New Dean Sam Terrazas Takes the Helm of RIC’s School of Social Work

As a Mexican American teen growing up in Florida in the 1970s, Sam Terrazas says he couldn’t see a future beyond living in a low-income community and doing farm and landscaping work with his father. It was a course at the former Palm Beach Community College (now Palm Beach State College) that opened his eyes to career possibilities.

“I enrolled in an introduction to social work course that covered things I’d never heard about,” Terrazas recalls. “You typically don’t learn about discrimination, racism and reasons why people are poor in regular liberal arts courses. So, that social work course resonated with me.”

Terrazas went on to earn his bachelor’s of social work degree at Florida Atlantic University in 1991. He obtained his master’s and Ph.D. in social work from Barry University in Miami. Since then, he’s operated his own private practice as a psychotherapist (practicing primarily in community mental health agencies in rural and urban settings) and has worked as a professor at universities in Florida, New Mexico and Texas before being named RIC’s dean of social work in July.

“What I see here in RIC’s School of Social Work is talented faculty, a long tradition and plenty of opportunities,” Terrazas says. “It was also important to me that RIC is a Hispanic Serving Institution. Historically, in the field of social work, voices have not been overly diverse in writing and research. I think it’s important to bring not only Hispanic but African American, Native American and others into what we do in practice. RIC’s HSI designation allows me to use what I know about higher education to help students who come from similar pathways as mine to be successful.”

In Terrazas’ view, there are several pathways that students can take in social work, and he intends to expand the opportunities at RIC.

“Everywhere I go, I try to have conversations – at the institution and community level – about what a social worker does,” he says. “Social workers can be in clinical and hospital settings and even political settings. I’ve had students who worked in mayor’s and senator’s offices. There’s such a wide range of opportunities which many students don’t realize are there.”

Terrazas says that is why interdisciplinary relationships on campus are vital.

“The more our social work students can work with students in other schools on campus, the better,” he says. “In my past, I’ve worked closely with nursing and athletics and have found many connections and similarities. Social workers are now being sought out in professional sports for their skill set. We’re working toward having social workers trained in sports injuries and what that may mean to a student athlete or professional athlete particularly when it’s a career-ending injury.”

And regarding careers, Terrazas says he will place more emphasis on field placements, which is the “signature pedagogy” in social work.

“Ours is an applied degree like nursing,” he says. “When students leave our program, they’re trained and ready to go into the work force as entry-level social workers. That’s why field placements are so important.”

Terrazas notes that he wants the School of Social Work to produce students who appreciate gradual growth and development.

“Social work is a lifelong process,” he says. “Sometimes, students want to be great social workers right away, but it takes years to get there, like any other profession.”

For more information on the School of Social Work, visit our website.