To obtain a bachelorŐs degree from Eastern Connecticut State University all students, regardless of major, must fulfill eight University requirements:
á Fulfill the University General Education Requirements
á Complete two semesters of a foreign language unless two years of a foreign language were completed previously at the high school level
á Fulfill the requirements of an academic major
á Fulfill the residency requirement
á Fulfill the University writing requirement
á Complete at least 60 credits in courses at the 200 level or above, of which at least 30 credits must be on the 300 or 400 level
á Accumulate an overall grade point average of at least 2.0
á Earn a minimum of 120 credits
Each of the above requirements is described in more detail in the University catalog. Students must be aware of the requirements for graduation and, in consultation with their academic advisor, insure that their course of study includes all of the elements necessary to earn the bachelorŐs degree.
Students who complete the Social Work Program at Eastern Connecticut State University earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work. This degree is commonly identified as a BSW. Course requirements for the BSW degree at Eastern conform to curriculum standards set by the Council on Social Work Education, the national accrediting body for social work education. (See Appendix D for the CSWE Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards for undergraduate social work programs.) CSWE curriculum standards require that social work education be grounded in the liberal arts and contain a coherent, integrated professional foundation in social work. Foundation content in eight curriculum areas must be included: social work values and ethics, diversity, populations-at-risk and social and economic justice, human behavior and the social environment, social welfare policy and services, social work practice, social research, and field education. The CSWE undergraduate social work program content requirements are summarized below (CSWE, 2003):
Social work education must be grounded in the liberal arts.
This requirement is met in large part by EasternŐs general education core and completion of course work covering five foundation knowledge areas relevant to social work practice:
Curriculum content must be provided in the following eight areas:
Social work
education programs integrate content about values and principles of ethical
decision making as presented in the National Association of Social Workers Code
of Ethics. The educational experience provides students with the opportunity to
be aware of personal values; develop, demonstrate, and promote the values of the
profession; and analyze ethical dilemmas and the ways in which these affect
practice, services, and clients.
Social work values
and ethics are stressed in all courses of the social work major.
Social work programs integrate content that
promotes understanding, affirmation, and respect for people from diverse
backgrounds. The content emphasizes the interlocking and complex nature of
culture and personal identity. It ensures that social services meet the needs
of groups served and are culturally relevant. Programs educate students to
recognize diversity within and between groups that may influence assessment,
planning, intervention, and research. Students learn how to define, design, and
implement strategies for effective practice with persons from diverse
backgrounds.
Awareness and appreciation of diversity is a central component of
EasternŐs social work major and appears in all social work courses.
Social work education programs integrate content
on populations-at-risk, examining the factors that contribute to and constitute
being at risk. Programs educate students to identify how group membership
influences access to resources, and present content on the dynamics of such
risk factors and responsive and productive strategies to redress them. Programs
integrate social and economic justice content grounded in an understanding of
distributive justice, human and civil rights, and the global interconnections
of oppression. Programs provide content related to implementing strategies to
combat discrimination, oppression, and economic deprivation and to promote
social and economic justice. Programs prepare students to advocate for
nondiscriminatory social and economic systems.
EasternŐs Social Work Program is dedicated to
empowering the oppressed and to the promotion of social justice. Content in this curriculum area
pervades the social work major.
Social work
education programs provide content on the reciprocal relationships between
human behavior and social environments. Content includes empirically based
theories and knowledge that focus on the interactions between and among
individuals, groups, societies, and economic systems. It includes theories and
knowledge of biological, sociological, cultural, psychological, and spiritual
development across the life span; the range of social systems in which people
live
(individual, family,
group, organizational, and community); and the ways social systems promote or deter
people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being.
HBSE content begins in the Social Work Program's liberal arts foundation areas, especially the psychological, anthropological, and biological foundation areas. It is presented more completely in the program's two HBSE courses, SWK 311 - The Social Environment and Human Behavior (macro-level influences on behavior) and SWK 312 - Human Behavior and the Social Environment (micro-level influences on behavior). HBSE content also appears in SWK 200 Introduction to Social Work; the community, individual and family, and group social work practice courses; and the senior seminar.
Programs provide
content about the history of social work, the history and current structures of
social welfare services, and the role of policy in service delivery, social
work practice, and attainment of individual and social well-being. Course
content provides students with knowledge and skills to understand major
policies that form the foundation of social welfare; analyze organizational,
local, state, national, and international issues in social welfare policy and
social service
delivery; analyze
and apply the results of policy research relevant to social service delivery;
understand and demonstrate policy practice skills in regard to economic,
political, and organizational systems, and use them to influence, formulate,
and advocate for policy consistent with social work values; and identify
financial, organizational, administrative, and planning processes required to
deliver social services.
Basic understanding of the American political system, essential for understanding social policy, is introduced through the American government foundation area. Social welfare content is introduced in SWK 200 - Introduction to Social Work and further developed in SWK 325 - Social Welfare Policy. In addition, social welfare policy content is a significant part of SWK 300 Generalist Practice with Communities and Organizations and in each of the field practicums. The capstone senior seminar, SWK 475 continues the integration of social policy with other areas of the social work curriculum.
Social work practice
content is anchored in the purposes of the social work profession and focuses
on strengths, capacities, and resources of client systems in relation to their
broader environments. Students learn practice content that encompasses
knowledge and skills to work with individuals, families, groups, organizations,
and communities. This content includes engaging clients in an appropriate
working relationship, identifying issues, problems, needs, resources, and
assets; collecting and assessing information; and planning for service
delivery. It includes using communication skills, supervision, and
consultation. Practice content also includes identifying, analyzing, and
implementing empirically based interventions designed to achieve client goals;
applying empirical knowledge and technological advances; evaluating program
outcomes and practice effectiveness; developing, analyzing, advocating, and
providing leadership for policies and services; and promoting social and
economic justice.
