Social Work

• Mission Statement

  The following Program mission statement is consistent with the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) mandated by the Council on Social Work Education. It is also in line with that of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Weber State University.
  
  The WSU Social Work Program: prepares undergraduate students in beginning generalist social work practice with diverse people and systems in a wide variety of settings and contexts, with special focus on the unique needs of individuals, families, and communities in northern Utah and the broader intermountain region.  Emphasis is placed upon the development of skills, ethics, and knowledge required of bachelors-level practitioners.  Additionally, the Program emphasizes an underlying value of service to individuals, families, groups, communities, organizations, and institutions.  Graduates of the Social Work Program are charged with commitment to the development of human well-being and to the alleviation of poverty and oppression.
  
  Specifically, it is the mission of the WSU Social Work Program to:

  • Prepare students for generalist entry-level social work practice;
  • Prepare students for graduate social work education;
  • Prepare students to take the Social Service Worker Licensing Examination;
  • Provide a liberal interdisciplinary learning experience to help students in their understanding of and adjustment to living in a democratic society; and
  • Provide continuing educational opportunities for the baccalaureate and para-professional social work practitioners.

   

  The mission of the WSU Social Work Program is consistent with that of the University and with the purpose of social work education as defined in CSWE’s 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS).  The Program has been designed to provide students with a professional generalist foundation, built on a liberal arts education, that reflects social work’s purpose, knowledge, skills, values, and ethics.  Graduates of the Social Work Program are charged with a commitment toward the future development of human well-being and to the alleviation of poverty and oppression.

• Student Learning Outcomes
  • Certificate (Not Applicable)

     

  • Associate Degree (Not Applicable)

     

  • Bachelor Degree

    
    In 2008, the Council on Social Work Education implemented a new Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) statement that shifted from an emphasis on educational outcome objectives to a focus on a set of core competencies.  Recognizing the wisdom in this change, and in an effort to be compliant with CSWE accreditation expectations, the Social Work faculty at Weber State University has adopted these core competencies, along with the expected resulting practice behaviors that serve to operationalize the curriculum, as a framework for Program assessment.

    Graduates of the WSU Social Work Program (with the completion of a Bachelor of Arts or Science in Social Work) will demonstrate the ability to:

    EP2.1.1: Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly. 

    Social workers:

    • Practice Behavior 2.1.1a: advocate for client access to the services of social work;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.1b: practice personal reflection and self-correction to assure continual professional development;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.1c: attend to professional roles and boundaries;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.1d: demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and communication;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.1e: engage in career-long learning: and
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.1f: use supervision and consultation.

     

    EP2.1.2: Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice. 

    Social workers:

    • Practice Behavior 2.1.2a: recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to guide practice;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.2b: make ethical decision by applying standards of the National Association of Social Workers/International Association of Schools of Social Work Ethics in Social Work Statement of Principles;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.2c: tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical conflicts; and
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.2d: apply strategies of ethical reasoning to arrive at principled decisions.

     

    EP2.1.3: Apply critical thinking to inform & communicate professional judgments.  

    Social workers:

    • Practice Behavior 2.1.3a: distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple sources of knowledge, including research-based knowledge, and practice wisdom;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.3b: analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention, and evaluation; and
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.3c: demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and colleagues.

     

    EP2.1.4: Engage diversity and difference in practice. 

    Social workers:

    • Practice Behavior 2.1.4a:  recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values may oppress;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.4b:  gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse groups;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.4c:  recognize and communicate their understanding of the importance of difference in shaping life experiences; and
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.4d:  view themselves as learners and engage those with whom they work as informants.

    
    EP2.1.5: Advance human rights and social and economic justice.

    Social workers:

    • Practice Behavior 2.1.5a:  understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.5b:  advocate for human rights and social and economic justice; and
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.5c:  engage in practices that advance social and economic justice.

    
    EP2.1.6: Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. 

    Social workers:

    • Practice Behavior 2.1.6a:  use practice experience to inform scientific inquiry; and
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.6b:  use research evidence to inform practice.

     

    EP2.1.7: Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.

    Social workers:

    • Practice Behavior 2.1.7a:  utilize conceptual frameworks to guide the processes of assessment, intervention, and evaluation; and
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.7b:  critique and apply knowledge to understand person and environment.

    
    EP2.1.8: Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services.

    Social workers:

    • Practice Behavior 2.1.8a:  analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance social well-being; and
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.8b:  collaborate with colleagues and clients for effective policy action.

