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MSW Mission
The Mission of the Master of Social work Program at Roberts Wesleyan College is to prepare students in a Christian context for effective, compassionate, agency-based, advanced social work direct practice, with a commitment to low-income populations. The program aims to prepare students for exemplary service and leadership in private and public agencies with a continuing commitment to the College’s tradition of serving the Christian community locally, nationally, and internationally.
Nataliya Kosachevich 06'
Field Placement in Costa Rica
MSW Goals
1. The Roberts Wesleyan College graduate social work program will prepare
students for effective, compassionate, agency-based, social work advanced direct
practice in child/family or mental health settings.
2. In addition to providing students with advanced social work knowledge, values,
and skills in an area of concentration, professional foundation knowledge, values,
and skills are provided (based on a liberal arts perspective) that will enable
students to work with client systems of various sizes and types.
3. The program will produce students who are able to identify and think critically
about the multiple causes of problems, the nature and dynamics of change, and
strategies for bringing about reconciliation and social justice.
4. The program will provide students with an historical and contemporary
understanding of the social work profession and the social welfare system to
enable them to participate in bringing about positive changes in the profession and
the social welfare system.
5. The program will prepare graduates who are able to work sensitively and
effectively in multiple contexts with diverse and at-risk populations.
6. In keeping with Christian commitments, the tenets of the profession, and in
response to local needs, the curriculum will give particular attention to low-income
populations.
7. In keeping with the overall mission of the College as well as the historic
commitment of the profession to holistic practice, the social work program will
prepare students to work with the spiritual and religious aspects of life in a
professionally responsible manner with special emphasis on Christianity.
8. The social work program is committed to preparing students for value sensitive,
ethically-based advanced social work practice.
9. The program will provide a stimulating, demanding, and supportive environment
for learning and to instill in students a commitment to on-going growth and
development.
10. The social work program will prepare students in quantitative and qualitative research
which will enable them to develop, analyze, and integrate empirically based
knowledge.
Program Objectives
1. Demonstrate the ability to apply critical thinking skills to generalist social work practice knowledge, values, and skills.
2. Demonstrate a developing self-awareness, the ability to be self-critical, and the ability to apply the positive use of self in generalist social work practice.
3. Demonstrate basic written and verbal communication skills appropriate for generalist social work practice.
4. Demonstrate familiarity with technology appropriate for generalist social work practice.
5. Demonstrate an awareness of and commitment to social work values and ethics and a basic ability to apply them to the analysis of foundation theories, research and practice situations, including the ability to integrate personal/spiritual and professional values in practice with integrity and professional competence.
6. Demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of one’s own diversity as well as the diversity of others, and the ability to apply diversity knowledge and sensitivity in assessment and intervention with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
7. Demonstrate an awareness of and ability to incorporate knowledge about the functional and dysfunctional role of spirituality and religion, including a special awareness of Christianity, when working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
8. Demonstrate an awareness of the dynamics and consequences of institutional discrimination, oppression, social and economic injustice, and a developing commitment and ability to bring about empowerment, reconciliation and justice.
9. Demonstrate an awareness of at-risk populations including people of color, women, and gay and lesbian persons and a developing ability to apply knowledge about institutional discrimination, oppression, social and economic injustice, empowerment, justice, and reconciliation in assessment and interventions with systems of various sizes.
10. Demonstrate an awareness of and an ability to apply knowledge about the impact of low-income in the assessment and intervention of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
11. Demonstrate an understanding of micro, mezzo, and macro theories related to human growth, development and change, and the ability to analyze the impact of external forces in promoting or hindering the optimal well-being of systems of various sizes using the Spiritually Enriched Ecological Systems perspective as the general framework.
12. Demonstrate an ability to critically analyze the structure and functioning of social welfare as an institution and social work as a profession from a historical perspective, and demonstrate the ability to identify and develop alternative social welfare approaches.
13. Demonstrate an ability to analyze policy-making procedures in agencies, communities, and government and demonstrate the ability to evaluate the impact of social policies on clients, practitioners, agencies, and communities.
14. Demonstrate an ability to conceptualize and implement social and political action strategies to empower people and bring about reconciliation and social justice.
15. Demonstrate an ability to assess functional and dysfunctional patterns and interactions within and between systems using the Spiritually Enriched Ecological Systems perspective as the unifying philosophical framework.
16. Demonstrate an ability to engage individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in helping processes provide generalist intervention skills, and to terminate effectively using the Strengths Oriented Life Model of practice as the unifying practice framework.
17. Demonstrate an ability to critically analyze and incorporate literature in generalist social work practice including empirical research.
18. Demonstrate basic mastery of diverse approaches to research, including qualitative and quantitative methodologies, as they relate to generalist social work practice.
19. Demonstrate effective use of supervision and consultation at the foundation level of practice.
20. Demonstrate the ability to apply generalist social work knowledge, skills, and values in a field setting.
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