Senior Instructor Emerita, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences
Sarah S. Andrews, LISW-S, Senior Instructor Emerita, completed the MSSA in Direct Practice at the Mandel School and advanced to candidacy for the PhD in Social Welfare. She previously earned MA in Family Development from The University of Akron. She started as part-time in 1990 and has been a full time faculty in 1994, serving as Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs from 2004 to 2015.
In 2015 she won the Ohio School Social Work Association’s (OSSWA) state-wide Friend of School Social Work Award and has twice been the recipient of the Mandel School Outstanding Teacher Award. She completed a fellowship with the Ethics Institute at the Center for Professional Ethics, CWRU, and a teaching fellowship with the University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education (UCITE) as well as a year-long Train the Diversity Champion program through the Office of the Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity at CWRU.
Why I Chose This Profession
I was raised with a faith perspective that focused on social justice issues. Later activist involvement for civil rights and activism for women and LGBTQ sharpened my understanding of and commitment to the multiple issues of social justice that concern us in social work practice today.
“I’ve had the greatest experience out of all my professors with Sarah Andrews in SASS 518: Grief, Death, and Loss. She took a personal interest in my creativity as a writer and gave me resources on her own time of different writings on grief. She was very kind to us and was a calming presence for such an emotionally difficult class. I can honestly say she’s one of the best professors I’ve had in my entire academic career including undergrad.” Megan Hayda, Third Year Intensive Weekend Student, Fall, 2018
Teaching Information
Courses Taught
SASS 440. Human Development, Child and Adolescent
SASS 441. Human Development, Adult
SASS 518. Social Work with Death, Grief, and Loss
SASS 639: Independent Study for Early Teaching Support
Research Information
Research Interests
- Loss, grief, and bereavement
- Women’s issues in social work practice
- Family systems theory
- Spiritually-sensitive social work practice
- LGBTQ issues, specifically adolescents and elders
Education
Master of Science in Social Administration
Case Western Reserve University
Master of Arts
The University of Akron
Additional Information
Concentration
- Aging, Health
- Children, Youth, and Families
- Undergraduate Minor in Social Work
Affiliations and Activities