Message from Dean Eddie Uehara (6/2/2021)
Dear Friends,
I write to share the news that our much beloved colleague, Dr. Tracy Harachi, will be retiring at the end of this academic year. Tracy has insisted that there be no retirement send-off or any remarks made at the School’s end-of-year recognition event. I will therefore take this opportunity to thank Tracy for being such a vital part of the SSW community for over three decades, to express our profound sadness at her departure, and to share how deeply we admire and respect her and the remarkable work she has done. Tracy’s retirement will be deeply felt—but we are incredibly fortunate that she will return to the School next year at 10% time to continue one essential piece of work. My deepest gratitude to Emiko Tajima and Stan DeMello, who researched and helped to compose this message of celebration and thanks.
First, a little bit about Tracy’s long-standing connection to the UW School of Social Work. After receiving her BA from the UW, Tracy went on to earn her MSW and PhD from the School of Social Work. She has been a faculty member for close to 30 years. In addition to her years of teaching in the BASW and MSW Programs, Tracy has led study abroad courses and supervised global and local field learning opportunities. She has served as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health since 2009. At the SSW, Tracy has been a champion for students, especially those who are first generation, from underrepresented minority groups, and those who have come to the UW from less resourced countries. She brings to her work an unswerving commitment to global justice and critical experience in global settings. Tracy has served as the faculty advisor for a majority of the international students in our MSW program, many who have limited resources and often feel isolated. In that role she has offered mentorship and facilitated connections among students so they form enduring peer support networks. Her impact with students has been significant and long-lasting.
As a prevention science researcher, Tracy’s scholarship has centered on youth development and community practice, with a focus on immigrant and refugee groups. Her scholarship has advanced prevention work to support child and family well-being, including school- and community-based interventions. Active in the Society for Prevention Research (SPR), Tracy was instrumental in creating and overseeing an internship program to train and mentor students from under-represented groups in prevention science research and help increase the diversity of the prevention science field. In 2005, Tracy’s initiative and work in this area was recognized by SPR with the Community, Culture, and Prevention Science Award, and again in 2006 with SPR’s Friend of Early Career Preventionist Network Award. With an enduring commitment to Cambodia, Tracy has also been active as a scholar and community advocate to support individuals subject to criminal deportation, especially in the Cambodian American community. In 2011, Tracy was recognized with the prestigious University of Washington Outstanding Public Service Award. In 2019, Tracy received the SSW’s MLK Jr. Award for Community Service.
The UW School of Social Work’s Partnership with the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) in Cambodia began in 2004, when Tracy took the initiative to help create the first Bachelor’s degree program in social work in Cambodia. Adopting a capacity-building approach, Tracy sought to support Cambodian nationals in developing this program with and for their people and to be responsive to the needs of marginalized groups in Cambodia. To achieve this goal, Tracy recruited six Cambodian students to attend the UW School of Social Work MSW program. While they completed the MSW program, Tracy connected them with other faculty and administrators to mentor them on teaching and guide them on how to administer an academic program. With mentorship from Tracy and others, in 2008, these remarkable, talented, and dedicated graduates launched the Department of Social Work at RUPP, serving as the faculty and administrators for the undergraduate degree program. Through RUPP’s Department of Social Work, cohorts of BSW graduates receive professional education and skills training as social work practitioners and are now working in the region, helping to build and shape Cambodia’s still nascent social and health services infrastructure. The first class graduated in 2012 and since that time, RUPP’s Department of Social Work has had approximately 200 BSW graduates. This significant achievement would not have happened without Tracy’s vision, initiative, advocacy, and steadfast determination. In 2015, the RUPP social work program started a fee-based BSW option, which costs $600 per year for tuition. With limited resources from RUPP’s central administration, and students who may earn less than $100 a month, the program continues to seek support for student scholarships https://www.washington.edu/giving/make-a-gift/?source_typ=3&source=swrupp.
Notably, RUPP’s Department of Social Work is the only Cambodian undergraduate program to have earned external accreditation, which is a testament to the quality of the program, curriculum and excellence of the faculty. Tracy continues to provide support and mentorship to the RUPP faculty as they work to further develop and sustain their country’s much needed social work education program.
Following her retirement, Tracy will serve at 10% FTE over the next academic year as she continues her support to the RUPP Partnership which she has led for over a decade. In honor and recognition of her vision and dedication to this Partnership, the School of Social Work will contribute $10,000 to a fund which Tracy may use for RUPP-related expenses or future travel to Cambodia. I know that once COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted, Tracy will be eager to return to Cambodia to support the RUPP Partnership, which has recently launched a new initiative, Partnering for Health, which integrates social work oncology and health care practice at 2 government hospitals in Phnom Penh. For details about this exciting effort, see: https://socialwork.uw.edu/sites/default/files/sswfiles/programs/rupp/Partnering%20For%20Health%20Dec%202018.pdf.
We will miss Tracy greatly and her absence will be felt in large and small ways. In addition to her important contributions as a researcher, educator, mentor, and social justice activist, Tracy has been instrumental in so many School initiatives and activities, including the annual Student Scholarship White Elephant auction. Throughout her years at the School, Tracy has been central to our Faculty and Staff of Color committee, and could always be counted on to show up and to give of herself, genuinely. Tracy is someone who quietly steps up when there is a call to action. Indeed, we will likely miss Tracy in ways we do not yet quite know.
Please join me in thanking our esteemed colleague, Dr. Tracy Harachi for being such a valuable colleague to the School community, for sharing her deep knowledge, heartfelt commitment and hard work, and for making a significant and long-lasting impact at the School and in our lives!
Very Warmest Regards,
Eddie Uehara
