Goals of the BASW Program
Teaching
1. To provide a foundation social work curriculum for BASW students that teaches critical thinking and prepares them with the knowledge, skills, and values needed for generalist social work practice. To accomplish this goal, the BASW program:
- Insures that students have a strong liberal arts foundation to understand the social contexts of social work practice and the dynamics of change.
- Prepares students through a curriculum that infuses the values and ethics of social work and encourages the development of self-awareness and a professional identity.
- Prepares students with the knowledge, skills, and values to work with diverse populations.
- Prepares students for generalist practice, future graduate study, and professional development.
2. To provide opportunities for students to use practice experience to inform research and build knowledge, and to use research to advance practice. To accomplish this goal, the BASW program:
- Insures that students have a critical understanding of research and how knowledge is developed.
- Prepares students to evaluate and improve their own practice.
- Prepares students to assess the role of evaluation and the success of agency evaluative efforts.
3. To provide classroom, field, and virtual settings in which students engage and intervene with multiple systems. To accomplish this goal, the BASW program:
- Prepares students to work within the context of changing agency and community environments.
- Insures experiences with diverse populations.
- Prepares students to advocate for social and economic justice.
- Prepares students to take on beginning leadership roles.
Research
4. To pursue research activities that contribute to the creation and dissemination of knowledge to enhance social work practice and the well-being of families and communities. To accomplish this, the BASW faculty engages in:
- Knowledge development for the creation of theory.
- Knowledge development for evidence-informed practice.
- Program evaluation.
Outreach/Service
5. To engage in outreach and service at the program, college university, community, state, national, and global levels. To accomplish this, the BASW faculty pursues:
- Continuing education and professional development.
- Committee involvement and leadership.
- Service collaborations within agencies.
- Community and organizational capacity building.
The goals are derived from the School’s mission and values and meant to encompass all of its activities. The first three BASW program goals, addressing curriculum, integrate the language and spirit of all ten of the competencies as defined by the Council on Social Work Education and are tied closely to the statement that: "We are dedicated to teaching students for competent, responsive, and ethical social work practice." The goals provide the expectation that students will intervene ethically at all levels of practice using critical thinking skills; develop a professional identity, including self-awareness; understand and honor diversity within the theoretical conceptualizations appropriate to generalist practice; use practice experiences to inform scientific inquiry and research evidence to inform practice; and emphasize the importance of advocacy in responding to social justice issues in changing contexts and environments.
The fourth and fifth goals define the life of the program outside of the classroom, and speak to the faculty's research and outreach/service activities as included in the mission statement. Goal #4 relates to providing practice experiences that will inform and build knowledge, and is derived from: "Our teaching, research, and outreach seek to promote positive change and social justice." Goal #5, engaging and intervening with multiple systems, speaks to the mission statement's focus on positive change for "diverse communities, organizations, groups, families, and individuals."
The program's values of excellence, collaboration, social justice, inclusion, leadership, and access guide the entire effort.