    
    EP2.1.9: Respond to contexts that shape practice.

    Social workers:

    • Practice Behavior 2.1.9a: continuously discover, appraise, and attend to changing locales, populations, scientific and technological developments, and emerging societal trends to provide relevant services; and
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.9b:  provide leadership in promoting sustainable changes in service delivery and practice to improve the quality of social services.

    
    EP2.1.10: Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. 

    Social workers:

    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10a (engagement):  substantively and effectively prepare for action with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10b (engagement):  use empathy and other interpersonal skills;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10c (engagement):  develop mutually agreed-on focus of work and desired outcomes.
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10d (assessment):  collect, organize, and interpret client data;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10e (assessment):  assess client strengths and limitations;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10f (assessment):  develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10g (assessment):  select appropriate intervention strategies;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10h (intervention):  initiate actions to achieve organizational goals;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10i (intervention):  implement prevention interventions that enhance client capacities;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10j (intervention):  help clients resolve problems;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10k; (intervention):  negotiate, mediate, and advocate for clients;
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10l (intervention):  facilitate transitions and endings; and
    • Practice Behavior 2.1.10m (evaluation):  critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate interventions.

   

• Curriculum Grid

• Program and Contact Information

  Social Work is a self-regulating profession with sanction from public, private and voluntary entities. Through all its roles, functions, and multiple settings, social work is based upon knowledge, skills, and competence and is guided by professional values and ethics. With its central focus on the transactions between people and their environments, social work uses research and theory from social, behavioral, and biological sciences as well as from social work practice itself, developing a unique perspective on the human condition.
   

  The profession of social work is committed to the enhancement of human well-being and to the alleviation of poverty and oppression. The social work profession receives its directive from public and private auspices and is the primary profession in the provision of social services. Within its general scope of concern, professional social work is practiced in a wide variety of settings. It has four related purposes or outcomes:

  • The promotion, restoration, maintenance, and enhancement of the functioning of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities by helping to accomplish tasks, prevent and alleviate distress, and use resources.
  • 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.
  • 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. 
  • The development and testing of professional knowledge and skills related to these purposes.

   

  The Social Work Program at Weber State University has been accredited continuously by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) since 1974.  In October, 2009 CSWE’s Commission on Accreditation voted to reaccredit the baccalaureate degree program at Weber State University for the full eight-year cycle ending in June 2017.

   

  Contact Information:
  Dr. Mark Bigler
  Weber State University
  1299 Edvalson Street, Dept. 1211
  Ogden, UT 84408-1211
  Lindquist, room 327
  (801) 626-6156

• Assessment Plan

  Beginning with the 2013-2014 academic year, the WSU Social Work Program replaced outcome objectives with the 10 Core Competencies and related practice behaviors discussed earlier in this report and no employs these as the framework for program evaluation.  Indirect evaluation methods include assessments in each course as outlined on individual syllabi and meeting with students as part of club activities or academic advisement.  Several direct measures are included in the Program’s assessment plan:
   

  • Senior capstone paper – The senior capstone paper is a major requirement for Social Work majors, giving students an opportunity to pull together the curriculum and further develop their conceptualization of social work as a profession.  Students produce this document over three semesters, beginning the first section in SW 3900 – Social Work Practice Methods and Ethics and submitting the completed document in SW 4861 – Social Work Field Experience II. 
  • The Social Work Educational Assessment Program (SWEAP – formerly the Baccalaureate Educational Assessment Program [BEAP]) – The Social Work Education Assessment Program (SWEAP) is a standardized measurement tool used in programs across the United States to assess the foundation social work curriculum.  The WSU Social Work Program uses baccalaureate versions of the SWEAP entrance survey, exit survey, and Foundation Curriculum Assessment Instrument (FCAI).  The FCAI is composed of 64 multiple-choice questions that are organized into the follow curricular areas:  practice, human behavior and the social environment, policy, research, ethics and values, diversity, and social and economic justice.  Composite section scores can be used to assess most of the Core Competencies (1-2, 4-8, 10).  Individual items provide separate assessments of individual competency for most practice behaviors.  Items in section D of the exit survey provide a subjective assessment of several Core Competencies (2, 4, 8, 10) and many of the related practice behaviors.  The correspondence of FCAI and exit survey scores to Core Competencies and practice behaviors is shown in the table below.  To provide a simpler, more global assessment of Core Competencies, outcome tables provided later in this report compare FCAI composite section scores for WSU graduates to national averages.
  • Field practicum evaluation form – The field practicum evaluation form was revised to allow assessment of the Core Competencies and practice behaviors.  Practicum supervisors complete this assessment online for each student at the completion of 200 hours and 400 hours in the field.  This new form was implemented during the spring 2014 semester.  Early experience with the online delivery of this assessment tool showed a need to include a hard copy option for the foreseeable future.  Beginning with the fall 2014 semester, paper forms will be available to field supervisors along with instructions for completing the evaluation online.  A copy of this form is included with this report in Appendix A.
  • Graduate school admissions – Graduate school admissions are tracked as an indication of student preparedness for graduate-level studies.
  • Exit surveys – Students complete a brief, online feedback questionnaire as they near the completion of their degree in SW 4990 – Senior Seminar.  This survey asks for student feedback based on three questions:  what are your plans after graduation?; what improvements need to made to the Program?; and, what would you say are the strengths of the Program?

