Undergraduate Catalog 2009-2010

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Bachelor's Degree Programs

Social Work (B.S.W.)
At-a-Glance

Minimum Hours Required for the Major: A student must satisfactorily complete 48 credit hours in core Social Work courses to satisfy the major requirements, not including the University/College's General Education/Liberal Arts Requirements.

Contact Information: For additional information contact the Undergraduate Social Work Program: Dr. Nair, Phone 216-687-4570, E-mail swk@csuohio.edu, website www.csuohio.edu/class/socialwork

Accreditation: The Undergraduate Social Work Program is fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation, Council on Social Work Education. Students matriculating in the program are eligible for student membership in the National Association of Social Workers and the National Association of Black Social Workers. Graduates of the program are eligible for full professional membership in both organizations.

Social Work Licensure: Students graduating from the program are eligible to take the Ohio Social Work Licensure Examination (LSW). Only students graduating from a fully accredited undergraduate program in social work are eligible to take the Ohio Social Work Licensure Examination.

Honors Program: The Honors Program in social work is designed to develop a closer identification with social work scholars, practitioners and academicians. Social Work majors during the junior/senior year of study are eligible for this program. In order to qualify, social work majors need a 3.25 cumulative GPA in all courses in the university, and a 3.5 GPA in social work courses.

Study Abroad Program: The Social Work Program has two Study Abroad Programs: (1) Africa Experience in Zimbabwe, see course description SWK 398, and (2) India Experience, see course description SWK 399 and SWK 499.

Student Organizations: There are four student organizations in the School of Social Work. Social Work in Action (SWA) is a student-managed organization that provides orientation and opportunities for its members to become involved in community service projects, internal and external to the university community. Community participation is in keeping with the historical service tradition of the social work profession. Also, the organization provides students with the opportunity to provide input, by serving on various committees, in the governance of the School of Social Work. Membership in SWA is open to all social work majors. Delta Zeta Chapter of Phi Alpha, a National Honor Society for Social Work Students is the other student organization.. The Delta Zeta Chapter is open to students majoring in social work with an overall GPA of 3.25. Each year the Delta Zeta Chapter of Phi Alpha awards a scholarship to one of its members with the highest GPA.The student branch of the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) takes responsibility for furthering the Chapter’s goals in Northeast Ohio. North American Association of Christians in Social Work (NACSW) is an interdenominational and international organization which emphasizes Christian beliefs, human relationships, responsibilities, and social work practice.

 

Social Work Mission:

Our mission is to prepare and engage students in competent, generalist social work practice that will promote health and human well-being, social and economic justice, and equality within a diverse learning environment. We are committed to generating research and scholarship that promote collaboration with lay and professional communities to ensure an effective quality of life for all people in Northeast Ohio, the State, and internationally.

Social Work offers a basic understanding of the human service system as it addresses current and future social concerns. The core Social Work curriculum prepares students for practice in diverse settings, such as child welfare, health, mental health, criminal justice, aging, community organization, and other areas of human service practice, in varied roles.

Graduates are eligible for membership in the National Association of Social Workers and/or the National Association of Black Social Workers, and are eligible to take the social-work licensure exam in Ohio. The program is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.

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Major

Admission to the Major

Application to the Social Work major may be submitted by students following their attendance at a School of Social Work orientation. To acquaint potential students with the Social Work major at Cleveland State University, the school conducts orientation sessions each semester that are designed to provide information about the social work profession, its history, fields of practice, current trends and social issues, the mission of the school, and the admission and curriculum requirements for majors. The prerequisites for entering the School of Social Work core curriculum for the major require students to:

  • Have a cumulative 2.2 GPA and complete the following courses: Introduction to Social Work (SWK 200), American Government (PSC 111), and one course in Human Biology. The following courses in Human Biology at Cleveland State University will meet the School of Social Work and the Commission on Accreditation requirements: BIO 100, BIO 102, and BIO 106, as well as SOC 101 and PSY 101. The School of Social Work will consider human biology courses from other colleges and universities that fulfill the above requirement.
  • Submit one letter of reference from a teacher/professor, employer, religious leader, social worker, or a health or human services professional. The letter of reference should be written on official letterhead, and/or the writer should clearly identify her/his relationship to applicant.
  • Submit a completed college checklist from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS).

Following the orientation and the submission of the application to the major, the student is assigned a faculty adviser.

