BASW Field Practicum

Purpose / Admission / Structure / Forms

The BASW program prepares its graduates for beginning generalist social work practice. The Field Practicum is an essential element of the curriculum in which students are placed in a social service agency for two 8-hour days per week in the senior year. Experienced social work professionals mentor students and evaluate the student's ability to apply social work knowledge, skills and values.

Admission to Baccalaureate Field

Students are admitted to the field practicum after completing coursework on social welfare policy ( SW 300A and SW 300B), theories and knowledge of human behavior in the social environment (SW 302A and SW 302B), and a course on how to use and conduct research (SW 301). These courses are taken the junior year and must be completed with a grade of C or better. Students also must have an overall GPA of 2.5 or better to enter field to ensure academic stability and maturity. For a brief overview of the BASW program and the kinds of classes and assignments students have, see Program Overview.

Structure of the Baccalaureate Field Practicum

Students will be placed in an agency at the start of their senior year and remain at that agency all three academic quarters. A minimum of 480 hours of field experience (two 8-hour days per week) is required. Coursework on practice with individuals (SW400A, fall quarter), with groups and families (400B, winter quarter) and with communities and organizations (400C, spring quarter) are taken while students are placed field so that learning and application of skills occur concurrently. Students are placed under the supervision of an approved agency employee who is their Field Instructor. The Field Instructor meets weekly with each student for a minimum of one hour of supervision.

A Faculty Liaison from the University visits the student and the field instructor at the agency each quarter. Students attend a monthly seminar with the Faculty Liaison to integrate field learning. Two process recordings are required quarterly as part of the seminar. The liaison is also available for assistance in solving any problems that arise in field.

To view or print forms, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader loaded on your computer. If you do not, you may go to the Adobe Acrobat Web Site to download the application. Some of the documents are also provided as Microsoft Word or Excel documents. If you do not have Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel loaded on your computer, you may go to Microsoft Web Site to download the Microsoft Word Viewer or Microsoft Excel Viewer.

BASW Field Documents

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