  
  The table identifying evaluation tools employed to directly assess Core Competencies and related practice behaviors (i.e., senior capstone, SWEAP) can be found in the full report.

• Assessment Report Submissions
  • 2021-2022

     

  • 2019-2020

    1) First year student success is critical to WSU’s retention and graduation efforts. We are interested in finding out how departments support their first-year students. Do you have mechanisms and processes in place to identify, meet with, and support first-year students? Please provide a brief narrative focusing on your program’s support of new students:

    a. Any first-year students taking courses in your program(s)

    Of all of the department’s courses, first-year students are most likely to enroll in either or both of the introductory classes:  GERT 1010 Introduction to Gerontology and SW 1010 Introduction to Social Work.  In addition to be appealing topics for students, both of these courses have a social science general education designation and attract students wanting to fill these requirements early in their university students.  Many who take these classes, particularly SW 1010, are interested in a career in social work and take the courses to explore the subject further and/or to begin the process of meeting major requirements.  These students are referred to the college’s academic advisement team and are encouraged to meet with a faculty advisor in the department as early and often as possible.  

    b. Students declared in your program(s), whether or not they are taking courses in your program(s)

    The department’s faculty members are given advising assignments based on a breakdown of the alphabet according to a student’s last name.  Because the social work major has a formal admissions process and courses that are explicitly sequenced, the relationship between faculty advisors and social work students is critical in ensuring the completion of the degree in a timely manner.  The department chair serves as a general advisor in the major for first-year students and other considering a career in social work. In addition, the department chair is typically the first point of contact for transfer students and those who are contemplating changing their major to social work.

    The department chair also receives a list of newly declared social work majors and sends a welcome letter as each these are identified by the registrar and/or the college’s advising team.

    2) A key component of sound assessment practice is the process of “closing the loop” – that is, following up on changes implemented as a response to your assessment findings, to determine the impact of those changes/innovations. It is also an aspect of assessment on which we need to improve, as suggested in our NWCCU mid-cycle report. Please describe the processes your program has in place to “close the loop”.

    The Department of Social Work and Gerontology has many mechanisms in place for analyzing assessment data, sharing assessment outcomes with faculty, students, and constituents, and reviewing the impact of changes and innovations implemented as a result of program evaluation.  For example, assessment data are shared and discussed with faculty, both formally and informally.  A final copy of the department’s assessment report is shared by the department chair with faculty members, who asks for comments, feedback, and interpretation.  Assessment of core competencies and professional behaviors is a regular topic of discussion in faculty meetings throughout the academic year.  Likewise, assessment outcomes and action plans are shared with the social work program’s community advisory council in its fall meeting. Furthermore, program evaluation is a topic that is addressed with constituents, field site supervisors, and student interns at the spring training and recognition event.  In all cases, the program solicits input on its progress, including asking community partners, constituents, and students for interpretation of evaluation outcomes and suggestions for change, improvement, and possible redirection.

    Even with these strategies in place, the department could certainly do a better job at “closing the loop.”  Making this a more formal process could help to ensure that assessment and evaluation are tools for improvement and that the department is truly responsive to student and market demands in an ever-changing social and professional practice environment.  For example, the department and its programs could benefit from an annual assessment retreat at the beginning and/or end of the academic year, where evaluation outcomes and changes to the program that have been implemented could be reviewed and the effects and successes analyzed more directly.
     

    The full report is available for viewing.

  • 2017

    1) Based on your program’s assessment findings, what subsequent action will your program take?

