Social Work BSW
Social Work - 57 Credits
Social Work Program Mission
The Bachelor of Social Work Program at William Woods University prepares professional generalist social workers for competent practice across systems with diverse and vulnerable populations in a variety of contexts. Through a student-centered approach, we engage students in practice with client systems, service delivery systems, and the surrounding community. And, we seek to instill a life-long commitment to learning, cultural humility, empowerment, and excellence in service, leadership, and intellectual inquiry.
Program Description
Our Bachelor of Social Work Program is a student-centered program that prepares generalist social work practitioners to engage in competent social work practice across systems with diverse and vulnerable populations. Our graduates are well prepared to help client systems overcome challenges, enhance their well-being, increase access to resources, and advocate for social and economic justice.
We define generalist practice as follows:
Generalist practice is grounded in the liberal arts and the person-in-environment framework. Generalist social work practitioners assist and empower their clients through a variety of prevention and intervention methods that promote human and social well-being. These methods are based on scientific inquiry and best practices. And, generalist social work practitioners are prepared to engage in multi-level practice (individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities) with diverse systems. The generalist practitioner identifies with the social work profession and applies ethical principles and critical thinking in practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Generalist practitioners demonstrate cultural humility and are committed to engaging in anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice. They advocate for human rights and social and economic justice, as well as recognize, support, and build on the strengths and resiliency of all human beings. Finally, generalist practitioners engage in research-informed practice and are proactive in responding to the impact of context on professional practice.
Briefly, generalist social work practice:
• Is multi-level to include individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities
• Is multi-theory, allowing for the free selection of theories as appropriate
• Utilizes a problem identification and solving focus that follows a problem-solving framework
• Utilizes multiple interventions at multiple levels, as appropriate
• Addresses the complexity of individual, family, group, organizational, and community system interactions
• Requires an integration of awareness, competence, and professional response to issues of values, ethics, diversity, culture, social justice, and populations-at-risk
Our program holds the following core beliefs:
• All human beings have intrinsic worth and dignity and deserve access to the resources they need for safety and self-determination.
• The uniqueness and individuality of each person is a strength.
• Social workers demonstrate respect for and acceptance of the unique characteristics of diverse populations.
• Social Workers are responsible for ethical conduct, competent practice, and for life-long learning.
We strongly believe that parallel engagement is paramount to your development into competent social work practitioners. As such, we actively engage you in observations, interactions, and faculty mentored service-learning opportunities with social services organizations and clients. You demonstrate your mastery of the required knowledge, values, and skills through the concurrent field placement completed during the fall and spring semesters of your senior year.
Program Goals
The following program goals are based on the core competencies as outlined in the Council on Social Work Education’s 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. The Bachelor of Social Work Program at William Woods University prepares generalist social work practitioners who:
1. Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior (Competency 1).
2. Advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice (Competency 2).
3. Engage anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) in practice (Competency 3).
4. Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice (Competency 4).
5. Engage in policy practice (Competency 5).
6. Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities (Competency 6).
7. Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities (Competency 7).
8. Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities (Competency 8).
9. Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities (Competency 9).
Program Objectives
The following program objectives are based on the core competencies and related behaviors outlined in the Council on Social Work Education’s 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. Upon graduation from the program, students will:
P1.
Make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for ethical decision making, ethical conduct of research, and additional codes of ethics within the profession as appropriate to the context (Competency 1a).
P2.
Demonstrate professional behavior; appearance; and oral, written, and electronic communication (Competency 1b).
P3.
Use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate practice outcomes (Competency 1c).
P4.
Use supervision and consultation to guide professional judgment and behavior (Competency 1d).
P5.
Advocate for human rights at the individual, family, group, organizational, and community system levels (Competency 2a).
P6.
Engage in practices that advance human rights to promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice (Competency 2b).
P7.
Demonstrate anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice at the individual, family, group, organizational, community, research, and policy levels (Competency 3a).
P8.
