We believe building a strong liberal arts base is the best use of the community college experience for students who are planning to enter our professional major. Communication skills, particularly writing skills, should be well developed. Some of the required foundation courses such as general sociology, human development (or a life span developmental psychology course), human biology, U.S. government and macroeconomics can be completed at the community college as well. A course in American minority groups is also required. If Spanish or Vietnamese/Hmong language study is available at the community college, these courses would also be very helpful.
Human Services courses at the community college level may provide students the opportunity to explore their career interests, but the substitution of those courses for required social work foundation courses will be considered on an individual basis. Internships in social agencies with faculty supervision and academic integration will probably substitute for the junior level field experience.
Students should also be building a strong academic record. Students must have an overall GPA of 2.8 when they are formally admitted to the program after completion of foundation courses. Additionally, we encourage students to test out their interest through volunteer work in service agencies in their community.
Students whose location and schedule permit commuting to the Minnesota State Mankato campus may want to enroll in our introductory social work courses (SOWK 190 & 210) concurrently with attendance at the community college. Students may want to consider taking the introductory courses and completing any non social work foundation courses on the Minnesota State Mankato campus in the summer session prior to their transfer. Generally, a student who has an associate's degree can complete our program in two academic years, including summers.
We would like to facilitate the transfer process so students can do advance planning. For more information contact:
Department of Social Work,
358 Trafton Science Center N,
Minnesota State University, Mankato,
Mankato, MN 56001;
phone 507-389-5671 or e-mail william.anderson@mnsu.edu
