Diana R. Garland School of Social Work

Our founding dean, Dr. Diana S. Richmond Garland, has been recognized posthumously with the National Association of Social Work Pioneers Award. This is the second major award given to Garland by NASW.

We are surrounded by messages that the holidays are supposed to be perfect—the perfect time with the perfect weather for perfect families to gather, eat perfect meals and exchange perfect gifts while we make perfect memories. What do we do when that doesn’t happen and the expectation is shattered?

Throughout the vast expanses of Texas, people in both rural and urban communities benefit from behavioral health care professionals, who address the needs of children and adults in challenges ranging from diabetes management to substance abuse. The state, however, faces a challenge—more than 75 percent of counties in Texas qualify as behavioral health shortage areas. Across rural areas, the need is particularly acute, and it grows even more for patients who are Spanish-speaking.

Baptist scholars recently gathered at Oxford University for the 2022 Baptist Scholars International Roundtable (BSIR), hosted by the Baylor University Graduate School, to promote Baptist scholarship among faculty around the world. BSIR is co-directed by Laine Scales, Ph.D., professor in Baylor’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, and Baylor graduate João Chaves, M.T.S. ’12, Ph.D. ’17, assistant professor of evangelism and mission at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and associate director for programming at the Hispanic Theological Initiative.