Photo of Dean Wong sitting with the Assessment Team for the BSW program at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Dear SSW Community and Colleagues,
I hope you have noticed the new "Dean’s Weekly Brief" emails arriving in your inbox. I started these to ensure you receive the most timely updates possible without having to wait for my monthly newsletter messages. If you aren't receiving them for any reason, please reach out to my assistant, Robin Teater, so she can add you to our distribution list. These monthly messages will serve as a space for me to highlight positive happenings, unique challenges, and personal reflections from across our community.
One such reflection comes from my two-week stay in Hong Kong last month, where I conducted an accreditation review for the BSW program at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. I was privileged to work alongside a diverse Assessment Team of academics, practitioners, and external stakeholders. Despite a tenuous geopolitical landscape, our collaboration served as a powerful reminder of what a diverse and committed group of people can achieve. The work was demanding and at times exhausting, but you can tell by the looks on our faces in the photos that we felt great pride in our collective achievement despite the challenges all around us.
And we have challenges here as well, to be sure. The U.S. Department of Education recently released a committee final rule on proposed regulatory language implementing federal student loan-related changes under the Budget Reconciliation Act of 2025. They published the proposed regulations for public comment in the Federal Register on January 30, 2026 and will be open for comment until March 2, 2026.
This matters to us a great deal as the final rule defines the terms “professional student” and “graduate student” for purposes of determining federal student loan amounts based on the type of program a student is enrolled in. The problem: the rule excludes graduate programs in social work, public health, and several other essential health and human service fields. If finalized, these changes would take effect July 1. I encourage you to review the SSWR statement and public comment talking points here. Public comment is open until March 2, 2026.
On a more positive note, I am so pleased to see that the Faculty Colloquium series has been revived. While I was unfortunately away for Dr. Jessica Ramirez’s well-attended session, I hope you can join us on February 18th during the noon hour for Dr. Sid Jordan’s presentation, titled “Understanding and disrupting the abuse-prison nexus: Abolitionist feminist approaches to social care work.”
Featuring our excellent faculty in this way also reminds me to encourage you to take a moment and consider nominating someone as part of PSU’s Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards. There are several categories for nominations, and the deadline is Friday, Feb. 13th.
Also on the positive news side, we continue to fill the March calendar with programs and activities to celebrate Social Work Month. You can find the latest calendar of events here, that includes links to register for any events that require an RSVP. We look forward to highlighting the richness of our field – and the related fields of human and family services – and lifting up those are dedicating their lives to this critical work in these especially challenging times.
Finally, I wanted to help promote this special opportunity for those seeking work that is truly special. In May last year, I had the privilege of visiting an extraordinary end-of-life care facility called Hopewell House, which is led by alum Lesley Sacks (MSW 2005). Hopewell House is currently looking for a successor for Lesley as she prepares to transition from her role as director. My visit there moved me deeply; it is a place that exemplifies the often “mundane heroism” of our field – the patient, daily work of providing care and connection and solace during life’s most vulnerable moments. If you know a person capable of leading this kind of transformative work, I encourage you to share this opportunity with them.
Thank you for all you are doing to stay in community while contributing to our increasingly vital work.
Sincerely,
Dean Evaon Wong