Handbook of the Graduate Program in Social Work

1

CALIFORNIASTATEUNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO

DIVISION OF SOCIAL WORK

Handbook of the Graduate Program in Social Work

August 2003

Preface

The purpose of the Handbook of the Graduate Social Work Program is to provide information on the major policy, program and procedural requirements of the Division of Social Work at CaliforniaStateUniversity, Sacramento in a single source document. This Handbook is a supplement to the official CaliforniaStateUniversity, Sacramento Catalogue, and, therefore, information presented here is subject to interpretation under the CSUS Catalogue. This Handbook is intended to function as a convenient reference document for students as well as faculty. By becoming familiar with its contents, students and faculty members will find that the administrative functions of the Division will be enhanced and the operation of the graduate program improved overall. In addition, by following the provisions of the Handbook, students will be assisted in their overall educational process with a minimum of confusion or delay and with the greatest degree of success.

The Handbook is a work in progress so that it can be regularly updated and otherwise modified as experience is gained and as policy and procedure are developed or adapted in response to future needs. The Handbook will be updated as needed during the summer months and re-issued in the subsequent semester. Thus, it is hoped that both students and members of the faculty will provide feedback for the improvement of the Handbook content and format over time.

The Division's main offices are located at 4010 Mariposa Hall and can be contacted by dialing (916) 278-6943. A computer-based version of the Handbook can be found online at the Division of Social Work web page at

Dr. Santos Torres, Jr., Professor

Graduate Program Director

Latest Revision Date: August 2003

Table of Contents

Section / Page
Preface / 2
Mission of the Division of Social Work at CaliforniaStateUniversity, Sacramento / 6
The Graduate Social Work Curriculum in Overview: Scholarship, Diversity & Community / 10
Field Practicum / 11
Culminating Experience / 11
Academic Requirements of the Graduate Social Work Program / 12
Degree Completion Checklist / 12
Advanced Placement, Transfer of Units, Waivers & Credit by Examination / 13
Advanced Placement / 13
Transfer of Units / 13
Waivers / 14
Credit by Examination / 14
The Educational Contract / 16
Adapted Version of the Full-Time Graduate Program Student Educational Contract 2003-2005 / 17
Adapted Version of the Part-Time Graduate Program Student Educational Contract 2003-2006 / 18
Academic Advising / 19
Social Work Program Advising Center / 19
Orientation & Initial Academic Advising / 20
Use of the Educational Contract in Academic Advisement / 20
Academic Regulations / 22
Academic Standards / 22
Academic Probation / 22
Continued Probation / 22
Academic Disqualification / 22
Special Contract / 22
Administrative-Academic Probation and Disqualification / 22
Adding Courses / 23
Dropping Courses / 23
Incomplete/Deficient Grades / 24
Grading / 24
Incomplete Grades / 25
Grade Change Policy / 25
Responsibility for the Assignment of Grades / 25
Procedures for Student Grade Appeal / 26
Informal Procedures / 26
Formal Procedures / 26
Leaves of Absence/Withdrawal from the University / 27
Leave of Absence Procedures / 27
Withdrawal from the University / 28
Overarching Principles, Standards, and Educational Performance Outcomes for Students in the Division of Social Work / 29
Division of Social Work at CaliforniaStateUniversity, Sacramento Student Performance Review Standards and Procedures / 30
Framework for the Evaluation of Student Performance in the Social Work Program / 30
Ability to Acquire Professional Skills / 31
Emotional and Mental Abilities / 32
Professional Performance Skills / 33
Scholastic Performance / 34
Student Performance Review Procedures / 36
Important CaliforniaStateUniversity, Sacramento Web-Based Web Resources and General Web-Based Resources on Social Work / 40
List of University Forms and Manuals Important for Graduate Students / 41
Nature of the Profession of Social Work / 42
Employment Prospects / 44
Earnings / 45
Training, Other Qualifications and Advancement / 45
Student Rights and Responsibilities from the CSUS Policy Manual Online / 48
Preamble / 48
Rights in the Classroom / 49
Right to Privacy / 50
Rights to Freedom of Association / 51
Right to Freedom of Inquiry, Expression, and Information / 51
Rights Regarding Publication / 52
Rights of Due Process and Appeal / 52
Student Discipline / 52
Student Grievances / 52
Right to Substantial Input into the Determination of University Policy and Instructional Programs / 53
Responsibilities / 53
Responsibilities in the Classroom / 53
Responsibilities Regarding Use of University Facilities / 53
Responsibilities Regarding Freedom of Inquiry, Expression, and Information / 54
Student Discipline / 55
Instruction in the Field / 58
Graduate Field Instruction Objectives / 58
Requirements / 58
Curriculum / 59
Field Education and Employment Site / 59
International Field Education Option / 59
Pupil Personnel Services in School Social Work Certification & Licensed Clinical Social Worker / 60
Advancement to Candidacy / 61
Degree Completion / 63
Thesis/Research Project/Comprehensive Examination / 63
Plan A: Thesis / 63
Plan B: Research Project / 63
Plan C: Comprehensive Examination / 64
Enrollment in Thesis/Project / 64
Collaborative Thesis/Projects / 65
Time Limitations / 65
Presentation of Papers / 66
Support Services for Students / 67
Financial Aid / 67
Housing / 67
Career Development and PlacementCenter / 68
Testing Center / 68
LearningSkillsCenter / 69
The StudentHealthCenter / 69
Services to Students with Disabilities / 70
CSUS, Psychological Services / 70
ChildDevelopmentCenter / 71
ComputerCenter / 71
University Library / 71
Hornet Bookstore / 71
CopyCenter / 72
Computer Store / 72
University Union / 72
Division of Social Work Thesis/Project Review Procedures / 73
Thesis/Project Format Requirements Division of Social Work, CSUS / 75
Thesis/Project Format Review and Feedback Form / 84
Division of Social Work Personnel Directory / 85

