Social work and criminal justice program holds capstone fair

March 6, the social work and criminal justice program will hold a capstone fair for the Master of Social Work degree students at the William Philip Hall from 6–7:30 p.m. During the event, graduating students will present their applied projects, plans for intervention and contributions towards society to entities, professors and UW Tacoma students.

The capstone fair is a yearly event that is attended by many agencies, through whom funding for these projects can be attained. Around 50 projects will be on display at this fair for the public to examine; students will present their findings and research in extensive detail.

Dr. JaeRan Kim, assistant social work and criminal justice professor at UWT, is the current professor for the mandatory TSOCW 525 Advanced Practicum course. She has a background in child welfare work and her research focuses on program development. Kim has been teaching in this program at UWT for three years, and expects students graduating in both spring and winter to showcase their work at the fair.

“Teaching this class has been really wonderful for me, because I get to help MSW students,” Kim said. “I get to help them think about taking their own process to the next level and assist them in developing their own program and interventions.”

Kim stated that through this program, the Master of Social Work students have learned skills such as social work intervention, how to implement policies and how to work on basic fundamentals that help interacting with organizations. Considering all these valuable tools, she expects the fair to be a success with respect to the quality of projects on display.

“They can develop an intervention and project that will be solving a social problem in need, for any population they are interested in,” Kim said. “They can focus on helping the homeless population or families, etc. by presenting a solution.”

Kim was quick to highlight the impact of the work on display, as it addressed multiple issues at different magnitudes. She expects a high number of students attending the fair, giving their feedback on the projects.

“The fair will show the creative and solution-oriented work that our students come up with,” Kim stated. “They’re imaginative and focused on social justice. It’s really a showcase of their commitment in improving the lives of people and their surrounding community. So, it would be nice seeing other students taking an interest in overviewing their work.”