

@Ucalgary_FSW @UCalgarySocialWorkManaging EditorDonald McSwiney

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