Bachelor of Behavioral Studies in Social Work

Why Social Work? Are you seeking an education that leads to high-demand, fast-paced, challenging career opportunities? Are you concerned about equity and justice? Do you have a heart for serving others? Want to work in a growing professional field, become a licensed professional in your graduating semester, and obtain employment utilizing your degree from HSU? What about credit toward a graduate degree while completing your undergraduate work?

Being a social worker means serving people who are vulnerable, oppressed, or marginalized, and addressing the conditions of society at the very core of injustice. Social Work is a dynamic profession that has the fundamental commitment of helping people and communities solve problems. It is a unique profession, comprised of people who want to make a difference in the world, who create effective, palpable change, and promote equity and justice for all people through evidence-based, holistic practices. Social workers are found in many fields of practice: mental health, medical, schools, governmental agencies, and the military, addiction and recovery, geriatric care, children and families, foster and adoption. In the HSU Social Work Department, the faculty & staff are passionate about, and highly invested in student success and professionalism, while providing a variety of opportunities to make a difference in the lives of individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations.

Social Work Program Vision

HSU Social Work will be a premier social work education program in West Texas, developing competent and effective social work professionals to meet the needs of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities, and to serve those who are the most vulnerable and oppressed in society.

Social Work Program Mission

As members of the Christian community of Hardin-Simmons University, the mission of the Social Work Program is to:

• Prepare students for competent and effective professional social work practice as generalist practitioners by providing appropriate knowledge, values, and skills to serve individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities,
• Develop professionals who promote social justice, dignity, and worth of the individual, importance of human relationships, human rights, and scientific inquiry, and who are characterized by integrity, competence, and service. And,
• Produce leaders and advocates in policy development and service delivery for human rights and social and economic justice within a global context.

You’ll never find another place like Hardin-Simmons University. We are a Baptist university in Abilene, Texas, with 127 years of history and traditions that aren’t matched at any other school, and that gives HSU a personality as big as the West Texas horizon.

Our Mission and Vision

• Mission: The mission of Hardin-Simmons University is to be a community dedicated to providing excellence in education enlightened by Christian faith and values.
• Vision: Hardin-Simmons University will be an innovative community of servant scholars engaging the minds and nurturing the spirits of future Christian leaders.

So, what does make HSU different?

Honestly, you won’t know what makes Hardin-Simmons different from other universities until you visit. When prospective students visit the campus, they use the words “family” and “home” to describe HSU. We think that says a lot about us, and we’d love to have you come visit.

But right now, you want to know why you should even come to visit. So, let’s start at HSU’s beginning … actually before its formation.

The Legacy of James B. Simmons

Our namesake founder, Dr. James B. Simmons, was a Baptist minister from the Northeast before and after the Civil War. He preached freedom for slaves before the war, which earned him threats of tar and feathers … and got his church in Indianapolis burned to the ground. After the Civil War, he helped found seven colleges for freed slaves because he knew education was essential for their success as free citizens.

Finally, he helped a group of merchants, ranchers, and pastors in the frontier town of Abilene, Texas, start a new Baptist university to serve a huge area of the country where no higher education yet existed. The legacy of Dr. James B. Simmons is still strongly felt and embodied at Hardin-Simmons University today.

Simmons was a frontiersman who never lived on the frontier. Through his thoughts and prayers and dreams, he helped others push boundaries and break barriers. Simmons asked himself two questions, “What is the greatest thought that has ever occupied your mind?” and, “What is your duty toward fulfilling it?”

His pioneering spirit and those two huge questions produced a mission that lives on at HSU, “So that Christianity may reach the whole globe, all barriers must be removed.”

The HSU Family

Our students have big dreams, and HSU exists to instill the knowledge and nurture the confidence to identify and fulfill those dreams. We do that by embracing every student as a member of our Family. You will matter at HSU, and you will matter to us when you go into the world.

Our students will tell you that they came here to be part of that Family. Our alumni will tell you, from all around the world, that they are still part of the HSU Family.

Prospective students who visit HSU tell us all the time, “I just knew HSU was where I was supposed to be.” Our campus is welcoming and not intimidating. Everything is easy to find and all classes are within quick walks of residential buildings.

HSU Traditions

Big Texas universities are famous for their traditions, but big schools aren’t famous for their family atmospheres. At Hardin-Simmons, though, you can find traditions like Beanie Capping, Ring Dunk, the Six White Horses, and Cowboy Band – all while keeping your chance to be a big fish in a small pond.

Academic Excellence

We also have a ratio of 1 professor for every 12 students. That ensures that you will get personal attention from your professors, and every class will be taught by a professor. There aren’t any crowds for you to get lost in at HSU. In fact, you’ll probably get invited to dinner at a professor’s house every so often. You will be pushed to do your best, but you’ll always have assistance to achieve it.

Can you feel the difference, yet?

Families love, protect, support, and challenge each other. We challenge you to come to Hardin-Simmons, become part of our family, have fun, learn a lot, find your dreams, break barriers, blaze new trails – and change the world for Christ.