Social Work, BA

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Program Description:

The Bachelor of Arts program in social work prepares students for beginning employment in social work or for graduate study. Students considering social work as a career should be interested in people of widely varying ages, abilities, and backgrounds; these students must also be disciplined, emotionally stable, and intellectually creative. Social workers typically find employment in adult daycare family services, children’s services, home health care for older adults, hospitals, mental health centers, nursing homes, and probation and parole boards. While most social workers perform direct practice duties, others are employed as outreach workers, community organizers, and administrators in public, voluntary, and for-profit agencies.

The baccalaureate program is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.

Applications are currently accepted one time per year, February 1. Admissions to the social work major are selective. Not all persons meeting the minimum requirements can be accepted into the major. Students should contact the department chair if they have questions about the application criteria.

To graduate with a social work degree, a grade of C or higher is required in all social work courses.

Program Learning Outcomes:

Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly.
Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice
Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments.
Engage diversity and difference in practice.
Advance human rights and social and economic justice
Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research.
Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.
Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services.
Respond to contexts that shape practice.
Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Social Work Honors Program

The Department of Social Work recognizes superior achievement by social work majors with an honors program that allows students to graduate with the designation of honors in social work. Students in the program have an opportunity to pursue original research and analysis that goes beyond the requirements of their course work.

Junior and senior university honors students with a minimum 3.0 overall GPA and a 3.5 average in social work may apply. Students must initiate and successfully complete an honors project. The department suggests that honors students take at least one UH 400 interdisciplinary seminar before starting their honors project.

Program Requirements:

I. Wright State Core: 39 Hours

Element 1: Communication: 6 Hours

Element 2: Mathematics: 3 Hours

Element 3: Global and Cultural Studies: 6 Hours

Element 4: Arts and Humanities: 3 Hours

Element 5: Social Sciences: 7 Hours

PSY 1010 - Introduction to Psychology Credit Hour(s): 4
SOC 2000 - Introduction to Sociology Credit Hour(s): 3

Element 6: Natural Sciences: 8 Hours

Required:

BIO 1050 - Biology of Food Credit Hour(s): 4 or
BIO 1070 - Health and Disease Credit Hour(s): 4

IV. College Requirements: 18 Hours

Foreign Language: 12 Hours

Through 2020 level (1010, 1020, 2010, 2020) of one language:
Spanish, French, German, Greek, Latin, Chinese, Russian, Italian, Japanese, American Sign Language or other.

Methods of Inquiry

PHL 3000 - Critical Thinking Credit Hour(s): 3
Research Methods - One course from approved list Credit Hour(s): 3

V. Electives: 19 Hours

Total: 124 Hours

Graduation Planning Strategy

The Graduation Planning Strategy (GPS) has been created to illustrate one option to complete degree requirements within a particular time frame. Students are encouraged to meet with their academic advisor to adjust this plan based on credit already earned, individual needs or curricular changes that may not be reflected in this year’s catalog.