The mission of the Bachelor of Social Work Program at A-State is to educate generalist practitioners who will work to enhance intellectual growth, and to enrich lives through social justice and service specifically with rural populations. It employs a problem-solving process and relies on critical thinking.
Bachelors level social workers work with a variety of clients in many settings. The skills learned inthe curriculum include interviewing skills, assessment skills, and intervention skills. The BSW qualifiesthe student to sit for the state exam at the Licensed Social Worker level. The state licensing law outlinesthe level of practice at this level. This is referred to as the Generalist Practice level.
Generalist practitioners work within an organizational structure in which they use appropriate supervision and assume a wide range of professional roles (DuBois & Miley, 1996). These roles include broker, enabler/counselor, mediator, educator, evaluator, case manager/coordinator andadvocate/activist (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 1999). Empowerment oriented social workers focus on clients strengths and adaptive skills as well as clients competencies and potential. They work collaboratively with their clients.
Empowerment joins personal power and political power so as to increase an individuals ability to control his or her destiny and “...to alter systems, redistribute resources, open up opportunity structures, and reorganize society†(Hartman, 1990; Lee, 1994 cited in DuBois & Miley, 1999, p. 28).
Deadline
The deadline to apply to the BSW program is the second Friday of February.