Undergraduate Advisers: Glugoski, Levy, Mahan, Okazawa-Rey, Reisch, Sohn, Yamanaka
Graduate Coordinator: M. Reisch
Associate Professors—Glugoski, Okazawa-Rey, Sohn, Takahashi
Assistant Professor—Levy
Master of Social Work
Our graduates render direct services to people in need and, as administrators and organizers of social welfare agencies, make services more accessible and responsive to the communities they serve.
The Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and the Master of Social Work at San Francisco State University are fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).
To enter the baccalaureate major, students must complete Segments I and II of the General Education curriculum or their equivalent at another college and have junior standing at the university. They are also required to have completed introductory courses in human biology, economics, psychology, and sociology. Freshmen and sophomores should consult with a school adviser before enrolling in courses which fulfill General Education requirements.
In both the B.A. and M.S.W. programs, the curriculum emphasizes the integration of knowledge, values, and skills. Commitment to professional values and ethics, to participate in constructive change, to support the right to self-determination, and to respect people's capacity to learn and grow are integrated throughout the program. Students are expected to develop a spirit of inquiry and to achieve a critical posture toward the social situation, the functioning of the profession and of social agencies, and their own performance. Practice is to be founded on a liberal arts perspective, particularly on the interaction of two dimensions: knowledge of human and social behavior, which is utilized analytically in professional relationships; and salient and comparable knowledge of the array of functions, roles, and practice skills available to the profession of social work. Particular attention is paid to the impact of class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, and culture.
The school offers the Master of Social Work through both full-time and part-time programs. The curriculum is designed to meet the following six areas mandated by the Council of Social Work Education: Social Welfare Policies and Services; Human Behavior and the Social Environment; Social Work Methods; Ethnic and Cultural Concepts; Research in Social Work; and Field Instruction. The full-time program requires two academic years with at least one year in full-time residence on this campus.
The part-time M.S.W. program is open to applicants who meet all university requirements and, in addition, are employed full-time in a recognized human services agency or community organization. By utilizing certain aspects of their employment as a field work placement, students are able to retain their jobs and complete the M.S.W. curriculum in two and one-half to four years.
The part-time M.S.W. program, therefore, is designed specifically to provide educational opportunities for students whose financial and family responsibilities make the two year full-time M.S.W. program impossible. It is based on a planned educational program developed by students and their advisers and related to their past and current experiences in the human services area, educational objectives, and personal career goals. The program requires a commitment on the part of the student's host agency to provide the educational components of a field placement. The reference letter submitted by the agency executive on application is reviewed with this criterion in mind.
Students may enter either the full-time or part-time program having completed a number of courses in the school or in other M.S.W. programs. Students cannot, however, enter Phase III of the part-time program immediately. Decisions on transfer of credit are made only after one semester of matriculated credit is completed.
Graduates of the Master of Social Work program are prepared for advanced level professional positions in both public and private social welfare agencies and community organizations. Subject to the laws of the State of California, M.S.W. graduates are eligible to take the examination to become a licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in two years after graduation. They are also eligible to take social work licensing examinations in other states. In addition to preparation for advanced level professional practice, M.S.W. graduates go on to doctoral programs in social work/social welfare and in related fields such as public policy, public health, gerontology, psychology, and education, and to law schools.
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN SOCIAL WORK
Courses for this discipline are listed in alphabetical sequence (see Social Work discipline in the Announcement of Courses section).
Students are required to maintain a C minimum grade in all courses within the major. Students failing to do so will be dropped from the major.
Prerequisites: completion of all GE Segment I and II requirements, including courses in human biology, economics, psychology, and sociology.
Junior Year—Fall Semester Units SW 300 U.S. Social Welfare I: Past, Present, and Future 3 SW 302 Introduction to Social Service Organizations 2 SW 352 Gender, Sexism, and Social Welfare 3 SW 400 Social Work Practice I 3 SW 410 Human Development and the Social Services 3 Total 14 Junior Year—Spring Semester SW 301 U.S. Social Welfare II: Problems, Policies, and Programs 3 SW 401 Social Work Practice II 3 SW 402 Interviewing Skills in Social Work 3 SW 470 Social Differences and Social Work Practice 3 Total 12 Senior Year—Fall Semester SW 350 Child Welfare (may be taken Spring Semester, Senior Year) 3 SW 450 Introduction to Research in Social Work 3 SW 502 Seminar on Field Work Experience I 2 SW 503 Field Experience in the Social Services I 2 Total 10 Senior Year—Spring Semester SW 456 Urban Community Organizing 3 SW 504 Seminar on Field Work Experience II 2 SW 505 Field Experience in the Social Services II 2 Total 7 Total for major 43
Applications are made initially through the university Admissions Office, and then forwarded to the School of Social Work. The school will send the applicant its own application and a request for additional information and materials necessary for school judgment on admissibility. Admission to both the full-time and part-time program is competitive.
