CSC educator is social worker of the year

Stewart, a licensed clinical social worker, is director of the CSC social work and has served as adjunct professor and field director.

Stewart, a Colorado native, became licensed clinical social worker in 1993, five years after she earned a master’s degree in social work from Colorado State University.

The professor was nominated for the Social Worker of the Year in recognition of her efforts to expand professional networking opportunities for her students by linking them with colleagues in eastern Nebraska. CSC students have had the opportunity to attend the NASW-NE Legislative Day in Lincoln, and the NASW-NE annual conferences in Omaha. She has also worked to strengthen connections for professional social workers in the Panhandle. Through collaboration with Florida State University, she has enabled several CSC alumni to obtain accredited masters of social work degrees via online education.

Stewart previously worked with the Veterans Administration in Prescott, Ariz., Tacoma, Wash., and in the Black Hills of South Dakota. She worked 11 years in a small, rural hospital in Washington state and had a private art therapy practice in Olympia, Wash. Her work has focused on mental health, rehabilitation medicine, and adjustment to disability and catastrophic life change.  

Stewart said her career path in social work has given her a high level of satisfaction and she has “never been bored.”

“I have had the good fortune to work in a wide range of settings with a variety of individuals and families,” she said. “My income has been sufficient to support a large family and I lived in several states -- The best way to see America.”

She has five children and has hosted many foreign students.

“I enjoy people, their stories, and their incredible resilience in the face of great challenges,” she said.