TJC and UT Tyler host fourth annual social worker conference, encouraging training and connection

Published 5:30 am Sunday, March 8, 2026

Tyler Junior College and The University of Texas at Tyler hosted the fourth annual social worker conference Friday inside the Rogers Student Center at TJC, encouraging connection, training and networking within the East Texas industry.

“We have social work students and other helping professionals here, who do great things in our community,” said Stephanie Lassanske, department chair for the TJC Behavioral Sciences Department. “This is just a really great event to bring everybody together and share stories about the wonderful things that are going on in our community that help individuals and families and build the community.”

The free conference ran from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with three sections featuring seven social work professionals who spoke on different topics surrounding this year’s theme, “What is Empathy?” Licensed social workers had the opportunity to earn up to three hours of Continuing Education Units to go towards their required 30 hours of CEU every two years. The conference occurs the first Friday of March every year to kick off National Social Work Month, honoring the dedicated work and impact of social workers in every community.

Social workers are trained professionals who help individuals, families and communities overcome challenges, provide services such as case management, counseling and crisis intervention or analyze and identify social problems, policies and programs to increase wellbeing in any area.

“The partnership between TJC and UT Tyler goes beyond events like this,” said Dr. Deana Sheppard, provost and vice president for Academic and Student Affairs and chief academic officer for TJC. “We’re very proud that a great majority of our students who transfer do go to UT Tyler and how great it is that we can do things like this together.”

Lassanske said the conference became an excellent annual educational staple for local professionals and students through developing a strong partnership with UT Tyler. The two colleges take turns hosting the conference on their campuses.

“To be a social worker you have to have a bachelor’s degree in social work and then get your license,” Lassanske said. “Until UT Tyler started their program five years ago, there was not a bachelor’s program. At the time, we were inviting Stephen F. Austin to come and teach their courses here, but there was a kind of disconnect.”

UT Tyler launched its Bachelor of Social Work in 2020, after observing a critical shortage of social workers in East Texas and the lack of access to that education, which became the first social work program within 50 miles of Tyler, according to the college’s website. The program celebrated its first round of graduates in April 2024, creating a pathway for future East Texas students.

Lassanske said that program was pivotal because it allowed TJC to offer their Associate of Arts degree in social work, which enables students to easily transfer into UT Tyler’s program.

“It’s been a real gift,” Lassanske said. “I have seen some of my students who are here who are now graduated and licensed and are working the field, so it’s really a full circle moment.”

KaTrena Larkin, social worker at The Hospice of East Texas, is one of Lassanske’s former students at the conference and said she felt like she had a calling to be a social worker.

“I didn’t know how long it would take me, but I knew I wanted to be in social work,” Larkin said. “Social work is a hard thing, so your heart has to be in it.”

Larkin said she always wanted to attend a social work conference and since the two colleges opened the door for social workers in East Texas she now can.

“My ‘why’ is that I think I’ve always been a caregiver, even at a very young age,” Larkin said. “All your skills you learn compile over time and as a social worker they can be applied into any environment you work in.”

The sessions discussed key techniques and ways to implement healthy empathy within the social worker’s job role, whether they are practicing in a healthcare, educational or clinical setting.

Courtney Daproza, supervisor of social work at Prime Care Hospice LLC, said she attended the event to help continue her education and appreciates the colleges for bringing social work education to East Texas.

“I grew up here and there wasn’t anything here, so I had to leave and go to college elsewhere,” Daproza said. “It would have been a different life had they had it here.”

Daproza said the first session reinforced what social workers do every day.

“This is stuff we do every single day, but it’s kind of nice to see it simplified in different places,” Daproza said. “I feel like there’s a lot of injustice in the world and social work is a way I can help address that. We don’t decide for people but we make sure that people know they have choices.”

Lassanske said as the social work program continues to expand at both TJC and UT Tyler the annual social worker conference provides the bridge between working professionals and students.

“It started small and it has grown to almost 100 participants today,” Lassanske said. “The conference has become something that people expect and to see social workers from the beginning of their education into their careers and the difference they’re making in the community, we know that our efforts are producing something that is useful to our community and East Texas.”

For more information on UT Tyler’s social work program visit, https://www.uttyler.edu/academics/programs/social-work-bsw.php 

For more information on TJC’s social work program visit, https://tjc.edu/programs/social-work/.