Melissa Reitmeier PhD, MSW
Melissa Reitmeier joined the faculty of the College of Social Work in 2012, where she is also MSW faculty advisor, offsite field instructor and field education liaison. Prior to joining the University of South Carolina, Reitmeier was the director of quality assurance and training for Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc. in Columbia and a dialectical behavioral therapist with the South Carolina Center for Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Additionally, Reitmeier taught as a part-time instructor at the College of Social Work from 2004 to 2012.
Reitmeier has served as director of field education since 2012. She is responsible for providing leadership and oversight of field education activities, including the development of field internships and integrative field education seminar courses for BSW and MSW programs. Reitmeier also trains and evaluates field instructors, while employing, maintaining, training and evaluating faculty field liaisons. She develops partnerships and evaluates field sites and field education programs to ensure all field activities are compliant with the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), Educational Policies and Academic Standards. Reitmeier’s research interests include the intersection between social work and field education and training programs targeting behavioral health needs. She is currently principal investigator on a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded research for the Rural Interprofessional Behavioral Health Scholars (RIBHS) Program. The project aims to train more than 100 graduate students to work in rural South Carolina and address unmet healthcare needs throughout the state. Reitmeier is also principal investigator for a funded research award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The Health Occupations Providing Excellence (HOPES) program intends to implement a screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) training program to provide students entering health occupations with the necessary skills for treating at-risk substance use disorder patients. Reitmeier is an elected member of the CSWE’s Council of Field Directors, and a member of the North American Network of Field Educators and Directors, International Federation of Social Workers and the International Association of Schools of Social Work. She is also co-chair of the South Carolina Field Education Consortium and vice president of the State of South Carolina Mental Health Planning Council.