Jeanne Liechty

The Social Work Program was pleased to receive reaffirmation for 8 years from the Board of Accreditation of the Council on Social Work Education in June 2023. This reaffirmation followed the 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards [EPAS]. The Social Work faculty are now hard at work incorporating the 2022 EPAS into our curriculum.

Spring 2022 I successfully completed the GC Disability Micro-Credential under the leadership of Brooke Lemmon, Associate Professor of Education.

I have been actively facilitating the delivery of an evening degree completion format of our Social Work degree. This makes our social work curriculum (taught by GC faculty) accessible to adult students who’ve already earned an AA. The format includes block classes taught in the evening. Our thirteenth cohort begins August 2024.

I joined the board of Cora Dale Clubhouse (previously known as the Elkhart County Clubhouse) March 2023. I am pleased to be supporting this organization whose focus is on inclusion & reintegration into the community, recovery & rehabilitation for members who are people with a mental illness.

As a member of  Assembly Mennonite Church, I continue to be active in music, childcare, leader selection, and a small group focused on Gratitude.

SOWK 325 Social Work Practice Theory 1

Emphasizes development of a theoretical base for social work practice and includes experiential learning activities to build specific social work skills for working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

SOWK 425 Social Work Practice Theory 2

Expansion of learnings from Social Work Practice Theory 1 and Social Welfare Policy and Program 2, and application of social work practice with individuals, families and social systems of varying size.  This course is taught concurrently with the first semester of field instruction, which provides the opportunity to integrate theory with skill development.

SOWK 409 Social Work Field Instruction

Integration of knowledge base and the acquisition of social work practice skills through direct practice under a qualified field instructor in a social service agency.  Faculty provide weekly supervision individually and in small groups.

SOWK 410 Social Work Senior Seminar

Taken during the second semester of Field Instruction, this weekly seminar offers the integration of learnings from all social work and required related courses.  The final exam takes the form of a written paper and oral examination through which students demonstrate their integration of learning and skill competencies.

“Ethics of Professional Self-Care”: I presented a one-hour CEU course on this new component of the National Association of Social Workers’ revised Code of Ethics (2021) to the Elkhart County School Social Workers , Nov. 18, 2022.

“NASW Code of Ethics 2018 (revised)”  I presented a one-hour CEU course on the National Association of Social Workers’ revised Code of Ethics as a pre-program presentation at the 15th annual Grief Seminar the Social Work Program sponsors in conjunction with Ryan’s Place, Sept. 21, 2018.

“Poverty & Social Policy”  My sabbatical immersion in Chandler Elementary School, Goshen, gave rise to many questions about poverty and social policy as I saw the impact of policy on children daily.  This led to presentations & discussions with two adult Sunday School classes about social policy and poverty Fall and Spring 2015-16.

“Exploring ‘Use of Self’: From Definitional Challenges to Identification of Best Practices” at the Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors’ conference in Austin, TX, Nov. 2005.

“Teaching ‘Use of Self’: Best Practices Contextualized” at the Council on Social Work Education’s conference in Chicago, IL, Feb, 2006.

“Theatrical Activism: From Michiana Monologues to Community Dialogues”, roundtable presentation at the Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership conference, St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN, Oct. 2010.

Liechty, J. (2018).  Exploring “use of self”: Moving beyond definitional challenges.  Journal of Social Work Education, 54, 148-162. doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2017.1314836

Liechty, J. (2008). The influence of community upon the development of self: An exploratory study. (28/1). Smith College Studies in Social Work, 27-47.

National Association of Social Workers

The Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors

Council on Social Work Education

Nicaragua, Summer 2010   Visit the SST homepage

2012 – present    Social Work Program Director

2011 – present    Professor of Social Work

2005 – present    Department Chair, Sociology, Social Work & Anthropology

2001 – 2005        Academic leave for doctoral studies

2001 – 2001       Clinician/nursing home consultant, West Central Family & Counseling, W. Springfield, MA

2002 – 2004      Adjunct Instructor, Simmons College SSW,  Boston, MA

1998 – 2001       Assistant/Associate Professor of Social Work, Goshen College

2000, 2001        Adjunct Instructor, Cross-Cultural Experience, Bluffton College

1994 – 1998        Social Worker/team leader, Adult Inpatient Psychiatry, Cambridge Hospital, MA

1997 – 1998        Clinical Instructor, Harvard Medical School; Smith College SSW, Cambridge, MA

1996 – 1997        Clinical Instructor, Simmons College SSW; Boston University SSW, Cambridge, MA