College of Education and Human Development

School of Social Work

Suzanne Shatila

  • Pronouns: she, her, hers

  • Master of Social Work Program Director

  • School of Social Work
    Peters Hall
    1404 Gortner Ave
    Saint Paul, MN 55108-6160

  • shati010@umn.edu
Suzanne Shatila

Areas of interest

My personal interests: anything outdoors in nature, preferably near our beautiful MN waters

Degrees

MSSW, University of Tennessee College of Social Work 
DSW, University of St. Thomas

Biography

Suzanne Shatila, DSW, MSSW, LGSW, is the MSW Program Director. Dr. Shatila was involved in mezzo and macro-level social work practice with human services, children's services, and community-based nonprofits prior to moving into higher education full-time in 2018. She developed an online MSW program for Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and taught for both the Saint Mary’s and the University of Tennessee MSW programs before joining the School of Social Work in 2021.

Dr. Shatila earned her Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Tennessee College of Social Work and her Doctor of Social Work from the University of St. Thomas. Dr. Shatila is a member of the CSWE Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education. Her research focuses on the influence of nontraditional student social location and role identity on social connection and academic perseverance.

Publications

Shatila, S. L. (2023). "Not alone when I’m feeling stressed”: Online adult learner connection and retention. Adult Education Quarterly, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/07417136231184570

Chaffin, K. M., & Shatila. S. L. The case for online education: Success factors in an MSW program through a feminist lens. Social Work Education, The International Journal, 1(19) http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2023.2221992  

Shatila, S.L., MacMaster, S., Jones, J., & McClernon-Chaffin, K. (2006). CRACK Unethical?  What about misogynist, classist, and racist? Journal for African American Studies, 9 (1), 32-42. https://doi.org/dgjf92

Presentations

Nau, E., Shatila, S.L., Littlefield, M., (2022, November 12). Feminism: Critical issues and innovative ideas. [Conference presentation]. Annual Program Meeting, Council on Social Work Education, Anaheim, CA. 

Moran, R.L., Shatila, S.L., Casali, S.E., Chaffin, K., M. (2022, November 11). Feminist peer mentorship in doctoral programs: Supporting the next generation of students. [Poster presentation]. Annual Program Meeting, Council on Social Work Education, Anaheim, CA. 

Shatila, S. L., (2021, November 6). Decentralizing privileged voices in online social work communities of inquiry. [Poster presentation]. Annual Program Meeting, Council on Social Work Education, Orlando, Florida.

McClernon-Chaffin, K., & Shatila, S. L. (2021, April 14). Mentorship as a Retention Tool for Adjuncts [Conference session]. Social Work Distance Education Conference. San Antonio, TX, United States. https://www.ollusa.edu/worden-school/swde/index.html