    • Social work majors in general seem to be challenged by course content that does not appear on the surface to relate directly to micro-level, face-to-face practice, especially curricular areas such as research methods, social policy, and social and economic justice. Assessment data from the WSU Social Work Program show a pattern that is consistent with this trend. The greatest struggle, it appears, is identifying and understanding the link between these subjects and direct social work practice. Faculty members in the Department of Social Work and Gerontology are well aware of this fact and engage in ongoing discussions about ways to help students understand the relevance of research, policy, and social justice as students they prepare to become social work practitioners. To this end, faculty members who teach research classes are including more community-based projects as instructional tools to help students better understand how research can be used to inform practice and how social work research is often guided by questions about practice interventions and outcomes and overall program effectiveness. Likewise, the Program’s policy course is becoming increasingly experiential in an effort to expose to actual policy-making bodies such as the State Legislature, County Commissions, City Councils, and boards and administrations of local social service agencies. In addition, instructors are making greater effort to assist students in understanding the link between policies and policy-making processes and the world of social work practice. Similarly, faculty members are discussing ways to translate social justice as an ideology to social just as a practice. Members of the faculty are taking advantage of local and national trainings, meetings, and conferences to explore new and innovative ways to integrate social justice into courses that address social work practice.
    • General education assessment is progressing in the Department. Assessment tools were revised and updated to be consistent with a new set of general education assessment outcomes. A notable weakness here relates to the application of concepts, theories, and methods to a particular issue. It is quite possible that this particular outcome is the result of methodological shortcomings. However, it also seems likely that efforts in this course to apply concepts, theories, and methods to current social issues are too abstract. Instructors will make an effort to be more explicit in relating general social work concepts, theories, and methods to social issues and social change.
    • General education assessment of GERT 1010 has not been as consistent as has been the case with SW 1010. A more concerted effort will be made during the next academic year to collect and analyze assessment data for this course.
    • During spring semester 2017, two social work courses -- SW 2100 Human Behavior and the Social Environment I and SW 2200 Issues in Diversity -- received Social Science General Education designation. In addition, SW 2200 received General Education Diversity designation. Collection of General Education assessment data for SW 2100 and SW 2200 will begin fall of 2017. It is anticipated that significant revisions will be made to the Department’s General Education Assessment as process as the university moves forward with General Education Revitalization. This will include a “big question” for each General Education course and the identification or creation of a signature assignment.

     

    2) We are interested in better understanding how departments/programs assess their graduating seniors or graduate students. Please provide a short narrative describing the practices/curriculum in place for your department/program. Please include both direct and indirect measures employed. Finally, what were your findings from this past year’s graduates?

    • As part of its overall assessment plan, the Department of Social Work and Gerontology collects two sets of information from graduating seniors to get subjective feedback of their experience in the Social Work Program and to gauge the proportion of students who are going on to do graduate work. 
    • Exit surveys – Students complete a brief, online feedback questionnaire as they near the completion of their degree in SW 4990 – Senior Seminar. This survey asks for student feedback based on three questions: 
    • what are your plans after graduation? 
    • what improvements need to made to the Program?
    • and, what would you say are the strengths of the Program? 
    • In addition to direct feedback regarding faculty, course work, and the required curriculum, this qualitative feedback generally reflects the same strengths and concerns identified in the quantitative data.
    • Graduate school admissions – Graduate school admissions are tracked as an indication of student preparedness for graduate-level studies. In recent years, this information has been collected rather sporadically, making this measure of future activities somewhat unreliable. To gather these data more systematically, plans are in place to include specific questions about employment and graduate studies as part of the exit survey. Based on loose anecdotal reports, a significant minority of graduating seniors have either been accepted to graduate social work program or are planning to apply.

     

    The full report is available for viewing.

  • 2016

    The Social Work Department conducted a 5 year program review with full self-study during the spring of 2016. Those results are presented in place of the Annual Assessment. Please reference those documents for information that includes data for the 2015/16 academic year.

  • 2015

    1) Based on your Program’s assessment findings, what subsequent action will your program take?

