Jan 16
28
UMKC Alumna M. Jenise Comer
Assumes Presidency of ASWB 2016 Board of Directors
M. Jenise Comer, an alumna of UMKC, began serving as president of the 2016 Board of Directors of the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) at the conclusion of the association’s 2015 annual meeting in November. She served as president-elect in 2015, will serve two years as president, and will end her term in November 2018 after serving one year as past president.
Comer received her undergraduate degree from UMKC and her MSW from the University of Kansas. She was grandfathered as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Missouri in 1989. She is a full professor and has been director of the BSW social work program for six years at the University of Central Missouri, where she has taught since 1985. Her practice experience includes adoptions, residential treatment, and individual and family therapy, diversity and cultural competence, and foster parent training. She was a consultant/trainer for the Missouri Department of Social Services, Children’s Division, for 25 years and reviewed grants for the U.S. Children’s Bureau and served as a peer consultant for the Child and Family Service Review process for three years.
Comer was first appointed to the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers in 2000 and was reappointed by three different governors . She served as both chair and secretary for several years until her term on the board ended in December 2015. She is a clinical member of the American Association of Family Therapists and a member of the National Association of Social Workers, The Association of Baccalaureate Program Directors, and The Council on Social Work Education. Jenise is a Life Member of the Beta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the NAACP.
Comer served for three years on the Nominating Committee for the Council on Social Work Education and was the chair during the last year. She is also a site visitor for the accrediting body. She served as chair of the Local Planning Committee for the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors Annual Conference in Kansas City, MO, in 2015. Comer has been active on ASWB committees and task forces since 2002. She was elected to two, two-year terms as secretary of the association beginning in 2011 and a one-year term as director at large in 2007. In addition, she was appointed to chair the Nominating and the Bylaws Committees for a total of four years and served twice on the Program and Education Committee. In 2013 and 2014, she was appointed to the ASWB International Technology Task Force, which developed model regulatory standards for technology and social work practice that were published by the association in 2015. She currently serves on a collaborative committee with NASW, ASWB, CSWE, and CASW to update Practice Standards for Electronic Practice. She is also serving as Co-Chair of the Mobility Task Force.
About ASWB
The Association of Social Work Boards is the nonprofit association of social work regulatory bodies in the United States and Canada. Members include 50 states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and all 10 Canadian provinces. Now in its 36th year, ASWB’s mission is to strengthen protection of the public by providing support and services to the social work regulatory community in order to advance safe, competent, and ethical practices.
Learn more at www.aswb.org.
