Microsoft Word MU 2009-2010.doc - Methodist University

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORKProfessor George Hendricks, Department ChairThe Social Work Program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Thisnational accreditation and a strong academic BSW foundation provide advanced standing admission toMSW graduate programs. With advanced standing the MSW takes one year to complete. The Departmentoffers quality preparation for entry-level generalist practice with individuals, families, groups,communities, and organizations. You will graduate prepared to work with many types and sizes of clientsystems. You will graduate with the professional knowledge, values, and skills necessary to advocate forsocial and economic justice.Social Workers are employed in public, non-profit, and private agencies such as nursing homes, hospice,hospitals, centers serving children and older persons, domestic violence programs, mental health centers,schools, residential treatment programs, government agencies, substance abuse, rehabilitation, andtreatment agencies, courts, and many other settings. Some Social Workers take jobs in private industry,employee assistance programs, or enter fields such as the ministry or law. Over one-half of our graduateshave gone on to obtain advanced degrees in Social Work. Our graduates are now working in many statesand foreign countries.MissionThe mission of the Social Work Program at Methodist University is to pursue human well-being and thealleviation of oppression and poverty through the education of competent entry level professional generalistsocial workers for service to individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities, with specialattention to the people of Cumberland County, North Carolina and its adjacent areas.Goals1. To prepare graduates for competent entry-level generalist practice (with individuals, families,groups, organizations, and communities) grounded in the profession’s history, purposes andphilosophy and based upon the knowledge, values, and skills of generalist social work practice.2. To prepare graduates for practice with diverse populations, with special attention to the people ofCumberland County, , North Carolina and its adjacent areas with an emphasis on the strengths aswell as the complexities of diversity.3. To prepare graduates for continuing education and further personal and professional developmentfor the betterment of the profession and the community.4. Understand distributive justice, human and civil rights, global interconnections of oppression and5. discrimination.6. To prepare graduates who are committed to the ethics and values of the profession, to social andeconomic justice, and service to oppressed and at-risk populations.Objectives1. Apply critical thinking skills to professional social work practice.2. Practice within the context of social work’s professional values, ethics, and principles.3. Practice without discrimination related to age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, familystructure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation.4. Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and apply strategies ofsocial change that promote social and economic justice.5. Understand and be able to discuss the history of the social work profession and its contemporarystructures and issues.6. Apply knowledge and skills of generalist social work practice with systems of all sizes, withspecial attention to the people of Cumberland County, North Carolina and its adjacent areas.7. Apply knowledge of bio-psycho-social factors that affect individual development and behavioracross the lifespan, and use empirically supported theoretical frameworks to understand theinteractions among individuals and between individuals and social systems.8. Analyze the effects of social policy and understand methods to influence policy decisions.175