    • Ongoing, systematic data collection will help the Department better understand its challenges and successes in helping students achieve Core Competencies and develop essential practice skills. Low response rates on electronic versions of the Program’s field assessment survey may have resulted in a distorted or incomplete picture. Larger samples will better represent the overall impact of the curriculum. Likewise, faculty members on the Program’s assessment committee will examine existing and future data more closely in an effort to determine if assessment outcomes reflect methodological issues or actual curriculum and instructional needs.
    • Despite possible limitations in evaluations methods, it is apparent that the curriculum needs to be fine-tuned to help students better understand the importance of client “contexts” and their own role as leaders in promoting sustainable change in the social welfare delivery system specifically and in society in general. The Program’s faculty also recognizes challenges inherent in teaching about social welfare policy. To that end, instructors of the Program’s policy course have engaged in conversations with the Department Chair and will continue these conversations in the future. One specific outcome of these conversations was the decision to adopt a new textbook to be used in all sections of the policy course.
    • Regarding assessment of general education courses, the Program will be shifting evaluation efforts to a new set of general education assessment outcomes. Data will be collected in SW 1010 classes using a revised assessment tool beginning fall semester of 2015. Similarly, general education assessment data will be collected in GERT 1010 beginning fall semester of 2015. This evaluation will also conform to the College’s newly-revised general education outcomes.

     

    2) Are there assessment strategies within your Department or Program that you feel are particularly effective and/or innovative?  If so, what are those strategies and what do you learn more about your students by using them?

    • The Weber State University Social Work Program faculty has made great effort in recent years to identify or create evaluation tools that allow for simple, but effective assessment of expected student outcomes. This process necessarily began with a careful consideration of what these outcomes might be, at the same time ensuring consistency with the Program’s mission and the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). For a number of years the program used the Baccalaureate Educational Assessment Package, which was designed specifically to measure educational outcomes in undergraduate social work programs. When CSWE adopted a new set of standards (EPAS) in 2008, emphasizing Core Competencies and related practice behaviors, BEAP was revised and expanded accordingly and became the Social Work Educational Assessment Package (SWEAP). After a successful reaccreditation review by CSWE  in 2009, the WSU Social Work Program adopted the 2008 EPAS in preparation for its next review in 2017. The Program immediately adopted SWEAP as one of its assessment tools and set to work creating another second. In 2014, a new field evaluation form was developed to allow field supervisors to assess students’ development of the Program’s Core Competencies and related practice behaviors. This form was first implemented spring semester 2014 and a slightly revised version is being used currently. Together, SWEAP and the WSU field evaluation form offer the Program both subjective and objective means of assessing Core Competencies and related practice behaviors. Combined with an extensive senior capstone paper, which gives students an opportunity to pull together the curriculum and further develop their conceptualization of social work as a profession, these evaluation strategies serve as a very effective means of evaluating students’ grasp of Core Competencies and their development of fundamental practice behaviors.

     

      The full report is available for viewing.

  • 2014
    1) Reflecting on this year’s assessment(s), how does the evidence of student learning impact your faculty’s confidence in the program being reviewed; how does that analysis change when compared with previous assessment evidence?
     

    • The data presented in this document indicate that the Program continues to do well in its efforts to help students develop core competencies and essential practice behaviors. Overall, WSU social work majors perform above national averages and achieve benchmark levels on a variety of measures of competencies and practice behaviors. Furthermore, data collected through formal processes are consistent with informal feedback and anecdotal reports from students who reflect general satisfaction with the academic curriculum, with field instruction and supervision, and with Social Work Program in general. Data from specific measures related to Core Competencies and practice behaviors, which are the focus of the WSU Social Work Program, suggest that the curriculum is preparing students well for a career in social work. As a result of the positive indications seen in these data, few significant changes have been made in curriculum design in recent years. However, assessment data do highlight concerns in specific content areas such as social policy and research. These subjects have been a challenge historically for WSU social work students and this pattern is consistent across undergraduate social work program. Nevertheless, these areas will be given explicit attention in faculty discussions in an effort to identify ways to improve instruction to promote competency and the development of important practice skills.
    • Program faculty members have continued to make progress in assessment this past year. Significant revisions to the Program’s assessment plan have been implemented, shifting its emphasis from broad educational outcomes to behavioral achievement and student competency. Primary among these changes has been the introduction of a revised field evaluation form that provides essential data from the field experience where students are beginning to apply theory to the practice of social work. This shift will accommodate changes in CSWE accreditation expectations and allow Program faculty to more thoroughly and effectively assess the impact of its curriculum in preparing students for professional social work practice.
    • Also of note is a more complete set of data to assess the Program's general education course (SW 1010). These data affirm that this course does well in meeting expected outcomes for general education in social science, at the same time indicating room for improvement. For example, specific theoretical constructs seem to be a significant weakness. However, it remains unclear if it is the concepts themselves that challenge students, or the context in which these are presented (i.e., specific to criminal behavior and drug use). Further assessment and discussion among faculty members should shed more light on this issue, and hopefully lead to an effective solution.

