In spring 2011, UB sent its first master of social work student to Amrita for a semester-long field education experience—and private support for the school helped to get her there.

Natalie Bartone transferred to the UB MSW program hoping to get such an opportunity. Her goal is to work internationally. She had traveled in South Asia; she knew she was comfortable with cultures very different from her own.

The School of Social Work’s director of field education says that when Natalie raised the possibility of a field placement in India, she was completely was satisfied with her seriousness and her adaptability.

An Indian doctoral student in the school gave Natalie a crash course in South Indian cultural nuances and is now her long-distance supervisor for the placement.

Natalie is interning as a social work researcher in an Amrita-based project in Kerala that is studying the role of culture in sustainable management of small patches of forest called sacred groves. These plots have been protected by tradition through the ages. She is also completing a placement-related UB course while she is in India.

Everything lined up perfectly for Natalie except one thing she couldn’t remedy right away: she has modest means and couldn’t afford to fly half way around the world and back. That’s when private support helped.

Dean of Social Work Nancy Smyth has a discretionary fund supplied by private gifts, mostly modest, for such needs. She was happy to invest in Natalie because she wants to assure that cost is not a barrier that stops the best and brightest from fulfilling their potential.

So Natalie is now opening new doors for UB in India—and friends of the school helped to get her there.