Lisa K. Clifton

Bio

Since 2018, Dr. Clifton has served SEU as the BSW Program Director & Chair of the Department of Social Work. She began her career as a hospice social worker, which included bereavement care & volunteer coordination. Dr. Clifton was as a counselor/director of two Upward Bound programs (DOE Federal TRIO grants), serving low-income/first generation high school students. Administering and securing grant funding for these programs, grew her passion for policy/administrative practice. While administering Upward Bound, Dr. Clifton completed her law degree & practiced law in the area of worker’s compensation defense. She next served as the Director of Community Services for a Community Action Organization, overseeing eight county centers, providing direct service to low-income individuals/families, as well as administering federal homeless grants.

Dr. Clifton is a site visitor for the Council on Social Work Education, the accrediting body for social work education. She also served as a Commissioner on CSWE's Commission on Accreditation from 2014 - 2020, where she was also appointed to the Executive Committee. Part of her duties as Commissioner involved completing Commissioner Visits to institutions beginning new social work programs. Prior to SEU, Dr. Clifton served as BSW Program Director/Chair of the Social Work Department at Asbury University, where she drafted the self-study and led the program through successful reaccreditation, as well as completed a substantive change report for the BSW program to be offered online. Dr. Clifton also served on the CSWE Macro & Environmental Justice Task Forces, contributing to curricular guides for macro practice & environmental justice.

Dr. Clifton has taught a variety of courses for BSW & MSW programs, but her passion lies with Administration, Policy & Macro Practice. At Southeastern, Dr. Clifton teaches Criminal Law for the Criminal Justice Department, as well as a variety of BSW & MSW courses.