     
    2) With whom did you share the results of the year’s assessment efforts? 

     

    • Results of the WSU Social Work Program’s assessment efforts are discussed internally among the faculty. Traditionally, these findings have been shared with community partners through both formal and informal means. Informal discussions about the Program and its assessment outcomes take place as faculty members interact with local social service agencies and their representatives in the course of their instruction (e.g., guest speakers, class field trips, service projects) and as field supervisors interact with student interns and the field director. Formally, these data are shared with adjunct faculty, most of whom work for and/or represent community partners, and with field supervisors in annual recognition and training meetings.
    • This fall, the Program will be re-implementing an annual field supervisor training program. A portion of this event will be devoted to a presentation and discussion of the Program's assessment plan and results of the previous year's evaluation. Participants will be asked for their interpretation of the findings and will be given the opportunity to provide input on how to build on the Program's strengths and how to improve upon identified concerns. A second meeting of field supervisors, focusing on training and recognition of the contributions of the Program’s community partners, will be held in the spring, where these data will again be shared and discussed.

     
    3) Based on your program’s assessment findings, what subsequent action will your program take? 

    • The WSU Social Work Program does not plan to make any significant changes to its curriculum in the coming year based on assessment findings.  Based on this year’s data, faculty members will discuss areas of particular concern, including content and preparation in research, policy, and macro practice. In addition, faculty members who teach the Program’s introductory course (SW 1010) will consider ways to enhance instruction on theoretical perspectives.

     

    The full report is available for viewing 

  • 2013

    1) Reflecting on this year’s assessment(s), how does the evidence of student learning impact your faculty’s confidence in the program being reviewed; how does that analysis change when compared with previous assessment evidence? To answer this question, compare evidence from prior years to the evidence from the current year. Discuss trends of evidence that increases your confidence in the strengths of the program. Also discuss trends of concern (e.g. students struggling to achieve particular student outcomes).

    • The data presented in this document indicate that the Program is doing well in meeting its educational outcome objectives. Furthermore, data collected through formal processes are consistent with informal feedback and anecdotal reports from students who reflect general satisfaction with the academic curriculum, with field instruction and supervision, and with Social Work Program in general. Data from specific measures related to the 12 educational objectives of the WSU Social Work Program suggest that the curriculum is preparing students well for a career in social work. As a result of the positive indications seen in these data, few significant changes have been made in curriculum design in recent years.
    • Program faculty members have made significant this past year in revising its assessment plan from a focus on educational outcomes to an emphasis on behavioral achievement and student competency. This shift will accommodate changes in CSWE accreditation expectations and allow Program faculty to more thoroughly and effectively assess the impact of its curriculum in preparing students for professional social work practice.
    • Also of note are early efforts to assess the Program's general education course. Initial data from this process demonstrate that this course does well in meeting expected outcomes for general education in social science. At the same time, the data suggest that there is room for improvement. Limited as these data are, however, it is unclear if apparent problems are a reflection of curricular issues or the assessment process. Additional information that will come from assessment in the current academic year should give a better indication of the source of these problems.
       

     2) With whom did you share the results of the year’s assessment efforts? 

    • Results of the WSU Social Work Program’s assessment efforts are discussed internally among the faculty. Traditionally, these findings have been shared with community partners through both formal and informal means. Informal discussions about the Program and its assessment outcomes take place as faculty members interact with local social service agencies and their representatives in the course of their instruction (e.g., guest speakers, class field trips, service projects) and as field supervisors interact with student interns and the field director. Formally, these data are shared with adjunct faculty, most of whom work for and/or represent community partners, and with field supervisors in annual recognition and training meetings.
    • This coming spring, the Program will be re-implementing an annual field supervisor training and recognition program. A portion of this event will be devoted to a presentation and discussion of the Program's assessment plan and results of the previous year's evaluation. Participants will be asked for their interpretation of the findings and will be given the opportunity to provide input on how to build on the Program's strengths and how to improve upon identified concerns.

    
    
    3) Based on your program’s assessment findings, what subsequent action will your program take?

    • The WSU Social Work Program does not plan to make any significant changes to its curriculum in the coming year based on assessment findings. A revised Program assessment plan will be launched spring semester 2014.

     

    To access the full report, select this link: Social Work 2012/13 Annual Assessment Report

   

• Program Review

  2016-17

This information is part of the cyclical program review process. Details such as mission statements, learning outcomes, etc., are updated as part of the biennial assessment reporting process, an integral component of program review.