Social Work

Overview

Students gain valuable preparatory experience with clients in settings as diverse as child welfare, health care, aging, and corrections during field practicums -- full-time experience supervised by faculty and agency social workers, similar to student teaching. Agencies providing practicums are generally in the Twin Cities or communities close to the St. Olaf campus. Placement at a greater distance is possible by individual arrangement.

The department actively seeks and encourages students from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles to consider a social work major and provides one-to-one advising. The program provides a suitable preparation for graduate study in social work and related fields (e.g. policy, ministry, special education, and law). It has been accredited by the Council on Social Work Education since 1990.

General Education Credit

Requirements for the Major

Prerequisite Courses (all required)

Social Work Courses Required for the Major (all required)

A field practicum of at least 400 clock hours of work (Social Work 380 block practicum) professionally supervised in an affiliated agency is required during fall semester of the senior year. Social Work 373 and 380 together constitute a full semester's work. Field practicum experience may be completed while living on or off campus.

Mathematics 112 or Statistics 110 is recommended, especially for students who anticipate graduate study. Both fulfill the General Education Mathematical Reasoning requirement.

Those interested in the major should contact the department chair in their first year or as early as possible. Students in good standing at the college who have satisfactorily completed prerequisite courses and Social Work 221 are eligible to apply for admission to the program. Students are granted major status only after satisfactory completion of Social Work courses 221, 246, 254, and program application. Students must achieve a grade of C or better in all required courses to progress in the program. Details are available in the Program Handbook available from program faculty.

Students pursuing careers in related areas -- psychology, education, church youth work, business personnel -- are encouraged to enroll in Level II social work courses 200s). Level III courses 300s) are reserved for majors in good standing. Courses for non-majors focus on special social service issues -- homelessness, women, child welfare, poverty, AIDS.

Admission to and Retention in the Social Work Program

Students are formally notified of admission to the program prior to registration for Spring Semester of the junior year. Students who transfer to St. Olaf at or before the beginning of the junior (third) year may be considered for admission to the program, providing they have completed equivalent prerequisite courses in sociology, psychology, and human biology. Other academic work is awarded credit following a course by course evaluation by the department chair and registrar. Field Practicum must be completed while enrolled at St. Olaf. No credit or waiver is given for previous internship or work experience nor for life experience.

Special Programs

Students often make use of social work courses in Family Resources majors and in the following interdisciplinary majors and concentrations: American Racial and Multicultural Studies, American Studies, Urban Studies, and Women's Studies.

Social work faculty fulfill occasional assignments in the Paracollege when students interested in social welfare and social work topics ask that they tutor or serve on project and comprehensive committees. Completing the social work major is possible only through the regular college, however.

Recommendations for Graduate or Professional Study

Courses

221 Social Work and Social Services

Whose responsibility is it to address human needs? What contributions can social work make? Social workers help people through the many programs that make up the public, private, and church-related social welfare system in the United States. They serve diverse populations in cities and small towns (e.g., children, families, persons with disabilities, the elderly), using values and ethics central to the profession. Study discrete parts of the system and ways in which the parts interrelate. Learn how it grew from the English Poor Laws and the Social Security Act to the Contract with America. Trace the development of the social work profession and its relationship to the systems of social welfare. Volunteer in the community to observe the social welfare system in action. Offered both semesters.

231 Social Welfare in the Global Community

Study efforts to meet human need in several areas (e.g. education, health, employment, human rights, income maintenance) and explore the connection between a country's social welfare efforts and its economic, religious, political, and cultural contexts. Explore social welfare developments in India and Mexico, particularly, with a special focus on the particular needs and strengths of women, and compare them to the U.S. Good preparation for students who desire to "do good" in non-Western cultures, especially through St. Olaf Study-Service Programs, the Peace Corps, or related opportunities. Fall Semester only.

235 Special Topic in Social Service

Pick a topic of current interest -- homelessness, family violence, child abuse, addictions, or poverty -- and imagine studying it in the social work framework. Explore the public and private programs, legislation, policies, and resources being used to address that problem. This course always includes videos, guest speakers, and field trips, in addition to opportunities for students to explore a particular aspect of the social service system that addresses the chosen topic. Offered: Spring 1997.