Advising

Majors are assigned a faculty adviser to individually guide and direct the student to ensure that the maximum benefit is gained in the pursuit of the social-work degree. Pre-major advising is available during regular office hours, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. A faculty member is available at all times to meet with students to discuss their interest in the major. Students considering the major are encouraged to visit the School of Social Work even prior to the regularly scheduled orientation dates.

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Major-Field Requirements

  1. GPA Requirements for the Major
     
    A Social Work major must maintain a 2.5 cumulative GPA in the Social Work core curriculum and a 2.2 cumulative GPA overall in the university. All majors in the program are assigned a faculty adviser to assist in planning their course of study, especially course sequencing, as they progress through the major. Students must maintain regular contact with their adviser.
     
    During the first two years at Cleveland State University, students are encouraged to focus on completing their general education/liberal arts requirements. The social work professional foundation curriculum builds vertically and horizontally on the liberal arts/general education foundation.
     
    The practice sequence courses are restricted to social work majors. All social work majors are required to complete the prescribed curriculum. No course credit is granted by the School of Social Work for life experience.
    Additionally, no transfer credit is granted from an institution that does not have an accredited Social Work Program.
     
  2. Liberal Arts/General Education Requirements
     
    Biology - In addition to the natural science requirements of the university/college, students majoring in social work are required to complete one (1) course and a lab in human biology.
     
  3. Social-Behavioral Science Requirements
     
    In addition to the social-behavioral science requirements of the university/college, students majoring in social work are required to complete the following: (a) fifteen (15) credit hours taken in the School of Social Work-approved courses, (b) nine (9) credits in at least three (3) of the following fields must be completed prior to entry to the interventions sequence — anthropology, communication, economics, political science (excluding PSC 111), psychology, and sociology. In completing the requirements in social-behavioral science, students may select through advising courses in other related fields.
     
  4. Social Work Core Requirements - Forty-eight (48) Credit Hours
    * Students must have completed or be taking concurrently the following Social Work courses prior to SWK 350: SWK 200, SWK 201, SWK 300, SWK 302, SWK 303, and SWK 304.
    ** All the above requirements must be taken prior to SWK 385- Interventions I, with the exception of SWK 305, which can be taken concurrently.
    [Return to Core Requirements list]

    The completion of a major in Social Work depends upon successful completion of two semesters of student practice in a professional social work field setting. Students are required to obtain a grade of B or better in Interventions I and II, Field Practicum I and II, and Field Seminar I and II. Students receiving less than a B in the aforementioned courses may not proceed in the major without an assessment by the School of Social Work Admissions and Continuance Committee.
     
  5. Elective courses include:

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Certificate Program: Criminal Justice

The School of Social Work offers a certificate program in Criminal Justice with a concentration in either Corrections or Law Enforcement. The concentration in Corrections helps to prepare a student for work in a career such as probation or parole officer, jail or prison social worker, rehabilitation counselor, or court mediator. The concentration in Law Enforcement helps to prepare a student for work in a career such as police officer, detective, bailiff, deputy, park ranger, federal investigator, or customs agent.

Students enter the program from different backgrounds and with a variety of career objectives in the area of criminal justice. Many are interested in attending law school, some in seeking law-related professions, and others in pursuing an understanding of the relationships among law, society, and the justice system. In addition to traditional students who are seeking to complement their major program of study, those pursuing a certificate in Criminal Justice include police officers, correctional officers, ex-offenders, chemical dependency workers, juvenile justice advisers, community advocates, and social workers. The two concentrations are designed to meet the various objectives sought by such a diverse student population.

Corrections Concentration

The concentration in Corrections prepares students for practice in community-based and institutional corrections programs. The Corrections concentration has core courses that focus on incarceration, community-based corrections, commitment alternatives, equal protection issues, and treatment of offenders.

Requirements for a certificate in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Corrections

Students seeking a concentration in Corrections must complete a minimum of 16 semester credit hours which must include:

  1. Criminal Justice required core courses:
  2. One Criminal Justice elective course selected from the listing below:

Law Enforcement Concentration

The concentration in Law Enforcement prepares students for a variety of careers in the criminal justice field and is especially appropriate for students transferring from programs in law enforcement at community colleges, and police officers who wish to further their education.

Requirements for a certificate in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Law Enforcement

Students seeking a concentration in Law Enforcement must complete a minimum of 16 semester credit hours which must include:

  1. Criminal Justice required core courses:
  2. One Criminal Justice elective course selected from the listing below:

For additional information, contact the School of Social Work at 216-687-4560.

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