Advisor Profile

Dr. Susan Sarnoff

By Bethany Furkin, PACE

Dr. Susan Sarnoff, professor Social Work, came to Ohio University in 1998 after a lifetime of living in New York.  

She earned her bachelor’s, masters and doctoral degrees from Adelphi University in Garden City, Long Island, and had always been tied to New York, but with her husband nearing retirement, Sarnoff decided she was ready for a change.

“I cast the net out,” she said.  “We came here and just love it.” 

Sarnoff was initially hired to serve as the chairwoman of the graduate program of Social Work.  She said she was drawn to Ohio because she connected with the faculty and felt that she had things to offer. “There were holes in an otherwise strong department,” she said.  “I like starting things.”

The small size of the department was another bonus for Sarnoff.  She appreciates that students are valued and are treated like individuals, not numbers. 

Sarnoff said she became involved in social work by accident.  She had worked with crime victims and battered women and was involved with her local government, and eventually realized that she was doing social work.  Sarnoff said that like many others, she had thought of social workers as “people who take people’s kids away,” and was excited to realize how broad the field is.  

Sarnoff said she enjoys social work because it is proactive rather than simply reactive.  “It is important to carry home bodies after a war, but it’s also important to address how to end that war,” she said. “(Social workers) are able to change the world,” she said.

Sarnoff said she enjoys advising and that it is especially crucial in a professional program such as social work. “I think (advising) is so vitally important,” she said.

Students in the department face many requirements, such as a 400-hour internship during their senior year.  They must schedule classes, some of which are offered only once a quarter, while still leaving time for the internship.  Students must also interact with professional social workers and find field placements and volunteer positions, Sarnoff said.   

“Because of all these constraints, we have to be careful students take all the proper courses,” Sarnoff said.  “Advising in social work is a special skill.” Sarnoff’s advising and teaching reaches beyond the department of Social Work.  She also advises

undecided students, teaches UC 115, and serves as a faculty advisor to student organizations.

Even with her work as a professor and advisor, Sarnoff makes sure to pay individual attention to each of her students and does her best to help them succeed.  These qualities make her an asset to her advisees and to Ohio University.