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Department of Social Work

MSW Field Education

Purpose of Field

The primary purpose of practicum is to provide students with educational opportunities to apply foundation and concentration knowledge, skills, values, and ethics to practice. The practicum provides students with a bridge between practice realities and classroom learning. It offers students the opportunity to integrate and assimilate knowledge and theory with field experience and build a foundation for their own professional identity. It also provides students with the opportunity to acquire practice knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes in working with diverse client systems within a service setting.

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Outcomes

MSW Field Education Outcomes

Define a foundation for their professional identity as social workers. Demonstrate the attributes of a professional social worker. Integrate practice perspectives and practice models to conceptual frameworks and practice theories acquired in classroom instruction. Demonstrate knowledge and skills of generalist and advanced social work practice. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in assessment and intervention approaches with a focus on multi-cultural populations, including Hawaiian, Pacific Island, and Asian cultures of our communities, state, and the Pacific region.

MSW Field Education Outcomes

Incorporate and adhere to the NASW Code of Ethics. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in applying the strengths perspective to social work practice. Demonstrate strategies and skills of change that advance social and economic justice through practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in practice with populations-at-risk. Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate their social work practice skills.

MSW Field Preparation

Visit our MSW Field Prep site!

Forms & Documents

Please visit the below link to complete the following requests:

  • Employment-based Field Placement
  • Specialist Year Variable Credit Increase
  • Hours Request
Submit a Form

Specializations

The specializations are the major focus of the advanced curriculum. They are organized around specialized areas of practice or populations in which social workers are often employed – Behavioral Mental Health, Child and Family, Gerontology, and Health.

Students select a specialization area by the end of their foundation-level course work. However, not all specializations are available through the Distance Education (DE) option.