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On March 6, the Department of Social Work at the University of Arkansas at Monticello hosted the 7th annual Social Work Fair. The event was held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Gibson University Center Green Room and provided an opportunity for students to meet with social work faculty and active social workers from a variety of fields and speak with prospective field agencies and employers. Social workers and faculty were invited to attend and network with other professionals and enjoy a variety of door prizes and self-care bags.

The Student Social Work Association at UAM first organized the event under the guidance of Marie Jenkins, director and associate professor of social work at UAM, in 2018, in honor of Social Worker Appreciation Month, as a show of appreciation for local social work professionals. After the success of the first year, the gathering expanded into a fair and has grown every year since. In 2026, the Social Work Fair serves as an appreciation fair for professional social workers and as an informational tool for current and prospective students. This year, 20 local agencies participated in the fair.

“I always find it really interesting and really exciting when we see graduates of our program who return as practitioners. This year, I saw a lot of alumni who graduated from this program and went on to get their master’s degrees,” Jenkins said. “I would estimate about half of the vendors we had at the fair this year were represented by alumni of our program. Our program continues to make a really big impact in southeast Arkansas,” Jenkins said.

Dr. Steven Harper, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at UAM and interim dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UAM, stated, “It is hard to overstate how important social work as a profession is, and will continue to be, for Arkansas and beyond. UAM is proud of our social work faculty, students and alumni, and inspired by all of the good they do in our world. This program is a shining example of what makes UAM so remarkable and so valuable.”

For more information about the social work program at UAM, contact the Department of Social Work at lamsa@uamont.edu or 870-460-1747.