The school evaluation is based upon prior academic performance; potential for professional practice as demonstrated by previous employment/volunteer experiences; and knowledge and relationship of the applicant to oppressed and disadvantaged individuals, groups, and communities. In addition, the selection process considers the congruence of the educational objectives of individual applicants with the urban focus of the school. The significance of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited undergraduate program in social work is recognized, but applicants with a B.S.W. degree are not given advanced standing.
Courses for this discipline are listed in alphabetical sequence (see Social Work discipline in the Announcement of Courses section).
Core Requirements Units SW 700 History & Philosophy of Social Welfare 3 SW 701 Social Policy Analysis 3 SW 710 Human Behavior & the Social Environment 3 SW 720 Research Methods in Social Work 3 SW 721 Seminar: Evaluative Research Methods in Social Work* or SW 820 Seminar: Advanced Research Methodology in Social Work 2 SW 730 Social Work Practice Methods 3 SW 740 Field Work Instruction (two semesters) 4 SW 741 Graduate Field Seminar** 2 SW 770 Ethnic and Cultural Concepts and Principles I 3 SW 771 Ethnic and Cultural Concepts and Principles II 3 SW 895 Research Project in Social Work or SW 898 Master's Thesis 3 Minimum core units 32 Emphasis total (one area chosen from the emphases listed below) 28 Minimum total 60
Developmental Enhancement
Rather than assuming a perspective of pathology or problem, those who perform such roles as case worker, case manager, counselor, enabler, broker, expediter, or group leader and resource persons such as child welfare workers, probation and parole officers, school social workers, family service workers, medical social workers, public health social workers, group and community workers do so from a perspective of enhancing individuals' growth and transformation. The goal of such practitioners is to work with people to improve the course and quality of their personal development. Developmental enhancement skills are closely associated with developmental and interpersonal theory. Maintaining a focus upon enhancement necessitates a thorough knowledge of the processes and circumstances under which development occurs. It requires the ability to facilitate a fair exchange between the individual and his/her interpersonal environment.
Units SW 810 Health, Illness, & Disordered Behavior 3 SW 740 Field Work Instruction (two semesters) 6 SW 741 Graduate Field Seminar** 2 SW 800 Planning and Program Development or SW 801 Change Strategies and Professional Values or SW 835 Social Development Methods I or SW 850 Human Services Administration I 3 SW 830 Seminar: Social Casework 3 SW 832 Seminar: Social Group Work 3 SW 831 Seminar: Advanced Social Casework or SW 833 Seminar: Advanced Social Group Work 3 Electives on advisement 5 Minimum emphasis units 28Administration and Planning
The focus of the Administration and Planning emphasis is on the development and sustenance of responsive, ethnically sensitive, effective, and efficient social service agencies and community organizations. The emphasis includes knowledge from the areas of social development and developmental enhancement, as well as a distinct knowledge base rooted in planning and organizational theory. Courses emphasize program development and evaluation, budget and personnel management, staff training and supervision, fundraising, and proposal writing.
Units SW 740 Field Work Instruction (two semesters) 6 SW 741 Graduate Field Seminar** 2 SW 800 Planning and Program Development 3 SW 811 Organizations, Institutions, and Communities 3 SW 850 Human Services Administration I 3 SW 864 Human Services Administration II 3 SW 880 Computer Utilization in Human Services Administration 2 Electives on advisement 6 Minimum emphasis units 28Social Development
This emphasis focuses upon policy-making and analysis, advocacy, interest group organization and development, and institution building. Its theoretical roots are in organizational and community theory. Students are prepared to influence existing institutions, develop new systems of service delivery, help create new or different institutional arrangements, and mobilize resources.
Units SW 740 Field Work Instruction (two semesters) 6 SW 741 Graduate Field Seminar* 2 SW 800 Planning and Program Development 3 SW 801 Change Strategies & Professional Values 3 SW 811 Organizations, Institutions, and Communities 3 SW 835 Seminar: Social Development Methods I 3 SW 836 Seminar: Social Development Methods II 3 Electives on advisement 5 Minimum emphasis units 28*Must be taken by students pursuing the Administration and Planning or Social Development Emphases.
**SW 741 is taken concurrently with SW 740 and is required each semester that the student is in field. Block placement students or students in the planned, part-time program who are in field placement for two semesters as opposed to four semesters will take a total of two units of SW 741. They will need to take an additional two units of electives on advisement to make up the total of four units required for SW 741.
Units COUN 720 Career Counseling 3 COUN 780 Learning Clinic I 3 COUN 715 Assessment in Counseling or COUN 781 Learning Clinic II 3 COUN 830 Organization of Pupil Personnel Services and Laws 3
last modified July 26, 1995