This summer, Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Center for Graduate Studies in Asheville has partnered with East Tennessee State University to offer an advanced standing Master of Social Work program at Lenoir-Rhyne’s Montford based campus facility, according to a press release by Lenoir-Rhyne University.
The new cooperative program is an unusual pairing of a public and private institution, as Lenoir-Rhyne seeks to spread the word about its state of the art Asheville graduate center, while ETSU hopes to expand its Master of Social Work program into western North Carolina.
“The East Tennessee State University Master of Social Work Program, located in Johnson City, Tennessee, is excited about the newly established relationship with Lenoir-Rhyne University,” says Kelly Reath, ETSU’s MSW program director. She adds that the new partnership will allow ETSU to reach employed workers in the Asheville area who are interested in pursuing clinical practice in the region.
“We look forward to expanding our distance education programming in social work to meet the needs of western North Carolina residents interested in the social work profession,” says Reath in the official press release.
Lenoir-Rhyne’s Assistant Provost and Dean of Graduate and Adult Programs in Asheville, Amy Wood, says that the unique cooperative agreement between the two institutions will help Lenoir-Rhyne gain exposure. “Anytime they market the program they are marketing that it’s held on the campus of LRU in Asheville.”
Lenoir-Rhyne will also receive a portion of tuition fees from each student enrolled in ETSU’s program. Officials from both universities hope that this will be the beginning of a continued series of partnerships between the two educational institutions, where they can provide cross-training to students, share resources and speakers and collaborate on internship opportunities.
“We want to be a hub of graduate education in the Asheville community,” says Wood. “Bringing in the ETSU program facilitates our mission in doing that.”
For more information on ETSU’s Social Work Master Program in Asheville, check out etsu.edu/cas/socialwork. For more info on Lenoir-Rhyne and its graduate studies programs, visit asheville.lr.edu/.
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