Field Education Committee Meeting Minutes
Date: March 10, 2016, Sabin 231A, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Purpose: Internal committee to link curriculum/class instruction to field instruction.
Members:Steven Onken (faculty), Ga-Young Choi (faculty),Peter Cote (faculty), Jenny Becker (field director), Laura Praglin (faculty), James McCullagh (faculty)
Unable to attend: Heather McGuire (BASW student CO-President of SWWA), Emily Elsbernd (BASW Student Co-President of SSWA, Jonna Hicks (MSW student, GA for Field),Danielle Ballard (MSW student, President of SSWA)
Items:1. Additional field program evaluation tools
Current practice: Three (3) different data sources use for Field Program Evalaution
-Agency instructor field evaluation
-Student Self-efficacy evaluation (pre and post)
-Field program evaluation (student feedback on field activities, field site and agency instructor)
For Consideration:
-Past MW agency survey asked the following questions: Did you have sufficient contact with your faculty liaison during the student's field instruction? Do you believe that the Field Manual was sufficient to your needs as a field instructor? Do you have other suggestions as to ways we might improve our field instruction program? Data was collected but not sure if used.
-Agency Instructor evaluation: A draft was shared. Consensus was that agency instructors share comments and concerns about program components during student evaluations, so formal feedback is not needed at this time.
-Faculty Liaison evaluation: A draft was shared. Consensus was that this feedback is needed at this time as a procedure to evaluation field setting effectiveness (CSWE 2.1.5 requirement). Recommendations were made regarding items assessment and how to complete (pen/paper versus electronically or online). Revised draft was shared with team. Plans for immediate implementation (pen/paper to start).
Rationale: CSWE requires at least two (2) measures of program evaluation to aid in continuous improvement efforts regarding the field program.
Feedback/Recommendations/Action:Revised draft of liaison evaluation of field placement was shared with team for feedback. Plans for immediate implementation (pen/paper to start).
2.Field Requirements by Program (reviewed components below)
-Align BASW and Foundation field and seminar requirements
-Recommendation to revise MSW Foundation Summary of Learning
-Recommendation to replace MSW TIC agency presentation with agency assessment
Rationale: Consistency among seminars and field assignments
Feedback/Recommendations/Action: Consensus to keep seminar components for each program as they currently stand with the exception of 3 seminars for BASW field be a requirement rather than a suggestion. A question was raised about providing oversight to field liaisons to ensure the minimum requirements are being fulfilled. After consultation with Dr. Juby, it was decided that if a faculty/staff member has a concern about what a faculty liaison is doing with their field group, they should bring their concerns to Dr. Juby if they are unable or unwilling to discuss this directly with the faculty/staff member.
3. Define "Weekly" supervision during field placement
Rationale: To ensure this practice is happening on a consistent basis while student is completing field.
Feedback/Recommendations/Action: Time ran out before this agency item could be discussed. The need for this will be summarized in the minutes and reinforced through agency instructor orientation, in field documents, and during liaison meetings. This is not a CSWE requirement, but rather a Department requirement and is deemed necessary to ensure the social work instructor student has access to their agency instructor, and to reinforce the importance of supervision and consultation to guide professional judgment and behavior (EPC 1–Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior).
Tabled Items for Next Field Education Committee Meeting (Fall 2016)
Non-social work degree'd agency instructor recruitment
Current practice:
-During site visits (initial approval, repeated visits)
-Obtain list of social work degreed staff to reach out to.
Rationale: To ensure that the social work perspective is evident in terms of social justice, policy and advocacy work as to relates to the student's field experience.
Memo Items
1. In December 2015, the Department voted on and passed the recommendations for standard field syllabi for each program and field students per liaison to be no more than 16 for BASW liaison and 10-15 for MSW liaison
2. Per faculty request, rubric examples to grade MSW field assignments (summary of learning, seminar presentations) will be shared with liaison prior to taking a field group.
3. Per Dr. Juby, the committee members for the 2016-2017 school year will include Dr. McCullagh, Dr. Praglin and Prof. Cote. Dr. Judy and Dr. Onken will attend as needed.