Professor of Social Work
Department of Social Work
Health & Human Services
Academic and Student Affairs
SVSU Main Campus
Bachand Hall 260
989-964-7136
camacomb@svsu.edu
Cathy Macomber's Academia PageCatherine A. Macomber is a Licensed Social Worker with a PhD and Master’s degree in Social Work and a Certificate in Public Health from Michigan State University. She has worked as a nursing home and home care social worker, a long-term care ombudsman and for the Alzheimer's Association. Cathy is a consultant in the Great Lakes Bay Region in the area of quality of life in long term care facilities. She has expertise in curriculum design, particularly in Adult Abuse and Neglect, research, and practice, and has used this with Federal and State grant funded programs. She currently serves as Assistant Dean in the College of Health and Human Services, BSW Program Director, and Associate Professor in the Social Work and Youth Services Department of Saginaw Valley State University.
Cathy's teaching interests include policy and research in social work and social welfare. She is responsible for these areas of the undergraduate curriculum in the Department of Social Work and Youth Services as well as the aging and health care courses offered by the department.
Cathy's research interests include aging issues in the Great Lakes Bay Region, quality of care and quality of life for older adults (including treatment of substance use disorders), environmental justice, interprofessional education and ethics, and curriculum design and implimentation. Cathy has been involved with the creation of an Interprofessional curriculum through the College of Health and Human Services since 2012.
Cathy paints in her spare times and is a voracious reader.
Cathy works with organizations in the Great Lakes Bay Region on issues related to the quality of care and quality of life of older adults. Recently, Cathy has been working on needs assessment related to the creation of a community center in the City of Saginaw. Cathy served as supervisor and clinical therapist for Medically Assisted Treatement of Substance Use Disorder through the GRACE Project in Bay City, MI. She coordinates the Food of Faith program through Our Lady of Peace parish in Bay City.
Cathy has served in leadership roles in most of the career and volunteer activitites she has been involved with. She was chosen as a member of the 2017 class of the Program Directors Academy through the Council on Social Work Education. In 2022 she was accepted to the SVSU Leadership Program.
Cathy was nominated for the House Family award in 2021. She was honored as the recipient of the Faculty Association Service award in 2022.
Cathy is a member of the following organizations: