Welcome to the BSU School of Social Work Burrill Office Complex - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Welcome to the BSU School of Social Work Burrill Office Complex (95 Burrill Ave. across from Moakley Building) Phone: 508-531-2773

General Information The School of Social Work offers an undergraduate program leading to the Bachelor of Science degree. A minor in social welfare is also available. The curriculum is designed to prepare students for beginning generalist professional practice in social work. Students learn current social work methods, skills, theories, values, and ethics for practice with various populations and, most especially, with the region's diverse and vulnerable populations. The program builds on a liberal arts perspective, providing students with a foundation for critical thinking, effective communication, and ethical behavior that will be of daily importance to them in professional practice. Social work majors who successfully complete the program are generally well prepared for graduate study and may be eligible for consideration for advanced standing at some graduate schools of social work.

Programs and Concentrations The undergraduate social work major is a generalist degree program with no concentrations required or available. However students can work to identify topics of interest to focus on through field placements, directed studies and elective courses that are offered by the department. In addition to the major there is a social welfare minor (18 credits) which does not include a field placement or practice classes. This can be a good option for persons needing to graduate by a certain date and who do not want or cannot meet the required field placement hours and expectations.

Some things to consider and ask yourself 1) Why do I want a social work degree? Job opportunities? Grad school goals? 2) Am I willing to meet the requirements of the degree? SCWK 338 – 45 hours of service learning SCWK 498 – 464 hours of internship. Senior BSW students spend 16 hours per week in field placement. Students must complete 464 hours over the 2 semesters of senior field to pass the course. It is not unusual for students to complete more placement hours than the minimum required. Note: Students identify and arrange their own service learning experience. A list of possible placements is available in the field education unit of the SSW. Our field education office arranges and approves all senior field placements. Almost all require working between 9am-5pm during the normal work week of Monday-Friday.

Some things you should know 1. You do not need a BSW in order to get an MSW degree 2. A BSW does allow you to sit for the basic LSW state licensure exam. The degree, the licensing exam and the licensing application are interrelated but are all separate processes. BSU only grants the degree portion. 3. Getting a BSW does not guarantee admission into an advanced standing MSW program.

Co-Curricular Opportunities Research, Clubs, Internships, Study Away Students in the School of Social Work may participate in the following co- curricular opportunities that can benefit and enhance their learning, employment or graduate study opportunities” • The Office of Undergraduate Research Programs including: The Mid-Year Symposium and End of the Year Symposium The Summer Adrian Tinsley Research Program • The Center for International Engagement and Study Abroad Programs Short and longer term programs travelling with BSU faculty or through partner schools • The BSU Community Service Center • Community Service opportunities locally, in other parts of the US or abroad. • Social Work Advisory Group (SWAG)

How does advising works in the department? Students are assigned an advisor when they elect social work as a major. All students should meet with their assigned advisor prior to the registration period when announced by the registrar’s office. If you and your advisor are not able to meet in person, you will need to attend the School of Social Work’s Group Advising sessions which will be announced via email and posted in the School of Social Work Office area. Other faculty can advise you at this time and “mark” you as advised. In social work, advising is both about your professional development goals and your academic goals. It is your responsibility to be in contact with your advisor in a timely fashion and to have some ideas of courses which you might want to take given your schedule. It is also an opportunity to ask questions and have your advisor get to know of your interests so they can help connect you to the best opportunity.

Recommended Courses for New Students The two required introductory courses in the Social Work Department are Social Work 250 – Introduction to Social Welfare* and Social Work 270 – Social Work Issues of Human Diversity and Oppression* *Some students who transfer from other colleges or universites may have already taken an equivalent course for which they will receive credit. If you believe that you have taken such a course already and have not received credit for it on your BSU transfer transcript please contact the BSW program coordinator in the School of Social Work. In this case you will need to provide a copy of your transcript and a course description from the other institution.

Considerations for Transfer Students into Social Work Transferring into the BSU social work program may require you to extend/delay your anticipated date of graduation. This may be due to the need for prerequisite courses, meeting a GPA standard, courses to be taken in sequence and the timing of when field placements may begin in the academic year. If graduating by a certain date is critical to you, you might want to consider if a social work degree is right for your situation. You may also consider pursuing a social welfare minor as a supplement to a degree in another major.

Application for practice and field The SSW requires students to submit an internal application to proceed with practice and field courses. This includes having earned 60 credits, completed scwk 250, scwk 270, biology and other cognates and have a BSU GPA of 2.5 and a SW GPA of 2.8 or better. If a student earns a grade below a C in a social work course, the course must be repeated for a grade of C or higher.

Recommendations for Transfer Students BSU SSW requires a 45 hour service learning experience as part of the required SCWK 338 course. Internship courses taken at other colleges or universities will not substitute for this experience. SCWK 498 (senior field experience) is a required year-long course for all students. This 2 semester course begins in September and continues through the following May for a total of 464 hours. A weekly 75 minutes seminar is also required. Students are assigned a seminar section by the Director of Field Education.

Overriding a Prerequisite If you want to enroll in an upper- level course without having the exact prerequisite, you must complete the following form, allowing you to enroll in the course. This requires consent of the BSW program coordinator.

Make sure you have the correct CRN numbers for registration ( noted in the yellow box on the sample registration form  )