University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. School of Social Work. Field Education Program.

The School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was founded in 1920 as the School of Public Welfare. Fieldwork has been a component of the curriculum for second-year students since at least the 1930s.

The School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was founded in 1920 as the School of Public Welfare. Its first head was Howard W. Odum, whom President Chase recruited expressly to direct the new school and a new Department of Sociology. The Red Cross assisted the university in the establishment of the School of Public Welfare by contributing to the salaries of two faculty members and a staff member during the first three years of the school's operation. Initially the school and the Department of Sociology worked in tandem. Eventually the school became focused on professional social work and the department on teaching, research, and publication in the field of sociology.

In 1932 the School of Public Welfare became part of the new School of Public Administration, headed by Dr. Walter C. Jackson. The School of Public Administration was discontinued in 1936, and Public Welfare then became the Division of Public Welfare and Social Work, which was a part of the Graduate School. In 1950 it again became a separate school with Arthur E. Fink as dean, and its name was changed to School of Social Work. Its two-year curriculum led to the Master of Social Work degree. A Ph.D. program was added in 1994. As of 2008, the School of Social Work was ranked eighth nationally among social work programs by U.S. News and World Report . Fieldwork has been a component of the curriculum for second-year students since at least the 1930s.