Jackson State University’s College of Public Service has filled two key posts with Dr. Olga Osby as new interim associate dean and Dr. Jerry Watson as chair of the graduate program in the School of Social Work.
Osby has been with the School of Social Work at JSU since 2003 and is a tenured associate professor. She has previously served as the interim program director for the MSW program and currently serves as the director of the Southern Institute for Mental Health, Advocacy, Research and Training in the School of Social Work.
Watson comes to the JSU from the University of Mississippi where he served as assistant professor. He has more than17 years of experience in the field of social work, and as an administrator and teacher. He received his Ph.D. at Jackson State in urban higher education in 2006.
“The College of Public Service is pleased to have Doctors Osby and Watson join our administrative team. They each bring a wealth of experience to our programs in social work and I look forward to working with them to strengthen our academic programs,” said the college’s dean, Dr. Ricardo Brown.
The JSU SSW graduate program is distinguished for having the only doctoral program in Mississippi and the only social work program in the state to offer all three levels of academic programs: bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D.