** 2024 Commencement Updates **

** 2024 Commencement Updates **

Social Work Programs Reaccredited for Eight Years

November 17, 2020

photo of Cristina Durán

Cristina Durán

Las Vegas, N.M. – The Council on Social Work Education reaccredited the New Mexico Highlands University Facundo Valdez School of Social work for eight years through 2028.

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accredits social work programs nationally. According to the CSWE, this reaccreditation signifies that Highlands University’s social work programs demonstrate a high level of performance, integrity and quality. The Facundo Valdez School of Social Work is the oldest accredited social work program in New Mexico and was first accredited in 1974.

“This CSWE reaccreditation assures that the public can have confidence in our social work programs at Highlands and communicates that our curriculum is well designed to prepare students to be competent social work professionals,” said Cristina Durán, dean of the Highlands Facundo Valdez School of Social Work. “Accreditation also enables our graduates to seek professional licensure.”

Both the Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work programs at Highlands received reaccreditation with the Council of Social Work Education.

“This determination by the CSWE represents the culmination of a thorough and thoughtful examination of our courses, curriculum and learning environment performed by the School,” Durán said. “CSWE site visitors were impressed with the pride that Highlands and the School communities expressed in our programs.

“We were quite pleased with how the CSWE site visit team also acknowledged and commented on the School’s focus on diversity and multiculturalism, given how the demographics of New Mexico and the Southwest region shape the lived experiences of client populations,” Durán said.

“The reaccreditation of our wonderful programs in social work reaffirm the high quality of those programs and clearly signal to future students and others that the programs meet all national standards and prepare students for high service to others,” said Sam Minner, Highlands University president. “We have many important programs at Highlands, but none are more critical than those housed in the Facundo Valdez School of Social Work. This is a testament to the outstanding faculty and staff members in the school, the excellent leadership of the school, and the commitment to high standards in service to others.”

Durán said: “Many thanks go to our faculty, staff and students who contributed to the Council of Social Work Education reaccreditation effort.”

The Facundo Valdez School of Social Work has a strong focus on serving Hispanic and Native American communities with unique programs like its bilingual/bicultural concentration and the Native American Social Work Studies Institute, Durán said.

More information about the Facundo Valdez School of Social Work is online at www.nmhu.edu/socialwork.