Rosey Hunter

Rosey Hunter, PhD, LCSW joined the University of Utah (U of U), College of Social Work faculty in 1995 and currently serves there as an Associate Professor. She has previously served as Co-Director of Graduate Field Education, Director of Undergraduate Field Education, and Co-Director of International Social Work; and has taught in the BSW, MSW and PhD programs. Currently she teaches in the Bachelors of Social Work Online Education program and is a program director for the Bridging Borders Partnership, an annual “Train the Trainer” program that engages community partners, students, and faculty in working with communities living in refugee camps along the Thailand/Myanmar (Burma) border. As part of this program, individuals who previously lived in the camps and now are resettled in Salt Lake City, participate with the program as Cultural Consultants. In 2016, four Cultural Consultants joined the program, including two native Burma/Myanmar participants. Most recently, Dr. Hunter served as Special Assistant to the President and director of University Neighborhood Partners (UNP), from 2006 – 2015 www.partners.utah.edu. (received Honorable Mention for the CCPH award 2010).

Dr. Hunter’s focus is on community partnerships and participatory action research frameworks. This approach critically examines the power and access structures that too often disregard underrepresented and oppressed populations. Additionally, participatory frameworks value multiple forms of knowledge and respect groups that are often excluded from access points and who hold unique perspectives on structural barriers.

One example of this approach is the development of the Case Management Certificate Program – In 2011, Rosey was awarded the U of U, Public Service Professorship Award for her research project entitled, The Emerging Leaders Project: Connecting university resources to community-based organizations supporting refugee resettlement. The first phase of this two-part project included community-based participatory research with local leaders of refugee background; it assisted with the development of a leadership-training curriculum for new arriving populations. The outcome of Phase 1 was the development of a Case Management Certificate program offered through the College of Social Work’s Professional and Community Education program. The 9-month certificate program began in Fall 2013. The first cohort of 27 participants included community leaders of immigrant and refugee backgrounds, representing 14 different countries of origin.  The following year, the program was put online with the first cohort of graduates from Kakuma Camp, Kenya and Dzaleka Camp, Malawi. The second phase of the project connected student learning to community capacity building, by partnering students with local Community-Based Organizations (CBS’s) in semester-long community-driven project.

Rosey is also active in creating pathways to higher education for first generation students and minoritized community both locally and globally. In partnership with Jesuit Commons: Higher Education on the Margins, JC: HEM (http://www.jc-hem.org), Rosey and her colleagues at the College of Social Work and Salt Lake Community College are developing a pathway to higher education and the completion of a BSW degree for communities living on the margins (refugee camp communities, other marginalized settings).

Rosey’s social work teaching, research and practice areas are focused on developing mutually beneficial relationships – connecting people to resources and shared power in ways that expand opportunities and build on strengths. Rosey has practice experience in community organizing, higher education administration, international social work, school social work, clinical social work. She has received several awards for her work with communities, including the 2015 YWCA Outstanding Achievement Award.