Orientation and Convocation

Orientation will be held May 29-30, 2026. First year students are required to attend events on May 29 and May 30. Second and third year students are required to attend returning student orientation on Saturday, May 30 and are encouraged to attend Convocation and the SSW (4C) Opening Ceremony which are scheduled for Saturday, May 30, 2026. 

Please note: Orientation schedules below are tentative. Final schedules will be available by March 1, 2026. 

Questions?

M.S.W. orientation: Contact the Office of the Dean

Ph.D. orientation: Contact the Ph.D. Program

Convocation

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Rebekah Gewirtz has been the executive director of the National Association of Social Workers, MA Chapter (NASW-MA) since April 2017 and NASW-RI since 2020. In her dual role with both chapters, Rebekah engages with social workers to advance social work professional practice and issues of social and economic justice that are fundamental to the profession. Prior to her role as executive director of the MA and RI Chapters, Rebekah was the executive director of the Massachusetts Public Health Association, and before that the government affairs director for NASW-MA for 8 years. She also served as Ward 6 Alderman (city councilor) in the City of Somerville from 2005-2015.

During her tenure with NASW-MA, Rebekah has been a leader in the campaign to raise the state’s minimum wage and co-chair of the Campaign for our Communities, which advocated for a state revenue package that would be adequate and fair. She was a founder of the welfare coalition, now known as the Lift our Kids coalition, working for economic justice for the state’s lowest income families. Rebekah has been the lead staff at NASW-MA on passage of significant social work practice legislation including legislation preventing non-compete clauses for clinical social workers, legislation giving clinical social workers section 12 authority, and legislation protecting clinical social workers from frivolous lawsuits. She also wrote and successfully advocated for passage of legislation clarifying the clinical definition of social work.

At NASW-RI, Rebekah has worked to advance legislation removing barriers to entry into the field and legislation enabling Rhode Island to join the Interstate Compact for social work. She has also worked closely with the chapter’s policy and advocacy committee, school social workers, and chapter board to advance legislation that would require staffing ratios for school social workers in Rhode Island school districts. The bill has passed the state senate in both of the past two legislative sessions. 

Rebekah has received several recognitions for her work. She was named Woman to Watch by the political youth group, Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century. Upon graduation from the McCormack Institute of Policy Studies at UMass Boston she received the Outstanding Public Service Award. In November 2013, Rebekah was honored by the Greater Boston Labor Council with their Leadership Award. In 2016, she received the Distinguished Service Award by the Somerville Homeless Coalition in partnership with the family of Tina DeLellis.