By GREGORY ZELLER //
Long Island higher-education forces have combined once again, creating new opportunities for would-be social workers.
Adelphi University has partnered with Suffolk County Community College to expand access to its nationally recognized social work program. Starting this fall, Adelphi’s School of Social Work will offer classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings at SCCC’s Riverhead campus.
Traditional students – and adults seeking career changes – who’ve completed an SCCC associate’s degree program or otherwise met Adelphi’s core requirements will be eligible to enroll in four classes per semester, and could complete their social work bachelor’s degree in as soon as two years.
This is not the first time Garden City-based Adelphi has geographically expanded its social work program. The university already offers bachelor’s- and master’s-level social work courses at its Hauppauge Center.
Expanding to SCCC’s Riverhead campus is another big step, opening the world-class program to Eastern Long Island students – and directly answering the call of “a growing profession with tremendous opportunities,” according to Sheila Edwards-Robinson, who directs the Hauppauge Center social work program and is overseeing the SCCC collaboration.
“This new site offers convenience and flexibility for those who live and/or work in the Riverhead area, eliminating the need to commute up to an hour for access to Adelphi’s top-ranked program,” Edwards-Robinson added.
Manoj Pardasani: University of diversity.
This also marks the latest collaboration streamlining combined degree programs between Adelphi and other academic institutions. Already on the books are a joint-admissions alliance that sends four-year Adelphi graduates straight to Syracuse-based Upstate Medical University and the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and a “streamlined partnership” with Farmingdale State College facilitating Adelphi graduate degrees in computer science, psychology, sports management and more.
Adelphi and SCCC also maintain a pre-existing funneling program that guarantees university admission for two-year SCCC graduates.
Manoj Pardasani, dean of the Adelphi University School of Social Work, noted the new SCCC partnership would also help broaden the social work program’s socioeconomic makeup, “especially (among) individuals from under-represented backgrounds.”
“[This] supports the university’s goal of building a diverse workforce in the social work profession,” Pardasani said in a statement.
