STAFF and students from Minnesota State University Moorhead in the US have visited the Magee campus of the University of Ulster as part of an educational trip to Ireland. 

The students, who were accompanied by Professors Jeremy Carney, Sue Peterson and Tracey Clark, are all undergraduates at Moorhead and working towards a Bachelors of Science degree in Social work. As part of their degree programme, they have been doing a comparative study of different social work systems in the US and Europe.  

They were welcomed to Magee by Professor Mary McColgan, Head of School of Sociology and Applied Social Studies who gave them an overview of the social work programmes offered at Magee.  Professor McColgan said we were very pleased to have the opportunity to present students and colleagues from Moorhead with examples of innovative curriculum and to discuss their views about the similarities and differences in social work education and practice between the US and Northern Ireland. 

During their visit to Magee, the US visitors met academics as well as professional social workers and had an opportunity to discuss some of the key challenges social workers on both sides of the Atlantic. Professor Carney said he felt the visit was very beneficial and he hoped he and his colleagues would l be able to build on the links they now established with Magee. 

“It’s always very interesting to get a different perspective and I feel we’ve all learned a something from our visit to Magee. Our students were very impressed with the campus so perhaps in the future we could investigate the possibility of our students doing their placements in Ireland, possibly at Magee.”