Mission of the Division of Social Work at CaliforniaStateUniversity, Sacramento

Established in 1964, the Division of Social Work at CaliforniaStateUniversity, Sacramento is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is a nonprofit national association representing over 3,000 individual members as well as 158 graduate and 453 undergraduate programs of professional social work education. Founded in 1952, this partnership of educational and professional institutions, social welfare agencies, and private citizens is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the sole accrediting agency for social work education in this country.

CSWE works to ensure the preparation of competent social work professionals by providing national leadership and a forum for collective action. The main responsibility of CSWE is therefore to promote and maintain the high quality of social work education. In addition, CSWE strives to stimulate knowledge and curriculum development, to advance social justice, and to strengthen community and individual well-being.

The mission of the Division of Social Work is to prepare individuals aspiring to become social work professionals who can lead and serve the region in the development and delivery of human services which promote the value of human kind and improve the quality of life, particularly for the poor, vulnerable populations, and populations at-risk of oppression. Toward this end, the Division of Social Work provides undergraduate and graduate degree and offers continuing education programs to the professional social work community.

The Division of Social Work is part of a comprehensive regional University located in the State Capital. Its service area encompasses all of Northern California, a predominantly rural geographic area (300 square miles) with major urban pockets. Given its service area, the Division is committed to addressing the professional needs of both rural and urban areas, including inner cities. It meets this commitment by providing CSWE accredited educational programs (BSW & MSW) which focus on the empowerment of all oppressed groups and issues of social and economic justice.

The Division’s expectations of students who graduate with either the BSW or MSW degree are framed by the general purposes articulated by the Council on Social Work Education for the profession of social work. "The profession of social work is committed to the enhancement of human well-being and to the alleviation of poverty and oppression…. Within its general scope of concern… it has four related purposes:

1. The promotion, restoration, maintenance, and enhancement of the functioning of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities by helping them to accomplish tasks, prevent and alleviate distress, and use resources.

