Student Awards in Social Justice
Dedication - Ms Lila Kirilik
The Lila Kirilik Memorial Social Justice Awards were established in 2004 to commemorate Ms Lila Kirilik, Senior Lecturer in Social Welfare at Charles Sturt University, whose untimely death in 2002 represented a significant loss to students and members of the academic and social service community. The high regard with which she was held lay in her focus on social justice in education for social service practice.
Social Justice Awards Committee
- Ms Elizabeth Moore, Convenor Social Justice Awards emoore@csu.edu.au
- Dr Lynelle Osburn, Convenor Lila Kirilik Social Action Prize losburn@csu.edu.au
- Ms Karen Bell, kbell@csu.edu.au
- Mr Alistair Lemmon, alemmon@csu.edu.au
Lila Kirilik - Social Action Prize
Annual Student Prize of $500.00 (plus $500.00 donation)
Each year the Social Work and Human Services Discipline awards the Lila Kirilik Social Action Prize (the Prize) to a graduating student who has completed a practicum subject (HCS303 Professional Field Education 1 or HCS402 Professional Field Education 2) in the undergraduate Bachelor of Social Science (Social Welfare) or Bachelor of Social Work. The Prize rewards the student’s application of the principles of social justice, equity, empowerment and self determination in their practice, and provides them the opportunity to donate matched funding to an appropriately auspiced social justice project of their choice.
Selection criteria and application
The Prize is awarded to a student on the basis of demonstrated merit in a professional field education subject and in particular, achieving a social action outcome of benefit to a disadvantaged individual, group or community.
Students prepare their application in consultation with their University Liaison Academic, Agency Supervisor and Subject Co-ordinator. The application should demonstrate:
- merit in the application of academic learning to practice
- social action and social justice outcomes
- benefit to a disadvantaged individual, group or community
- application of the principles of social justice, equity, empowerment and self-determination.
The application will comprise the student’s documentation of their practice achievements and supporting evidence of their method and its outcomes, such as:
- references from their CSU Academic Liaison person and/or Agency Supervisor commenting on the student’s professional orientation, client group advocacy and application of academic learning to practice
- evidence of outputs from diverse media such as written project documentation, photographs, video, audio, media coverage, records of agendas or programs or training
- other evidence of outcomes can include additional referee reports, testimonials and before and after materials.
Students must also nominate the social justice project to which they would like to donate $500.00 and the details of the auspicing body to which their donation can be made.
Past recipients of the Lila Kirilik Social Action Prize
2007
Michelle Smith, Bachelor of Social Work (Hons. Class 1)
Centrelink – Single Parents and Welfare to Work
Michelle’s focus was the impact of Welfare to Work policies on single parents in a geographic area served by a Centrelink office. The project identified the structural barriers to their work participation by single parents. By offering strategies to address these barriers at a policy level it promoted the prospect of meaningful work participation for single parents within their community while also fulfilling their parenting commitments.
2006
Allison White, Bachelor of Social Work
Centrelink – Carer support.
2005
Clare Sillence, Bachelor of Social Work
Wagga Wagga Women’s Health Centre
2004
Louise Gestier, BSocSci(SocWel), University Medallist
New South Wales Department of Community Services
Social Justice Fund
Project Grants up to $1,500.00
Social Justice Fund Grants (Grants) aim to provide a mechanism to encourage social justice and social action initiatives of students and academics in teaching and learning in the Social Work and Human Services undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum.
Who may apply?
Applicants must be either academic staff or students involved in Social Work and Human services undergraduate or postgraduate courses who have conceptualised the initiative and will both carry it out and report on the outcomes.
Selection criteria and exclusions
A Grant application must:
1.Demonstrate that it aims to advance the wellbeing of people from social equity groups who are vulnerable, due to poverty, race, ethnicity, disability, age, gender or rural location of residence/practice.
2. i) Specify a teaching and learning initiative that will increase the relevance of and/or access to human services curriculum for social equity groups.
And/or
ii) Specify a social action practice initiative that will potentially benefit social equity groups through the application of principles of social justice, equity, empowerment and self-determination.
3. Include one or more of the following objectives:
- promote access to professional education for an individual academic staff member, student or practitioner in one of the equity groups (1 above)
- develop curriculum that aims to promote access to human service courses for practitioners in agencies where a high proportion of total service provision is to people in an equity group
- develop practice skill of a student in the application of principles of social justice, equity, empowerment and self determination
- develop teaching skill of an academic staff member that improves their teaching effectiveness in subjects that are relevant to, and/or accessed by, students in equity groups.
Limitations on conference funding:
This is limited to the following:
- Students may be assisted with two of the three items of registration, travel and accommodation
- Academic staff, only when the Head of School also agrees to contribute $500.00 and the conference is part of an identified curriculum or teaching development initiative.
