Office Hours
By Appointment
Education
PhD, University of Central Florida
MSW, University of Central Florida
BSW, Florida State University
About Me
Carole Zugazaga has 13 years of professional social work practice experience, primarily in the medical field. She was an emergency department social worker for a level 1 trauma center in Central Florida for five years. Zugazaga’s research interests include homelessness, poverty, and healthcare. She was named a Fahs-Beck Fellow in 2007 and was the recipient of a research grant from the Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation to support her study of the fastest growing subgroup of the homeless—women with children. She served as a consultant to the governor on Alabama’s Office of Faith Based Initiatives regarding issues related to homelessness and also served as an inaugural member of Governor Riley’s statewide Inter-agency Council on Homelessness Academic Advisory Group.
Zugazaga was the recipient of a grant from the Alabama Women’s Commission and was the principal investigator (PI) of a study designed to better understand barriers and issues that affect women in Alabama with children age one and below. She was the co-PI for a study on postpartum depression in Alabama, also with support of the Alabama Women’s Commission, which led to a state-wide public awareness campaign of the condition and the establishment of a state-wide support hotline. Zugazaga was the recipient of the College of Liberal Arts Engaged Scholar designation for 2008-2011.
Zugazaga served as the program director for the BSW program from 2013-2016 and is currently the department chair. She has been instrumental in the establishment of the new Master of Social Work program at Auburn University. She teaches Introduction to Social Work, Social Welfare Policy, Social Work in Healthcare, and Methods of Social Research, and she recently taught an honors course on homelessness. She was the recipient of the College of Liberal Arts Early Career Teaching Award in 2006. Her research has been published in numerous journals including the American Journal of Community Psychology, Families in Society, Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, Social Work Education, Research on Social Work Practice, and the Journal of Primary Prevention.
She has served on the board of directors for Alabama Arise, Alabama Possible, and East Alabama Coalition for the Homeless.
Research Interests
homelessness, poverty, healthcare