Rate My Professor Caren Putzu

Caren Putzu is a Professor in the School of Social Work at Eastern Michigan University, joining the faculty as an Assistant Professor effective September 1, 2015. She earned a Ph.D. in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Public Administration from the College of Charleston, a Master of Social Work from the University of South Carolina, and a B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology from Gettysburg College. Before entering academia, Putzu gained extensive professional experience in school social work. She served as a school-based mental health counselor for the South Carolina Department of Mental Health in Charleston, program manager and site coordinator for Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area, Inc., where she oversaw coordinators and managed grants, and AmeriCorps VISTA with the Choice Middle Schools Program in Hagerstown, MD.

Putzu's research interests include school drop-out prevention, youth resilience, the role of non-parental adults as protective factors for youth, education policy research, and program evaluation. Her key publications encompass co-authored articles such as 'Recent Social Work Practitioners' Understanding and Use of Evidence-Based Practice and Empirically Supported Treatments' in the Journal of Social Work Education (2018) and 'Newly Educated MSW Social Workers' Use of Evidence-Based Practice' in the same journal (2019), as well as the chapter 'Risk and Protective Factors for Juvenile Delinquency' in the Juvenile Justice Sourcebook: Past, Present, and Future (Oxford University Press, 2014). She has presented papers at the Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meetings (2014, 2015) and the Annual Public Administration Conference (2014). Putzu teaches courses including SWRK 222: Social Welfare Policies and Services, SWRK 405: Analysis and Change in Social Welfare Policies, SWRK 430: Social Work Evaluation and Research: Qualitative and Statistical Methods, and SWRK 565: Generalist Social Work Practice with Communities. Among her honors are the Elaine Rothenberg Award (2015) and School of Social Work Service Awards (2013, 2014) from Virginia Commonwealth University. At EMU, she co-received funding for 'Addressing Gaps in Care for Substance Exposed Infants' (2019), serves as Faculty Senate representative for Social Work, acts as Primary Contact for CSWE accreditation of the MSW program, and coordinates continuing education.