As a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), students from the College of the Marshall Islands can pursue degrees in social work at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH Mānoa) beginning in the Fall of 2025.
On October 8, 2024, a team from UH Mānoa Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health met Dr. David Newnham, President of the College of the Marshall Islands, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). In an interview with The Marshall Islands Journal, Theresa Kreif, Director of UH Mānoa Thompson School Pacific Pathways & Workforce Development Initiatives, said that students can now pursue “Bachelor and Master of Social Work degrees from UH while remaining in the Republic of the Marshall Islands”
This MoU creates an additional option for traditional-aged students and working professionals to be able to choose to stay in the Marshall Islands while pursuing a social work degree. Moreover, this MoU was a part of broader efforts to provide quality education to more students. The UH Mānoa Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health has “been committed to increasing access to social work education through distance education [since] the early 2000’s,” said Kreif in an interview with East-West Center Young Professional Daniel Salgado-Alvarez.
Distance Education: A Long Path to Accessible Education Across the Pacific
In 2007, the UH Mānoa Thompson School established a distance education pathway for its MSW degree and in 2018 for its BSW. "The primary purpose was to allow students to pursue social work degrees without having to leave their home communities,” Kreif told Salgado-Alvarez. However, this option was previously limited to residents of Hawaiʻi.
Beginning in 2012, the university partnered with the University of Guam. “At their invitation, we were able to offer our Master's in Social Work (MSW) program to Guam-based individuals, and that built off the strong accredited Bachelor's in Social Work (BSW) program that the University of Guam had,” said Kreif to Salgado-Alvarez. The partnership has helped train more than 50 students from across the region.
After the success in Guam, the Thompson School began to think about new partnerships. In her interview with Salgado-Alvarez, Kreif recounted that “Beginning in Fall 2024, we had conversations to see how we could partner with regional community colleges and think about how this could be a pathway towards the further development of the profession of social work in the region.” The MoU emerged from those initial conversations.
New Possibilities for Marshallese Students
Under the MoU, students with an Associate’s degree from the College of the Marshall Islands can continue their education through virtual classes. However, UH Mānoa Thompson School takes a unique approach to the BSW. “It was particularly developed for students that we know may be returning students or who may have other priorities [like] caregiving in their home [or] supporting communities. It's one class every five weeks and it's asynchronous, which allows students to take the classes at a time that works best for them,” said Kreif to Salgado-Alvarez. This means that students can study one subject at a time. Moreover, Kreif highlighted the program’s “internship in its second, third, and fourth semesters.” Through these internships, students can gain real work experience within their communities.
If a student already has a bachelor's in social work, “they can get a one-year master's,” Kreif told Salgado-Alvarez. She then added that this advanced standing is “a faster, time efficient, and cost-effective way” to get a graduate degree. Students interested in either program can enroll in courses as soon as Fall 2025 if they submit their applications by the February 2025 deadline.
Addressing Social Work Needs in the Marshall Islands
“Currently, we don’t have Marshallese who have a formal BSW nor an MSW degree living in the Marshall Islands although so many are doing the work,” said Emma Reimers-Kurashige, MSW ʻOhana Conference Manager at EPIC, in an interview with Salgado-Alvarez. Reimers-Kurashige, a native of the Marshall Islands, served as a member of UH Mānoa Thompson School’s Pacific Partnerships and Workforce Development Initiatives' advisory board. She mentioned there is a need to train Marshallese social workers to address cases related to “mental health, deportees, the non-profit sector, education,” and more.
The Marshall Islands is facing many challenges that increase the need for social work, such as climate change, high unemployment, and scarce healthcare access. As a result, one-third of the Marshall Islands’ population has migrated to the US, primarily to Arkansas.
Enriching Diversity in Education
However, Marshallese students are not the only ones who benefit from the MoU. Since Marshallese students will join the same classes as Hawaii and Guam-based students, there are “additional opportunities for Pacific partnerships, collaborations, resource sharing, advocacy, and increasing representation,” said Kreif to Salgado-Alvarez.
Daniel Salgado-Alvarez is a Fall 2024 Young Professional at the East-West Center. He is a recent graduate from Harvard University, where he studied sociology and East Asian studies.