Undergraduate Program: Curriculum

Requirements for the Major in Social Work

This major represents a sequence of course and fieldwork experiences designed to prepare professional social work practitioners for skilled practice at the baccalaureate level in the delivery of services to client systems of different sizes and types: individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. It also prepares students for graduate studies in social work and related fields. The social work major is offered within an undergraduate curriculum centered on the basic disciplines of liberal study, with courses in the humanities, the natural and social sciences, and the fine arts.

In addition to the college's general liberal studies core requirements, the department of social work's requirements for a major include:

BIO 109: Human Biology
BIO 110: Human Biology Lab (1 credit)
MTH 207: Elementary Statistics

18 credits in Social Sciences
ECO 101: Principles of Macroeconomics
PSC 101: Introduction to Political Science
PSY 102: Introduction to Psychology
SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
SOC/SWK 204: Social Problems or SWK 309: Human Rights/Social Justice
PSY 323: Abnormal Psychology or SWK 323: Health/Mental Health

38 credits in Social Work courses
SWK 222: Introduction to Social Work
SWK 300K: Social Work and Human Diversity
SWK 304W: Human Behavior and the Social Environment I
SWK 305: Human Behavior and the Social Environment II
SWK 352: Social Work Research Methods
SWK 383: Social Work Practice I and Field Experience I (4 credits)
SWK 384: Social Work Practice II and Field Experience II (4 credits)
SWK 404: Social Services and Social Policy
SWK 452: Senior Integrative Seminar
SWK 483: Social Work Practice III
SWK 484: Field Instruction-Practicum (6 credits)
SWK 499: Comprehensive Exam (0 credits)

Advisement regarding course equivalencies will be on an individual basis, through consultation with the baccalaureate program director and the social work faculty advisor.

There are collegewide requirements in addition to departmental requirements that must be met. Refer to the Nazareth College Undergraduate Catalog.

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Field Instruction

Field Instruction Manual for Senior Practicum (PDF file)

The Field Instruction Sequence and Requirements
The field experience provides the opportunity for students to integrate their foundation knowledge learned in the classroom with practice knowledge and experience gained in the agency setting. The purpose of field instruction is to educate a generalist social worker ready for beginning social work practice. In the junior year, after declaring a major, the student enrolls in SWK 383 Social Work Practice I/Field Experience I (fall semester) and in SWK 384 Social Work Practice II/Field Experience II (spring semester). In each of these courses, the student is required to complete a field experience of six hours per week or a minimum of 144 hours during the junior year. The purpose is to broaden the student's understanding of and appreciation for practice settings, the use of generalist practice in these settings, and to enhance abilities and readiness for the senior practicum and social work as a career. This junior-year field experience is required by all students. After successful completion of this junior-year field experience, students then complete their senior field practicum during their final spring semester at Nazareth College.

Field Instruction-Practicum (SWK 484) is a supervised block placement in a social service setting appropriate to the student's knowledge and skills in social work practice. This practicum totals a minimum of 440 hours and occurs in the spring semester of the senior year. The field practicum is open only to social work majors. Two days of orientation sessions are followed by 13-15 weeks in a field agency. Students work in their agencies for four days each week (Tuesday through Friday) for approximately eight hours each day. Supportive and integrative seminars are held on campus on Mondays to provide the important linkages between the academic program and the field experience.

Obviously, the field placements will differ in content and character because of the variety of services offered by agencies and the variety of settings. It is further realized that in some agencies a period of orientation, or learning and observing, is necessary before a student can comfortably begin any meaningful direct service. Bearing such thoughts in mind, the field instructor/agency is asked to include in the student's experience:

A general profile of the agency, its history, management, policy formation, sources of funding, philosophy, scope of services, etc.

Orientation to the necessary processes by which the agency services are used and recorded, and an exploration of its relationship to the community.

As many of the available learning and observing experiences as are appropriate for the student's learning needs and level of professional training. This would include lectures and seminars, in-service trainings, meetings with key agency personnel, as well as independent reading and observation and attendance at social work conferences.

Opportunities for a variety of direct and indirect service experiences in which generalist social work skills may be learned, tested, and evaluated. The student needs to carry primary responsibility, under supervision, for interaction with client systems of different sizes and types: individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. These opportunities and the nature of the work would, of course, vary from agency to agency. Opportunities for learning would include developing helping relationships while cultivating interviewing techniques and problem-solving skills, casework and case management, social group work, advocacy, community organization, teamwork, program evaluation and research projects.

Supervisory conferences on a regular and formal basis as one of the primary sources of the student's growth toward a professional who is reflective, self-evaluating, and knowledgeable. Some tools to help in this process are: simulations and role plays, process recording, video or audio tapes and analyses of student-client interaction, learning contracts, progress review and feedback, weekly agenda developed by student, student's written and oral self-evaluations, field instructor observation and written evaluation of student.

Field instructors are asked to have at least two three-way conferences with the student and faculty liaison during the practicum to identify learning goals, process the student's experiences, and monitor and evaluate progress and performance. Early in the practicum, the student and field instructor complete the Individualized Fieldwork Learning Agreement. This provides the student with the opportunity to formalize learning goals and indicate how achievement of the goals will be identified. Further, it helps clarify expectations and field assignments.