Field Placement and Senior Practicum

The social work department at Eastern Mennonite University offers a bachelor of arts or science degree in social work. The social work program, accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) since 1975, is designed to prepare baccalaureate students for beginning generalist professional social work practice and for entry into graduate social work education. 

Community Learning and Senior Practicum

A. Community Learning

Two of EMU’s social work classes require students to volunteer in the community for the semester . This is viewed as a vital part of professional social work education. This field experience is designed to provide students with firsthand exposure and experience to “learning by observation and doing.” Students become more familiar with the needs of individual systems, what is involved in helping others, the types of services provided, how programs and agencies work. Community Learning is a component of Exploring Social Work (SOWK 121/122) and Social Work Practice II (SOWK 421/422). It involves a commitment and must be completed before the student receives course credit. Social Work Practice I (SOWK 381/382) and Social Work Practice III (SOWK 431) also have assignments that provide opportunities for students to interact with the community.

A significant expectation is for the student to critically scrutinize his/her motives and suitability for the social work profession. This is an important component of self-awareness which is necessary in the social work profession.

B. Senior Practicum and Seminar

The senior practicum is a 430-clock-hour, 15-week placement, which needs to be completed during the first or second semester of the senior year, or during the summer, providing satisfactory supervisory arrangements can be made. Students must have satisfactorily completed all necessary course work prior to beginning the senior practicum in social work.

EMU’s Field Instruction Coordinator facilitates the student’s selection of the practicum agency in the semester prior to the student’s placement. The program maintains up-to-date information on appropriate field placement opportunities. The student-agency match is based on student preference, educational/professional needs, and agency availability. The program maintains regular contact with the agency during the student’s placement.

The practicum is designed to provide students with opportunities to integrate and apply academic knowledge and theory to actual social work situations. Under close supervision of the agency supervisor, it is expected that the student perform social work responsibilities similar to those of a new staff member in the agency. Students are expected to demonstrate personal and professional growth; reflect on, analyze, and exhibit social work values; engage in beginning generalist social work practice, and apply social work knowledge, values and skills common to social work practice.

The senior practicum formal assessment process has the following two components:

1. Completion of the Mid/Final-Semester Field Instruction Outcome Assessment of the student’s professional social work performance. The purpose of the evaluation is to identify the extent to which the Student Practicum Goals and Objectives have been achieved.
2. Administration of the Oral Final Exam, taken late in the student’s final semester. This is designed to evaluate the student’s understanding and comprehension of professional social work practice and to assess the student’s personal and professional growth process during the practicum. The questions for the Oral Final Exam are in the Field Instruction Manual.

The questions focus on integration of social work knowledge and practice.

The Senior Practicum Seminar is a weekly 1.5-hour class that students are required to attend as a part of the senior practicum. The seminar’s purpose is to provide students with an opportunity to share their experiences and, in so doing, enrich the practice experience for all students. The seminar gives students an opportunity to enhance their professional self-development; to apply ethical social work standards to real client and agency situations; to discuss how to apply generalist professional social work knowledge, values and skills to differential and specific practice situations, and to facilitate student preparation for practicum assessment activities. The field placement coordinator makes student appointments to the seminar class.

The Senior Practicum Seminar assessment activities include:

1. Students are required to submit six summary reports that reflect the students’ current assignments, professional administrative/client related activities, collaboration/advocacy efforts, and reflections on personal and professional growth.
2. The students complete papers; make a presentation about their agency, prepare a single subject design and operate as a support group for each other with supervision. These activities facilitate student efforts to integrate social work knowledge with specific practice situations.

An additional requirement for graduation is to take The Area Concentration Achievement Test (ACAT). The ACAT is designed to assess the student’s understanding of generalist professional social work knowledge, values and skills as compared to other baccalaureate social work students and programs across the nation. The results of this test help us as a department evaluate the effectiveness of our curriculum. The results do not affect the student’s course grades or jeopardize graduation status.