Welcome

Welcome to the School of Social Work at California State University, San Bernardino. We have served the region’s social work education needs with a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) program since 1989 and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (B.A.S.W.) program since 2003. Both degrees are nationally accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

We are a vibrant community of students, faculty, staff and agency-based social workers who care deeply about improving the lives of all people, especially those facing the steepest obstacles.

Our students have gone on to head major non-profit social service agencies, assist older adults to remain safely in their homes, provide culturally sensitive mental health services, and help pass legislation to better prepare youth in foster care to live independently. These are just a few of the vital roles that our graduates fill in the community.

Our faculty have expertise in areas such as gerontology, gangs, health disparities, HIV/AIDS, disabilities, and child welfare. In addition to curriculum development and teaching, they contribute to the social work profession through publishing their research, providing consultation and training, and sharing their expertise at local, regional and national conferences and events.

We partner with over a hundred local social service agencies. Our students contribute thousands of hours of work while the agencies provide supervision for the students. Incredibly, to equal the number of hours worked in the community by our M.S.W. students and B.A.S.W. students each year (86,520 hours), an individual would have to work for over 40 years. A very conservative estimate of the annual value of this work approaches three quarters of a million dollars.

Our faculty, students and community partners work together with support from our university, college and alumni to achieve our mission:

CSUSB’s School of Social Work provides accessible, dynamic, and rigorous academic programs that prepare students with foundation and advanced professional values, knowledge and practice skills to effectively enhance the well-being of the diverse populations and communities of our region, state and world.

Accessibility means that we attract and retain a student population reflective of the region’s population and provide social work education opportunities to students in previously unserved areas.

Dynamic Change means that we change and innovate to reflect changes in the professional knowledge base, technology for practice and teaching, regional demographics and needs, and national and global trends that affect human well-being.

Rigor means that the education is rigorous as demonstrated by comprehensive assessment of the values, knowledge and practice competencies that we expect our students acquire during the program.

Professional Social Work Knowledge, Skills and Values means that we promote human and community well-being through teaching professional social work values, knowledge and practice skills. These values include service, social justice, the dignity and worth of the person, the importance of human relationship, integrity, competence, human rights, and scientific inquiry. The knowledge base includes risk and protective factors in all stages of human development, practice skills to enhance the functioning of individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities (including policy advocacy), and the skills of scientific inquiry.

Serving the diverse populations and communities of our region, state and world means that our programs prepare students for practice in a regional, state and global context of dynamic diversity.

If social work education at CSUSB sounds like it might be right for you, learn more about the curriculum and admissions process for our M.S.W. and B.A.S.W. programs by clicking on the Majors and Programs link. Prospective students, graduates or interested members of the community may want to select our News and Events link or the Students and Alumni link. From our Resources link you can find information on professional social work organizations and employment related resources. If you have additional questions, select the Contact Us link and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Laurie A. Smith, Director
CSUSB School of Social Work