School of Social Policy & Practice

Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice launches nation’s first practice doctorate in nonprofit administration

The new degree is the first practice-based doctoral program in the nation focused exclusively on leadership for nonprofit administrators. Applications for the inaugural doctorate in nonprofit administration cohort will open in September 2025, with the program beginning in fall 2026.

Person with head covering looking out a window.

Thriving while surviving: Understanding the social needs of cancer survivors

Penn researchers and their colleagues have investigated how unmet social needs impact the health and well-being of U.S. cancer survivors. Their findings are relevant for other serious chronic illnesses.

3 min. read

Nursing students help man on floor in disaster simulation.

Disaster simulation trains nursing students in mass casualty incident response

The School of Nursing—in collaboration with Penn Medicine, the School of Social Policy & Practice, and the Division of Public Safety—held a disaster simulation, with graduate nursing students responding to volunteer actors injured in a mock explosion.

4 min. read

Penn Global awards two Penn Wharton China Center Residency Grants

Penn Global has awarded its first two Residency Grants to Chao Guo, professor of nonprofit management in the School of Social Policy and Practice, and Emily Hannum, Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professor in the Social Sciences, professor of sociology, and associate dean of social sciences in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Penn students innovate in the time of AI

Students from schools across the University are putting knowledge into practice, asking deep questions and finding innovative uses for AI tools.

5 min. read

Christina Bartzokis is earning dual degrees from Penn Carey Law and the School of Social Policy & Practice, and is headed to Louisiana to start her practice as a public defender.

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Aiming for a ‘holistic representation’ career as dual-degree Law and SP2 grad

Christina Bartzokis worked as a Child Protective Services case worker for three years in rural Oregon. Now she’s set her sights on Louisiana, where she’ll serve as a public defender.

3 min. read

Alice Wu, a Yellow Ribbon award recipient graduating from SP2's Master of Social Work program

Graduating student veteran makes use of a Yellow Ribbon award

Alice Wu, a Navy veteran graduating from the School of Social Policy & Practice in May, used support from the Yellow Ribbon Program to make a principled, impact-driven career change.

4 min. read

How economic stressors and vaccination shaped mental health during the pandemic

The research, conducted by SP2’s Chenyi Ma, emphasizes the need to integrate mental health support into disaster risk management.

2 min. read

Jacqueline Corcoran and her book cover, What do Social Workers Do All Day?

The intersection of storytelling and social work

A new book edited by School of Social Policy & Practice professor Jacqueline Corcoran highlights the day-to-day reality of social work through social workers detailing their experiences in the style of creative nonfiction.