Demonstrate cultural humility by applying critical reflection, self-awareness, and self- regulation to manage the influence of bias, power, privilege, and values in working with clients and constituencies, acknowledging them as experts of their own lived experiences (Competency 3b).
P9.
Apply research findings to inform and improve practice, policy, and programs (Competency 4a).
P10.
Identify ethical, culturally informed, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive strategies that address inherent biases for use in quantitative and qualitative research methods to advance the purposes of social work (Competency 4b).
P11.
Use social justice, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive lenses to assess how social welfare policies affect the delivery of and access to social services (Competency 5a).
P12.
Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice (Competency 5b).
P13.
Apply knowledge of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as interprofessional conceptual frameworks, to engage with clients and constituencies (Competency 6a).
P14.
Use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to engage in culturally responsive practice with clients and constituencies (Competency 6b).
P15.
Apply theories of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as other culturally responsive and interprofessional conceptual frameworks, when assessing clients and constituencies (Competency 7a).
P16.
Demonstrate respect for client self-determination during the assessment process by collaborating with clients and constituencies in developing a mutually agreed-upon plan (Competency 7b).
P17.
Engage with clients and constituencies to critically choose and implement culturally responsive, evidence-informed interventions to achieve client and constituency goals (Competency 8a).
P18.
Incorporate culturally responsive methods to negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf of clients and constituencies (Competency 8b).
P19.
Select and use culturally responsive methods for evaluation of outcomes (Competency 9a).
P20.
Critically analyze outcomes and apply evaluation findings to improve practice effectiveness with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities (Competency 9b).
Major Requirements
Core Credits: 45.00
| PSY 313 | Statistics for the Social Sciences | 3 |
| SWK 215 | Introduction to Social Work | 3 |
| SWK 230 | Interaction Skills | 3 |
| SWK 253 | Introduction to Diversity and Intersectionality -i | 3 |
| SWK 312 | Social Work Practice with Individuals and Families | 3 |
| SWK 313 | Research Methods | 3 |
| SWK 314 | Social Work Practice with Groups | 3 |
| SWK 315 | Community & Organizational Development | 3 |
| SWK 316 | Human Behavior in the Social Environment I | 3 |
| SWK 317 | Human Behavior in the Social Environment II | 3 |
| SWK 338 | Social Welfare Policy | 3 |
| SWK 450 | Senior Field Practicum I | 4 |
| SWK 451 | Senior Field Practicum II | 4 |
| SWK 452 | Senior Field Seminar | 2 |
| SWK 453 | Senior Capstone Seminar | 2 |
SWK Elective - 3 Credits
(choose from the following options)
| SWK 203 | Aging in America - A New Genertn | 3 |
| SWK 245 | Applied Ethics | 3 |
| SWK 273 | Crime Victimization in America | 3 |
| SWK 304 | Domestic Violence Theories & Interv | 3 |
| SWK 322 | Addictive Behaviors & Substan Abuse | 3 |
| SWK 340 | Child Abuse and Neglect | 3 |
| SWK 374 | Mental Health Services and Policies | 3 |
| SWK 406 | Working with Juvenile Offenders | 3 |
SWK Required General Education Courses - 9 Credits
9 Credits (must complete PSY101 or PSY102; and
BIO 108)
| BIO 108 | Introduction to Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology -N | 3 |
General Psychology Requirement
| Must complete at least 3 credits from the following options | |
| PSY 101 | General Psychology I -U | 3 |
| PSY 102 | General Psychology II -Q | 3 |
SWK Required General Education Electives
| Must complete at least 3 credits from the following options | |
| CMJ 110 | Introduction to Criminal Justice | 3 |
| ECN 251 | Macroeconomics -Q | 3 |
| ECN 252 | Microeconomics -Q | 3 |
| PLS 105 | Politics and Government -X | 3 |
| PLS 110 | American Legal System -Q | 3 |
| PSY 221 | Educational Psychology -Q | 3 |
| PSY 226 | Child and Adolescent Development | 3 |
| PSY 285 | Psychology of Personality -U | 3 |
Social Work majors must complete all major SWK courses with a final grade of ‘C’ or better.