Social Work - B.S. Degree

Social Work Program Mission Statement

The mission of The State University of New York at Fredonia Bachelor of Science in Social Work program is to enact the mission of the university and home department, the Department of Sociocultural and Justice Sciences. Through committed, quality teaching-learning activities, the program educates, challenges, and inspires students to be connected, creative, responsible, global citizens and generalist social work professionals who will advance and promote a socially and economically just world.

Program Goals

The goals of the Fredonia Social Work program are as follows:

1. The Fredonia Social Work program seeks to prepare generalist social workers who value the principles of service and importance of human relationships in their efforts to maintain and improve the social functioning of individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities and society.
2. The Fredonia Social Work program seeks to prepare generalist social workers who are practitioner-researchers: active, applied social scientists who work to strengthen and improve the well-being of others through their critical and scientific approach and enactment of the generalist problem solving method with systems of all sizes.
3. The Fredonia Social Work program seeks to prepare generalist social workers who understand and enact the standards and core principles of the NASW Code of Ethics in their interactions, relationships and decision-making.
4. The Fredonia Social Work program seeks to prepare generalist social workers who practice ethnic and culturally sensitive social work practice with diverse populations and who fight to eliminate social injustice experienced by oppressed populations.
5. The Fredonia Social Work program seeks to prepare well-rounded, liberal arts trained generalist social workers who have mastered the CSWE core competencies, especially the skills and mindset needed in the use of the professional self.
6. The Fredonia Social Work program seeks to prepare generalist social workers who integrate knowledge, values, and skills for competent entry-level professional practice and/or graduate education.

Program Policies

The social work profession has been a leader in the cause of fighting prejudice, discrimination, and oppression against all people in society. Admission and advancement into the program are based upon the published criteria. Race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, ethnicity, and/or political orientation play no role in the program decisions. Criminal conviction does not play a role in admission and advancement. However, criminal conviction can be an obstacle to placement in certain field agency sites. The program works with these students to find appropriate placement.

Social work is also a professional field with expectations of professional behavior. Students who meet the published criteria but who have evidenced a pattern of unprofessional, unsuitable behavior may be denied advancement and/or dismissed from the program. Students may also be dismissed from the program for academic reasons. Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in their required social work major courses to continue in the major. More specific expectations and policies are detailed in the student handbook.

Assessment

The program assesses students’ mastery of the nine core competencies on a yearly basis. A multiple methods approach based upon students’ actual performance and written products are used in this assessment. A weighted score is created for each student and for each cohort group. The aggregate cohort scores are reported on the program web page each year and they serve as guides in curriculum discussions. Assessment patterns and trends inform curriculum decisions.

Transfer Students

The Social Work program welcomes transfer students. The curriculum was designed to facilitate a successful transition from other institutions. Incoming freshmen and sophomore students are given intensive advising to prepare for advancement and to promote success in all academic pursuits. Incoming juniors who transfer with an A.A./A.S. degree or who have 60 credit hours are also given intensive advisement but they must meet all the advancement criteria prior to transfer. When applying for advancement into the junior year course work, these students must file their application with supporting documents and they must:

1. Be formally accepted into Fredonia for the fall semester;
2. Document the completion of 60 credit hours (or submit their plan to complete at least 60 hours before they start the fall semester); and
3. Establish equivalency for courses transferring as Introduction to Social Work (e.g., Introduction to Human Services), and Human Biology.

To establish equivalency, students must submit a syllabus for the course in question to the Social Work Program Director who must determine that the purpose, content, and scope of the course is the same or similar enough to the Fredonia course that it can stand in the place of the Fredonia course. The program director may contact the college/university to gather more information to make a determination. If approved, a Transfer Credit Approval form must be filed with the Fredonia Registrar.

Social work courses transferred from a Council on Social Work Education Accredited program will be approved for credit but may not be judged equivalent to the Fredonia social work courses. This occurs because of differences in curriculum and course sequencing among programs. Transfer students from an accredited program will need to meet with the program director to determine equivalency. No equivalency will be granted for the Field Practicum unless placed by the program in an international placement. Students earning a B.S. degree in Social Work from Fredonia must complete their 450 practicum hours through the Fredonia program.

NOTE: No academic credit for life or work experience will be given as an equivalent for any course.

C.S.W.E. Competencies

The curriculum is designed to help students master CSWE's nine core professional social work competencies. Each course is intentionally designed and delivered to teach the knowledge, values and skills needed to perform the practice behaviors associated with each competency. In our capstone professional field education experience, students put the knowledge, values and skills into action. These nine competencies are:

1. Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior;
2. Engage diversity and difference in practice;
3. Advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice;
4. Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice;
5. Engage in policy practice;
6. Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities;
7. Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities;
8. Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities; and
9. Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Advancement into the Professional Methods Sequence

CSWE Accreditation Standards require programs to have admissions criteria into the major. The Fredonia program has a two tiered process. First, students are classified as “pre-candidates” until they have completed 30 credit hours of general education and other course work; passed Introductory Sociology, Foundations of Psychology, Human Biology and Statistics; and have a 2.0 cumulative grade point average. Upon completion of these criteria, students will be considered candidates for “Advanced Status” in Social Work. To obtain Advanced Status, candidates must complete the second tier of the Advancement process which allows entry into the foundation professional methods courses. The professional methods courses are taken in a sequence beginning in the fall semester of the junior year. The second-tier of the Advancement process requires an application, a written response to a question posed on the application, three recommendations, verification that all the prerequisite coursework and grade point average criteria are met.

Major Requirements

Degree candidates in Social Work must

1. complete the Fredonia Foundations general education program;
2. complete prerequisite courses;
3. successfully complete the Advancement process in the second semester of their sophomore year;
4. complete required social work courses;
5. complete 6 credit hours of course work with diversity content from an approved list of Fredonia Foundations courses;
6. maintain and complete a portfolio;
7. complete enough general elective hours and/or a minor to earn 120 credit hours; and
8. consistently demonstrate professional behavior.

Prerequisite Courses:

Social Work Courses:

Field Education

In the senior year, students must complete a 450 hour professionally supervised placement in a social service agency. Conceived as one experience spread over two semesters, the student must complete a minimum of 225 hours of activities during each of the fall and spring semesters. Students begin the application process for their Field Practicum placement in the fall semester of the junior year. Students must have completed all prerequisite courses prior to entering their field work. They must also have a 2.0 cumulative G.P.A. and a 2.0 average in all the required social work courses.

Field practicum policies and procedures can be found in the Field Manual available to the students during the application-to-the-field process in the spring semester.

Social Work Field Education Courses:

Transcripts must document that students have met the following advancement requirements:

1. 2.5 GPA average in prerequisite courses
2. Minimum cumulative GPA average of 2.0
3. Grade of "C" or better in SOC 218-Introduction to Social Work