University of Denver Spring 2025

Elevating Social Work Training Across Colorado

... you could do a lot more harm coming into a community or culture you don’t understand.

If anyone knows the power of distant social work programs, it’s M ichele H anna, associate professor in the G raduate S chool of S ocial W ork. D ecades ago, when she was a part - time graduate student in O klahoma, she traveled across the state for in person classes on the weekends. “ W e were all working full time. M any of us had families. T his was the only way we were going to get our degree,” says H anna. “ T hese distance programs meet a real need.” T hat personal connection has fueled H anna to administer and secure fi nancial support for DU ’s MSW students through Collaborative L earning and E ducational M odels of Behavioral H ealth P rograms ( C L I M B @ DU) , a federally funded program that provides stipends for living or school expenses. C L I M B @ DU also offers students specialized coursework in psychopharmacology and cultural / linguistic competency and fi eld placements in integrated and interprofessional behavioral health. “ O ne of the primary reasons the C L I M B @ DU grants exist is the workforce demand in rural and medically underserved communities,” says H anna. S tudents often say their favorite experience of the program is breaking down the rural - urban divide when students from all three programs —D enver, W estern Colorado and Four Corners — gather at S t. M ary’s R egional H ospital in G rand J unction. Alongside nursing and social work students from Colorado M esa U niversity, students learn from behavioral health providers and medical professionals from across the state. W hile C L I M B @ DU students interact fre q uently online, being together in person is meaningful way to share perspectives. “For our D enver students, it’s eye - opening to see this rural - adjacent program and how it works in rural communities,” says H anna. “For our rural students, they get a lot out of the interprofessional piece as well as interacting with the D enver students. T he biggest complaint we get is they don’t get enough time.”

R e fl ecting on her journey of navigating multiple worlds, both personally and professionally, D oughty embraces her ability to be a bridge between different environments and communities. “ T he U te people were warriors. W e are people that are very direct. W e are people that want to know what’s going on

and ask direct q uestions,” explains D oughty. “ T he N avajo side of me has to remember that I cannot ask directly because it’s rude to do that. I have to talk around the issue before I get to it. It’s a belief system of being balanced and in harmony.” In the classroom, D oughty asks students to practice cultural awareness in a controlled setting before engaging in fi eld education. S he has created a space where students can be candid, ask q uestions and feel safe. S peci fi cally, she wants non -N ative students to understand themselves and their motivations as well as the importance of tribal sovereignty before working with clients. “I tell them this is a place where I’d like for you to make the mistakes,” says D oughty. “ L et’s do this in the classroom, because you could do a lot more harm coming into a community or culture you don’t understand.”

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UNIVERSITY OF DENVER MAGAZINE | SPRING 2025