VCU School of Social Work

Samuel S. Wurtzel Endowed Chair

“I came to VCU in 1993 and was attracted to the culture at the School of Social Work in which teaching, scholarship and service were truly integrated. This integration has given me an opportunity to teach across B.S.W., M.S.W., and Ph.D. programs, as well as serve consecutively on all three program committees. The faculty’s commitment to quality teaching is exciting for me, and I have learned so much from my faculty colleagues and students.

“For the last two years I have had the remarkable opportunity to sit in the Samuel S. Wurtzel Endowed Chair. Mr. Wurtzel was a philanthropist and businessman who served on the school’s advisory council a number of years ago. He believed that social workers need to have strong administrative skills, which fits well with my background in administration and planning.

“As I’ve sat in his chair, it has been my great privilege to work with a team of colleagues on an historical study of Richmond’s centenarian health and human service agencies. We are learning a great deal about gender and race within Richmond, as well as how these organizations managed to survive within an ever changing context. This research and much of the scholarship that I am now focusing on is dedicated to understanding the complexity of administering human service agencies, as well as helping practitioners to survive in ever changing environments.”

Education

• Ph.D. – University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• M.S.S.W. – University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.
• B.A. – Duke University, Durham, N.C.

Courses taught

• Social Work with Oppressed Groups (B.S.W.)
• Social Work Organization, Community and Policy I and II (M.S.W.)
• Social Work Planning and Administrative Practice I and II (M.S.W.)
• Social Work, Social Welfare and Social Thought (Ph.D.)

Selected publications

• Netting, F.E., O’Connor, M.K., & Fauri, D.P. (2008). Comparative approaches to program planning. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

• Netting, F.E., Kettner, P.M., & McMurtry, S.L. (2008). Social work macro practice, 4th edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

• Netting, F.E. (2008) Aunt Doris’s Moves. In J. O. Beckett (Ed.). Lifting Our Voices: The Journeys into Caregiving of Professional Social Workers (pp. 247-278). New York: Columbia University Press.

• Netting, F.E. (2008). Macro social work practice. In T. Mizrahi & L. E. Davis (Editors in Chief). Encyclopedia of Social Work 20th Edition, Volume 3 J-R, pp. 139-144. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press and New York: Oxford University Press.

• Netting, F.E., O’Connor, M.K., & Singletary, J. (2007). Finding homes for their dreams: Strategies founders and program initiators use to position faith-based programs. Families in Society, 8, 19-29.

Professional affiliations

• Academy of Certified Social Workers
• AGE-Social Work
• American Society on Aging
• Association for Gerontology in Higher Education
• Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action
• Association on Community Organization and Social Administration
• Council on Social Work Education
• Gerontological Society of America
• National Association of Social Workers
• National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform
• Phi Kappa Phi
• Southern Gerontological Society