Biographical Statement:

Dr. John G. Vafeas, Chair of the Department of Social Work.  He is  Professor and Director of the Master of Social Work (MSW) program at Kutztown University.  Dr. Vafeas was born in Greece and spent his childhood on the island of Chios where he graduated from the Boys High School of Chios.  He received his undergraduate diploma in social work from the Center for Higher Technical and Professional Education of Heraklion, Crete in 1977. In 1978, Dr. Vafeas enrolled at Winthrop College, South Carolina and received a bachelor's degree in sociology. In 1981, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with master degree in social work, Dr. Vafeas accepted employment at the University of Pennsylvania as the chief social worker of the Center for Information Resources, a training facility for physically challenged individuals in computer related occupations. While at Penn, Dr. Vafeas held faculty appointments to the school of medicine teaching resident physicians social and behavioral aspects of disability and the graduate school of social work where he taught computers and information systems and served as a field instructor to graduate students in social work. Dr. Vafeas came to Kutztown University in January 1990.

Teaching Interests

• Social Welfare Policy
• Social Research Methodology
• Computers in Human Services
• Generalist Social Work Practice
• Social and Behavioral Aspects of Disabilities
• Methods of Program Evaluation

Research Interests

• Computers in Human Services
• Methods of Community Based Service Delivery to the Elderly
• Attitudes of Students Toward the Poverty and the Poor
• Poverty Associated Social Problems
• Using Goal Attainment Scales in Social Work Practice and Program Evaluation
• Generalist Social Work Curriculum Development
• Graduate Social Work Training--Program and Curricular Design
• Integration of Greek Immigrants into American Society

Professional Involvement in the University and Community Life

• Social Work Department, Chair
• Director of the Master of Social Work Program
• Kutztown University Graduate Council,  Chair of Mission and Bylaws Committee
• Greek Orthodox Church, Lancaster, PA (Board of Trustees), Chair of the Hellenic Culture Committee
• Service Access and Management, Inc. (Board of Directors)--Chair of the Board

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