1. The planning, formulation, and implementation of social policies, services, resources, and programs needed to meet basic human needs and support the development of human capacities.

1. The pursuit of policies, services, resources, and programs through organizational or administrative advocacy and social or political action to empower groups at risk and to promote social and economic justice.

1. The development and testing of professional knowledge and skills related to these purposes" (Handbook of Accreditation Standards and Procedures, 4th ed., 1994, p. 97).

In accordance with the priorities of the social work profession, the Division of Social Work aims to educate professional social workers for leadership in our complex multicultural society. These leaders will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to address the needs and potentials of individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and society. The Division offers integrated programs of study that focus on foundation/generalist practice and multi-level practice with vulnerable life conditions. In these programs, the Division emphasizes engaging political action, personal strengths, and community strengths as fundamental to the assessment, intervention and prevention of individual and social problems.

Students completing the graduate degree in social work in the Division of Social Work at CSUS are expected to:

1. Use authority selectively in professional relationships (with awareness of the potential misuse of power).

1. Use the concepts of transference and counter-transference.

1. Recognize the range of ethical dilemmas and engage in ethical decision making and consult with respected others or supervisors.

1. Define and maintain ethical behavior and appropriate boundaries with clients and others and articulate the consequences of not maintaining boundaries.

1. Apply an ecosystems perspective to all phases of work with clients, recognizing in particular:

a) The interdependence of relevant systems;

b) The influence of social and economic injustice and other risk factors on human

development, client initiative and client/worker interactions;

c) The reciprocal nature of the client--worker interaction and co-worker interaction--in which each responds to and is influenced by the other and by the interaction;

d) The importance of using many sources of data and support in assessment, planning, intervention, evaluation, and termination phases of work with all sizes of client systems.

1. Apply different theoretical models of practice to different sized systems focusing on all phases of work:

a) Use of self and definition of the professional relationship

b) Assessment

c) Contracting

d) Goals

e) Interventions/action plans

f) Outcome measures/evaluation.

1. Articulate the differences and similarities between the different theoretical frameworks and models of practice with specific reference to the areas identified in objective 6.

1. Apply research-based knowledge about effective interventions with all client systems.

1. Engage in culturally competent practice, (i.e., practice that takes into account attitudes and beliefs about one's own culture as well as the client's knowledge of particular client system's culture; and techniques adapted to client's culture).

1. Actively elicit and use client and system strengths. (This includes purposeful "holding back" to make room for the client or other’s maximum use of own skill and initiative).

1. Evaluate her/his practice effectiveness in terms of the interventions used and goals achieved (e.g., quality of relationship, client's ability to engage in the work, own role in the development & implementation of the intervention, obtaining stated goals).

1. Interact effectively with team members from the same and a range of disciplines.

1. Present clearly one's work with clients in team meetings, case conferences, supervision and other relevant arenas.

1. Accept that not all clients can or want to engage in maintaining well-being or solving problems.

1. Recognize that the agency mission and/or other constraints may preclude engagement of the client system and actively work to effect organization change to better service delivery.

1. Identify, access, and utilize a range of resources for learning advanced knowledge and skills, (including reading, conferences, seminars, meetings, task forces, group and peer supervision, observing and being observed by other practitioners, involvement in research and practice evaluation).

The MSW educational program is organized as a two-year full time or three-year part time sequence consisting of class and field education leading to the degree. The program helps the student understand the conditions that give rise to human problems and provides an opportunity to address these human problems using a multi-level practice approach in order to ameliorate or resolve these conditions and their impact on various systems.

The Division is committed to educating MSW social workers who possess excellent skills and know how to practice within a complex and multicultural context. It seeks to educate a complete social worker not merely a "therapist" or an "activist," but a professional who understands and considers the complexity of the human condition and the ability to apply requisite skills on the complex set of factors which typically underlie many life conditions.

