Rate My Professor Karen Magruder

Karen J. Magruder, DSW, LCSW-S, is an Associate Professor of Practice and DSW Program Director in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington. She joined the university as an adjunct instructor in 2017 and became a full-time faculty member in 2019. Bringing extensive clinical experience in aging, mental health, health promotion, long-term care, hospice, dementia, sustainability, and environmental justice, Magruder excels in bridging theory and practice through innovative pedagogy. Her teaching portfolio includes advanced micro direct practice courses in aging and green social work, MSW foundation courses, human behavior theory, and social welfare policy. A leader in online education, she integrates artificial intelligence for clinical simulations, AI literacy, and ethical AI use, developing tools like a customized LinkedIn Learning AI roleplay bot for MSW students to practice cognitive-behavioral interventions.

Magruder has earned prestigious honors for her teaching, including the 2025 UT Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, President’s Award for Excellence in Distance Education Teaching, Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Torgerson Teaching Award, and Maverick Advantage Distinguished Faculty recognition. She also received the USDLA Excellence in Distance Education Award and the national DSW conference Outstanding Contributions to Social Work Education Award. Notable publications include co-editing AI-Powered Education: Innovative Teaching Strategies to Elevate Student Learning (2025), contributions to Therapeutic Modalities: A Visual Resource for Clinicians and Students (2024), “Ready or not, here AI comes!: ChatGPT's implications for social work education” in the Journal of Social Work Education, and articles on artificial intelligence and eco-anxiety in Social Work Today. Her conference presentations cover eco-anxiety prevalence and treatment, AI in social work education, and environmental justice. Beyond academia, she maintains a private therapy practice, offers clinical supervision, and runs a YouTube channel with free social work education resources, while mentoring students for long-term professional success.