From www.taylor.edu - Taylor University, integrating faith and learning

Rukshan Fernando

Assistant Professor

Office Location: Reade Memorial Liberal Arts Center 217B
Phone: (765) 998-5353
Email: rkfernando@taylor.edu

Academic Credentials

Ph.D candidate in Community Development,
   Southern New Hampshire University, expected 2013
M.S.W., University of Michigan, 2000
B.S., Taylor University, 1998

 

Research Interests

  • Community Economic Development
  • Nonprofit Management
  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • Globalization

 

Professional Activities

  • National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
  • Community Development Society (CDS)
  • Association for Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA)
  • North American Christians in Social Work (NACSW)
  • Development Studies Association (DSA)
  • International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD)
  • Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)

Responsibilities



Classes


    

  • Explorations in Social Work
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  • Fundamentals of Nonprofit Management
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  • International Social Work
    • 

  • Social Work Process and Practice III -- Community and Organizatons
    • 

  • Junior Practicum
    • 

  • Senior Practicum 
    • 



 
 

  
     
Personal Information

    
    

  • Began work at Taylor University in 2004
    • 

  • 1998 Taylor Alum
    • 



Before coming to Taylor, I lived in the Washington, DC, area and helped to run a nonprofit housing corporation for four years.  I became interested in the social work profession because I wanted to help people holistically.  Social workers empower people by facilitating their physical, social, economic, and political needs through social justice and change.  I grew up in Sri Lanka and the exposure to poverty, civil war, and social injustice inspired a calling to pursue a vocation which helps meet the needs of the oppressed and marginalized in our world.


 


 


Community Involvement


    

  • Affordable Housing Corporation, Board Vice President
    • 

  • Visiting Lecturer, Colombo Theological Seminary
    • 

  • Technical assistance with local and foreign nonprofits on management and organizational development.
    • 



 


Hobbies


    

  • Running
    • 

  • Reading
    • 

  • Blogging
    • 

  • Eating any kind of ethnic food
    • 

  • Traveling
    • 

  • Watching British TV
    • 

 
   
  

  Rukshan Fernando