We are very excited to continue our work with several counties and community-based agencies to develop and maintain a comprehensive field education program that provides both foundation level experiences and advanced, concentration year experiences for our graduate students. The Department of Social Work has conceptualized field education as an integral component of both the Traditional MSW Program and Advanced Standing MSW Program to prepare competent and effective graduates to be advanced generalist social workers, emphasizing practice in small communities and rural areas.
Field education has been systematically designed to address issues of supervision, coordination, and evaluation on the basis of criteria by which students will demonstrate the achievement of program objectives. It provides the student with the opportunity to be involved in an agency setting and actively engaged in practicing new skills and using new knowledge, under the supervision of an experienced social work professional. Planning for the field practicum is critical in order to match the individual learning goals of the student with a site appropriate to meet those needs.
While both public and private agencies will be utilized as they meet the specific learning goals of students, students will be encouraged in particular to consider agencies in small and rural areas for placements. While non-MSW task supervisors (defined as agency personnel who direct the day-to-day tasks of the field student) may be utilized out of necessity, policies are designed to maximize the use of professional social work supervision. Additionally, the synchronization of field education with other coursework, in both the foundation and concentration years, provides an opportunity for on-going reinforcement of the social work perspective from faculty, off-site MSW supervisors, and peers.
Students will be provided with information early in their first fall semester of study (for both the Traditional and the Advanced standing cohorts) to begin the intensive planning process. Students will be required to be active collaborators in securing, negotiating, and finalizing the placement with an agency. Students may, in some cases, be able to carryout their field practcum hours in a place of employment, though this requires additional planning and negotition, and is not always a workable option. (Under no circumstances may previous work or internship experience substituted for your MSW practicum requirements.)
Students in the Traditional 2-year MSW program will be required to carry out two field placements for a total of 20 credit hours. Those in the Advanced Standing MSW program will need to carry out one field placement for a total fo 10 credits hours. Practicum each year will begin in January and extend through July. The Foundation Practicum (1st year) will include 460 hours of documented field education time, while the Advanced Practicum (2nd year or AS year) will include 500 hours of documented field education time.
For more information about the Field Education component of our MSW Program, please contact:
Robin R. Wingo, MSW, LISW
MSW Director of Field Education