246 Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Humans relate to one another in couples, families, teams and groups, organizations, and communities. Social Work majors (open to non-majors by permission of instructor) apply theoretical material gathered from required foundation courses in biology, sociology, and psychology to analyze situations encountered by social worker and other helping professionals. Culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse examples are drawn from novels -- e.g., The Joy Luck Club, Black Boy, A Poison Stronger than Love -- and from students' autobiographies. Prerequisites: Sociology 121 or 126, Psychology 241, and Biology 123 or 243. Fall Semester only.

254 Methods and Skills in Social Work I

Social work majors (open to non-majors by permission of department chair only) study the "how-to" of social work practice in this course. They focus on describing strengths, as well as problems, of individuals, families, and small groups from diverse backgrounds; on framing goals and plans for change that utilize a systems perspective; and on ethical decision-making, informed by scientific method and grounded in the liberal arts. Students demonstrate their learning in videotaped role playing. Prerequisites: Social Work 221 and concurrent enrollment in Social Work 246. Fall Semester only.

258 Social Policy

The "Non-discrimination Policy" at St. Olaf and the Family Support Act are examples of society translating its values and the needs of its members into policies that frame agencies and programs. Social workers in generalist practice both help to create and work to implement social policies in areas of income, health, housing, human rights, employment, and education at the local, state, and national levels. Social work majors (open to non-majors by permission of department chair only) must understand the processes of formulating and analyzing a social policy that addresses a problem and attempts to reflect interests and powers of diverse groups as well as values of the whole society. Spring Semester only.

261 Methods and Skills in Social Work II

Social work majors (open to non-majors by permission of department chair only) continue to study the "how-to" of social work practice in this course. They focus on describing strengths, as well as problems, of groups, organizations, and communities from diverse backgrounds and on utilizing a systems perspective to help the group or community frame its goals and plans for change. Students scientifically describe a community; meet social workers practicing in organizational and community settings; and in small groups develop a plan for implementing change that reflects ethical decision-making, informed by scientific method and grounded in the liberal arts. Prerequisite: Social Work 254. Spring Semester only.

294 Internship

298 Independent Study

373 Methods and Skills in Social Work III

In this course that immediately precedes Field Practicum, social work majors integrate principles and skills of assessment and planning, focus on developing and implementing strategies of intervention with diverse clients, and refine skills of termination, evaluation, and documentation. Students apply evaluation methods to practice situations, articulate particular implications of social policy for their practice, and demonstrate their learning in videotaped role playing. Prerequisite: Social Work 261; majors only.

374 Evaluation of Social Work Practice and Programs

Social work majors study scientific, analytic approaches to building knowledge for generalist social work practice and for assessing effectiveness and efficiency of an individual social worker's practice and of social service programs. Assessing needs, designing case interventions, measuring client satisfaction, monitoring progress, and assessing the outcomes of social work programs are included. Students evaluate portions of their own practice with diverse clients units and with segments of social service programs familiar to them and demonstrate application of ethical standards to scientific inquiry. . Majors only.

380 Field Practicum (2.5)

In this "Real World" test, majors in the Social Work Program complete a minimum of 400 hours in an agency that provides the opportunity to practice from a generalist perspective, with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities from diverse backgrounds. The student takes on selected professional responsibilities with careful guidance and supervision from the agency's Field Instructor and the college's Field Coordinator. Every two weeks all students enrolled meet in a three-hour seminar for integration of learning, sharing of experiences, and peer support. Prerequisite: Majors only who have completed all foundation and required courses with numbers below 380.

381 The Social Worker as Professional

This "capstone" course affords majors, who have completed all requirements including the Field Practicum, the opportunity to undertake responsibilities that could be assigned to a beginning level generalist social worker. By completing the project students demonstrate mastery of the required outcomes of the social work program. Weekly seminar meetings feature resource persons who introduce auxiliary skills helpful to beginning workers. Students also discuss current social work issues and seek peer assistance with projects. Evaluation includes a report of project results, an analysis of decision-making in relation to theoretical orientations, scientific findings and ethical boundaries, and an assessment of demonstrated mastery of program outcomes. Prerequisite: Social Work majors who have satisfactorily completed Social Work 380.

398 Independent Research

399 Seminar

• Social Work 120 "I Want to Help People"
• Social Work 235 Beyond the 3 R's: Schools Strengthen Youth, Families, and Communities

Faculty