Field Education

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are we doing for others? ~Martin Luther King. Jr. 

Field Instruction is an integral part of the social work education curriculum. It engages the student in a supervised practice activity providing opportunities for the student to apply knowledge, values, and skills in relation to identified client needs, agency purpose, and social sanctions. As students learn from their social work placements, the knowledge, attitudes, and skills acquired from all areas of the curriculum are translated into accountable performance and professional competence.

Students will be provided with a generalist experience in their field placement agency. This means the student will have a field placement that will include working at the micro (individual), mezzo (family and groups), and macro (organizations and communities) levels of intervention. Assignments at each of these levels of practice are intended to help the student to integrate theory into practice.

The students will demonstrate responsibility for their own learning process by participating in the development of a learning contract with their agency-based field instructor. The primary relationship between field instructor and student intern is supported by an assigned faculty liaison who visits the agency during field placement an average of two times per semester. Students will also have journals and assignments due. Students will be expected to participate in online chat and adobe connect or face-to-face seminars. Students enrolled in the field practicum are also expected to participate in the Field Fair held on campus during the fall and spring semesters.