Introduction to Social Work: An Advocacy-Based Profession

Lisa E. Cox, Lisa E. Cox, PhD, LCSW, MSW, is professor of social work and gerontology and a former social work program chair at Stockton University. Prior to 1999, Dr. Cox held a joint faculty appointment at Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU′s) School of Medicine (Richmond AIDS Consortium) and School of Social Work, where she taught MSW students and served as a pioneering AIDS clinical trial social worker with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease–funded Terry Beirn Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS. Dr. Cox received BA degrees in History/Political Science and Spanish from Bridgewater College and her MSW and PhD degrees from VCU. From 2007 to 2025, she served as a fellow, research scholar, advisory board member, and research chair for the Stockton Center on Successful Aging. Dr. Cox teaches undergraduate- and graduate-level classes in social work practice, gerontology, HIV/AIDS, research, psychopathology and cultural neuroscience, and clinical social work in health care. She has co-led study tours to Costa Rica and traveled throughout Europe, India, Nepal, Mexico, and Australia. She was a 2014 faculty scholar with the Geriatric Education Center Initiative and is a ten-year governor appointee to and vice chair for the New Jersey Board of Social Work Examiners. As a long-standing member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), Dr. Cox has shared her vast practice experience by holding numerous leadership roles within NASW: National Advisory Board member to the Spectrum HIV/AIDS Project, chair of the Health Specialty Practice Section, Standards for Social Work Practice in Health Care Settings Task Force expert, long-term care liaison to the Joint Commission on Health Care, and unit chairperson. Dr. Cox has presented her scholarship nationally and internationally. As the coauthor of numerous books, Dr. Cox has also authored several book chapters and numerous journal articles focused on health social work, gerontology, international social work, social support, medication adherence, and social work licensure. In 2024, Dr. Cox was approved as a Fulbright Teaching Specialist; and, since 2022 Dr. Cox has been a PASWHA (Professional Association of Social Workers and HIV/AIDS) Board member and an Atlantic County Mental Health Advisory Board member.  Dr. Cox relaxes by playing the piano, walking on the beach/boardwalk, watching baseball, and listening to music. 

Carolyn J. Tice, DSW, ACSW, was professor and associate dean of the Baccalaureate Social Work Program, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, from July 2002 to August 2020. Her prior 9-year appointment was as chair of the Department of Social Work, Ohio University, where she introduced the Masters in Social Work (MSW) with a focus on rural policy and practice.  Dr. Tice received her BSW from West Virginia University and an MSW from Temple University, and she completed her DSW at the University of Pennsylvania, where she worked with Hmong refugees.  She holds a Certificate in Administration from the Wharton School. Dr. Tice is the coauthor of numerous books and peer-reviewed articles; her scholarship focuses primarily on the development of critical-thinking skills and social work practice and policy from a strengths and advocacy perspective. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Teaching in Social Work and serves as a book prospectus reviewer for Wadsworth, SAGE, and Wiley. In 2008, she was named a Fulbright specialist and traveled to Mongolia to assist in the development of social work programs. Dr. Tice has worked with the Fulbright program for 9 years as an application reviewer. Her other international social work experiences include program development in Botswana, India, Portugal, Taiwan, Vietnam, and China.  Dr. Tice is a member of the Council of Social Work Education and the National Association of Social Workers, and she is associated with the American Friends Service Committee and the Friends Committee on National Legislation.  Dr. Tice is the proprietor of Olde Friends, a booth in an antique store located on the southern New Jersey coastline. 

Dennis D. Long, PhD, ACSW, is an Emeritus Professor of Social Work at  Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio). Dr. Long previously served as professor and chair of the Department of Social Work and as the associate dean and interim dean of the College of Professional Sciences at Xavier University. From 2006 to 2012, he was a professor and chair of the Department of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received his BA in sociology and psychology from Ohio Northern University, his MSW from The Ohio State University, and his PhD in sociology from the University of Cincinnati. The coauthor of numerous other books and articles, Dr. Long has focused his scholarship, leadership, and teaching in the areas of advocacy and macro social work, with special interests in community-based and international practice. He has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Teaching in Social Work and over many years was a long-standing member of the National Association of Social Workers and Council on Social Work Education. Dr. Long has provided leadership on numerous community and national boards, including the Butler County Mental Health Board, Oesterlen Services for Youth, Charlotte Family Housing, and the National Board of Examiners in Optometry.