The foundation for student learning about generalist social work practice is laid in the introductory practice course, SWK 200 - Introduction to Social Work. Practice theory is provided in SWK 300 - Generalist Practice with Communities and Organizations, SWK 320 - Generalist Practice with Individuals and Families, and SWK 420 - Generalist Practice with Groups and Organizations. The field work seminars (SWK 350 and 450) are used to link theory to its application in the field and to insure integration of social work methods into a unified generalist perspective.
Qualitative and
quantitative research content provides understanding of a scientific, analytic,
and ethical approach to building knowledge for practice. The content prepares
students to develop, use, and effectively communicate empirically based
knowledge, including evidence-based interventions. Research knowledge is used
by students to provide high-quality services; to initiate change; to improve
practice, policy, and social service delivery; and to evaluate their own
practice.
Understanding of the various modes of inquiry and ways of knowing is provided in the University GER inquiry and analysis courses. The role of research in the social work profession is introduced in SWK 200. The research process is taught during the first semester of the social work major in SWK 330 Social Work Research I and applied the following semester in SWK 333 Social Work Research II through student conducted research in their SWK 300 community practice agencies. Evaluation of practice is required in SWK 320 and SWK 420. The Senior Seminar (SWK 475) integrates the critical thinking skills of the research methods.
Field education is
an integral component of social work education anchored in the mission, goals,
and educational level of the program. It occurs in settings that reinforce
studentsŐ identification with the purposes, values, and ethics of the
profession; fosters the integration of empirical and practice-based knowledge;
and promotes the development of professional competence. Field education is
systematically designed, supervised, coordinated, and evaluated on the basis of
criteria by which students demonstrate the achievement of program objectives.
Field experience is a pre-requisite for admission to the Social Work Program either through SWK 200 - Introduction to Social Work or through an approved substitute experience. Additional field experience is required in SWK 300 - Social Work and the Community and through the two field work courses, SWK 350 and SWK 450 and their integrating seminars.
A central unifying theme of generalist social work practice as taught by the Social Work Program is the promotion of social and economic justice, a fundamental value of the social work profession. The Social Work Program takes as its starting point the concept of human rights as declared in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (See Appendix G) and other conventions and declarations of the United Nations which establish fundamental rights of people to the necessities of life and standards for recognizing and protecting the dignity and worth of all human persons. Such rights provide measures through which many individual problems can be seen to originate in social inequality and the domination and exploitation of some individuals, social groups, classes and peoples by others. As Gill (1994, 232) says:
Understanding oppression and social injustice seems especially important for social workers, since the conditions that cause people to seek help from social services are usually direct or indirect consequences of oppressive and unjust social, economic, and political institutions, and since the profession of social work is ethically committed to promote social justice. Insights into oppression and social injustice, and into ways of overcoming them, are therefore essential aspects of the foundation of social work knowledge.
Through this framework, the Social Work Program encourages its students to avoid Ňblaming the victimÓ (Ryan, 1976) and to identify and work for social changes which will improve many lives above and beyond the lives of the individuals who come to the attention of social service agencies.
See Appendix C for a plan of study worksheet including GER and social work courses.
Pre-social work majors are expected to work on the UniversityŐs general education requirements, the Social Work Program liberal arts foundation areas (SOC 100, SOC 107, PSY 100, PSC 110, ANT 106, and BIO 202, or equivalent courses) and SWK 200 - Introduction to Social Work.
Eastern's General Education Requirements require students to select from lists of approved courses to complete six areas of study. Pre-social work majors will complete three GER sections (IIIB or C - Natural Sciences, IVA - Society and the Individual, and IVB - Economics, Political Science, Geography) through completion of social work foundation courses. The remaining GER areas must be completed with courses approved for GER use. Students should consult the University Catalog for a complete description of the University's GER and the lists of approved GER courses.
Completion of ENG 100 - College Writing and two additional GER courses (Cultural Traditions recommended) is required for program admission. Full completion of the GER is not required for acceptance into the Social Work Program.
Completion of at least four of the five Social Work Program liberal arts foundation areas is required for program admission.
Fall semester:
SWK
200 Introduction to Social Work 3
credits
Note: Required for admission to the social work major
An overview of the social services and the profession of social work introducing students to the history of the field; knowledge, values and skills necessary for social work practice; and the variety of social service programs and agencies characterizing the field today. Human rights principles are explored. Includes a twenty hour field experience.
Complete program foundation requirements
Recommended: A statistics course such as MAT 203 or 216, or PSY 227
Substantial completion of the GER (at least eleven courses including the computer competency requirement) is expected by the end of the junior year. All liberal arts foundation and professional foundation courses must be completed prior to admission to senior year practice and seminar courses.
SWK 311 The Social Environment and Human Behavior 3 credits
SOC 100 and ANT 106 must be completed prior to, or concurrently with SWK 311.
Provides the theoretical and empirical foundation for understanding the influence of macro systems on human behavior. Examines sociological, social psychological, economic, and cultural theories that are relevant to understanding organizations, communities, social institutions, society and the world at large. Highlights the forces of social exclusion and the consequences of social injustice. Develops students' awareness of self and others as shaped by these forces.
SWK 325 Social Welfare Policy 3 credits
PSC 110 must be completed prior to, or concurrently with enrollment in SWK 325.