The goals of the Master in Social Work degree program are:

• Provide foundation and advanced content about social work practice with client systems of various types and sizes.
• Prepare graduates for advanced multilevel practice with and on behalf of diverse populations.
• Provide foundation and advanced content about the social context of social work practice, the changing nature of those contexts, the behavior of organizations, and the dynamics of change.
• Infuse throughout the curriculum the values and ethics that guide professional social workers in their practice.
• Prepare graduates who are aware of their responsibility to continue their professional growth and development, especially in relation to their leadership talents and skills.

The curriculum leading to the Master in Social Work degree is designed to enable the student to develop professional competence in working with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities, participate knowledgeably in the implementation of social welfare policy and administration, understand human growth and development as they affect social and personal functioning, and develop a social philosophy, ethics and values relating to the practice of professional social work.

The Graduate Social Work Curriculum in Overview: Scholarship, Diversity & Community

The graduate program provides professional foundation content during the first year to support the advanced generalist curriculum in the latter year. The professional foundation consists of courses in social welfare policies and services, human behavior in the social environment, social work practice, theory and practice with diverse populations, social research methods, and field practicum. The advanced generalist curriculum consists of required advanced courses in social work practice and policy, and advanced electives in practice with individuals, families and groups, organizations, and communities. To the extent that course offerings permit, the nine units of elective coursework allow graduate students to individualize programs for practice with specific populations (e.g., the aged) or with particular problems (e.g., substance abuse or developmental disabilities). Elective offerings in the program are always subject to the availability of faculty resources and the articulated needs of the professional practice community.

Field Practicum

Each student in the graduate program is required to complete a total of four semesters of the field practicum. During the first year of study, students intern with field agencies for two days each week (approximately 16 hours and usually on Thursday & Friday of each week). This first year practicum is closely aligned with the professional foundation courses. During the second year of study, students intern for three days each week (approximately 24 hours and usually on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of each week). This second year practicum is aligned with the student's chosen career goals. The outcome of the graduate field practicum is to prepare students for advanced professional social work practice, for specialized human services positions, and for administrative and leadership positions. Information regarding field instruction aspects of the MSW program is provided at various points in this Handbook but is described fully in the Division of Social Work program document entitled “A Curriculum & Policy Guide for Field Education”.

Culminating Experience

A CSUS requirement is the successful completion of the culminating experience by all graduate students. The culminating experience is described in detail later in this Handbook.

Academic Requirements of the Graduate Social Work Program

The graduate degree program has specific requirements that must be completed successfully in order to earn the degree. These requirements are outlined below and cannot be waived or otherwise changed by the Faculty Advisor alone. In the graduate program, approval of the Graduate Program Director is required; in some instances, the approval of the Division Director and/or of the Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies is required. The Master of Social Work (MSW) degree as accredited by the Council on Social Work Education includes foundation, advanced coursework, and field instruction.

Students must maintain an average of a “B” (3.0 GPA) throughout the total 60 units of studies required for the Master in Social Work. Earning grades such as “C-“and “D” and “F” are not permissible if one is to successfully progress in the program and more than one “C” grade will threaten the minimum 3.0 GPA. MSW program requirements can be fulfilled in the two-year, the three-year program, or the intensive weekend program (for social workers already employed in the human services field). The sixty units of study for the MSW are distributed as follows:

Three units of Social Work and Diverse Populations

Six units of Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Six units of Social Welfare Policy and Services and Advanced Policy

Twelve units of Social Work Practice

Seventeen units of Agency-based Field Instruction

Seven units of Social Research Methods (includes thesis/research project), and

Nine units of Electives

Enrollment in the Field Practicum requires a concurrent enrollment in a practice course. Special Problems courses (SW 299) shall not be substituted for required courses.

The first year of graduate level study is considered the professional foundation. This foundation includes the following six areas of study in social work: