COEUR d’ALENE — It may sound like a broken record, but if you ask any mental health professional about the current need for that particular expertise versus the availability, the response is the same: We need more people.

That’s why it was devastating for individuals who work with or have graduated from the Boise State University School of Social Work program to learn this past fall that the in-person graduate program in Coeur d'Alene would shutter in May at the end of the academic year.

Tracey Sutton, vice president of therapy services at Heritage Health said that as a former adjunct professor for the program, she was filled with sadness at the end of an era.

“I think it’s a loss. I get that it was a business decision, but college enrollment is dropping across the country. I’m hopeful that we’re going to continue to see Boise State students. We are one of the largest employers for behavioral health and we are really struggling to find folks who want to do outpatient public health,” Sutton said.

One thing she has encountered with recruiting folks from outside the region is that it’s often difficult for them to overcome housing challenges.

“We are desperate for more clinicians, we are desperate for more social workers. We cannot hire enough to meet the need in our community and we’re really trying to recruit,” Sutton said.

The BSU social work graduate program will retain its online degree program, but it means a change in the camaraderie and emphasis on local resources that was an important part of the program for the master of social work program site coordinator, Megan Dardis-Kunz.

“Initially, I was shocked. I was notified of the closure in the beginning of September. I worked in the online program initially, and that’s what I’m returning to,” Dardis-Kunz said.

If students coming into the in-person grad program were full time, they were often able to graduate and get their master’s degrees in a year and then go out into the field.

“The majority of our students start at North Idaho College and then transfer to Lewis-Clark here in Coeur d’Alene to get their bachelor’s degree in social work, then they transfer to BSU. The majority of our students are local, they want to stay here. They work in the community, so seeing a program close, there is a potential then that we’ll have fewer clinicians in the community,” Dardis-Kunz said.

At Heritage Health, Sutton considers it a boon to add employees to the team who pair social work clinicians with an understanding of the cultural history of the area and local professional resources. 

“As a supervisor, I’ve been able to work with the best of the best. Students that became employees at Heritage. We trust the training from Boise State and our ability to train them at Heritage Health. I want our local people to have that opportunity for that career development,” Sutton said. 

Sutton has seen great employees in her time who came from both the in-person and the online program.

“We serve everyone. It’s not easy work. You have to have a passion for helping and to really seek that out through higher education. You have to make sacrifices,” Sutton said.

As she shifts next year back into an online-only program, Dardis-Kunz knows that there will be some time or technology barriers that are bridged by digital higher education, but there is also a sadness at losing the proximity and bonding that the in-person program meant for students and instructors alike.

“The local students in the online program aren’t going to have as much of a grasp on the inner workings of the community than if they were able to attend an in-person program. Because our program is based here in Coeur d’Alene, a lot of the education and information was really geared towards the Panhandle and serving the communities in our region,” Dardis-Kunz said.

Erin Duncan went through her master of social work internship from 2021-2022 and now works for the Coeur d’Alene School District as a mental health counselor working with students with parent consent. 

Her experience was a hybrid of online and in-person, and she notes that while the online avenue gave her more independence to stay on track and work, her lasting relationships with friends and colleagues in the program have been a light when the tough nature of the field starts to get to her.

“It’s an industry that can be incredibly isolating. I had the most wonderful experience at BSU. They were wonderful. The instruction prepared me in a way I could not have anticipated,” Duncan said.

There are currently nine students expected to graduate from the BSU social work graduate program in May.

By the numbers

Coeur d'Alene BSU Master of Social Work in-person graduates

2023: 10
2022: 17
2021: 9
2020: 13