Field Education

Field Education

Field education is an important component in the social work curriculum because it provides hands-on training to practice the knowledge, values, and skills needed to perform professional social work. The one semester block placement requires 400 hours of field placement in an approved agency that focuses on the development of direct practice social work knowledge, values, and skills, professional development and utilization of specific content relative to agency regulations for generalist social work practice. In the field placement, students are provided supervision by a qualified field instructor (See field manual for more information about field instructor qualifications and requirements).

The LU BSW Program does not grant social work course credit for life and/or work experiences. This policy statement is in compliance with CSWE accreditation standards.

The field placement is supervised social work practice that has been approved by the university and the director of field education. Students placed in the agencies are afforded the opportunity to actual problem solving experiences in social work agencies with varying degrees of complexity. In addition, the settings selected for field placement aids the student in making the connection between theory and practice, and it promotes the development of professional practice. Field education is designed and coordinated around the CSWE Nine Competencies and students are evaluated in their field placement to determine their level of mastery of the nine competencies.

Criteria for Admission to Field Education

Students enrolled in the BSW Program are placed into their field placement by the director of field education after they have met the following criteria:

• Acceptance into the social work major
• Successful completion of the core social work courses except SW 493, SW 499, and SW 499L.
• Have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 and be in good academic standing.
• Complete the Social Work Program Field Application

Students who do not meet these criteria will meet with the director of field education for a formal interview.