- Situations in which, either:
- (i) The applicant will contribute to the conference proceedings though a paper, workshop or poster, and provide a copy as an outcome of the grant.
And/or
- ii) The applicant’s attendance at the conference will be used in research and development of a teaching and learning initiative.
Exclusions from funding:
An initiative will not be funded where:
- the applicant is eligible for funding from another source and has not applied
- full funding has been provided by another source
- partial funding has been provided by more than one other source
- the initiative could be regarded as a pre-existing function or activity funded within a University School, Research Centre, Faculty or Division or social service providing agency.
Application process
Applications are encouraged within the two funding rounds with closing dates of:
- 31 May
- 30 August
Where the applicant provides convincing justification, ad hoc applications will also be considered.
Applications, in memo form must include the following information:
- Applicant details – personal identity, CSU identity and status.
- Initiative details, description in accordance with Fund purpose and objectives.
- Date of commencement and completion of initiative.
- Disclosure of other funding sources, whether applied for and granted.
- Detailed and fully costed allowable budget items (fee for service, conference registration, travel, accommodation, teaching release, printing), including funds from all other sources.
- Ethical consideration and evidence of approval if needed.
- Proposal to report final outcomes – date, expenditure, results.
- Comment by Professor of Social Work and Human Services and/or Head of School.
Applicants will be notified of the decision one month after the closing date, usually:
- 30 June
- 30 September
Approving body:
Approval will be granted by the Social Justice Awards Committee, comprising a Convenor and up to three other members of the academic teaching staff of the Social Work and Human Services Discipline who:
- are appointed for one year at the final meeting of the previous year that is open to all Discipline teaching staff
- on the understanding that the group will disqualify members from considering their own applications, or those which may present, or be seen to represent, a conflict of interests of a personal or professional nature (e.g. family member, supervised research student)
Reporting the outcomes:
Applicants must comply with all aspects of their proposal to report the outcomes of the funded initiative within three calendar months of the event for which funding was granted. The report will be in accordance with the funding agreement and include a 150 word abstract of the project and any photographic material appropriate for website publication.
2007 Social Justice Grants
Title: Plan-it Youth – The Riverina Way $1,790
Applicants: Authors David Post & Simran Rajkumar, BSW students
Greg Robinson, Field Supervisor, NSW Department of Education & Training
Plan-it Youth provides mentors to support young people at risk of dropping out of school early. Greg Robinson, Project Co-ordinator, contributes to teaching and learning of CSU social work and social welfare undergraduate students through the development of a sustained best practice initiative to which a student contributes annually. The Grant covered the cost of printing reports completed by students of professional field education in 2005 and 2006. This evaluation of Plan-it Youth is in two parts.
Title: Sukhothai Thamathirat Open University, Thailand $1,500 x 2
Ms Boonsern Hutapet – PhD candidate in child protection studies
Ms Rutchankeekorn Chatchaisathit – PhD candidate in domestic violence
Applicant: Dr Lynelle Osburn
In the course of supervising CSU PhD candidates who are also academic educators in Thailand, Dr Osburn became aware of the difficulties they confronted in accessing academic texts that are current and relevant to their area of study. These two grants are to fund the supply of books on these topics for the Sukhothai Thamathirat Open University. As well as providing CSU students with needed resources, the books will be used by the students they are teaching in Thailand.
Past recipients of the Social Justice Fund Grants
2006
Title: Learning Circles conducted at The Voices 3-4 June
Inaugural Conference of the National Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Workers Association (ATSISWA)
Applicants: Christine King and Mirella Fejo, ATSISWA
Title: Rural Unit for Health and Social Affairs, Tamil Nadu, India
Professional Field Education Practicum, India
Applicants: Kirsty Wilson, Undergraduate student (see separate report on practicum)
2005
Title: Linking CSU with the FAST project.
IFSW and Sri Lankan Social Work Association’s tsunami disaster response
Applicants: Jeannette Conway, IFSW
Title: 6th National Men’s Health Conference, Melbourne.
Applicants: Dilip Balu, Undergraduate student
2004
Title: WEL418 Case Management – Promoting Indigenous Access & Relevance
Applicant: Maree Moore, Lecturer in Human Services
Title: Donation – Global Social Work 2004 – Solidarity Fund
Applicant: Elizabeth Moore, Lecturer in Human Services
Title: Student poster presentation to Global Social Work 2004 2-5 October.
Reflective Learning and Teaching in Field Education in International Contexts
Applicants: Camille Jolley and Denise Taylor, Undergraduate students
Title: Global Social Work 2004
Promoting International Exchange in Social Work Education
Applicant: Nicole Tough, Undergraduate student provided research assistance.