Overview
The undergraduate program leads to a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in social work (BSW). The program is designed to prepare students for the rapidly growing and changing job opportunities in the health and social welfare field. The curriculum provides the foundation for generalist social work practice in entry-level positions in a wide range of health and social welfare organizations.
The program includes practicum placements two days a week in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, youth services and a wide variety of social welfare organizations.
The basic program is a two-year upper-division full-time program that includes 12 credit hours in supervised fieldwork (internships) in health, mental health, social welfare and other agencies. The first-year courses focus on social work practice, human behavior and the social environment, political economy, research in social work, and social and health policy. The second year includes courses in social work practice, and a wide array of electives.
Flexibility and responsiveness to student needs are hallmarks of the program and classes. Practicum instruction sites are available from the East End of Long Island to New York City.
BSW Program Mission Statement
The mission of the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) Program, which is rooted in the mission of the School of Social Welfare at Stony Brook University and social work’s professional purpose and values, is to prepare generalist social work practitioners grounded in a global human rights framework for professional, entry-level positions across various areas of social work practice with the purpose of enhancing the quality of life for all people, locally and globally. The BSW Program applies knowledge based on scientific inquiry, the strengths perspective and the person-in-environment framework to prepare students for competence-based social work practice that is concerned with the promotion of human and community well-being and creation of conditions that facilitate the realization of human rights. The Program emphasizes the values of service, dignity and worth of people and social justice by promoting practice that enhances social functioning through valuing the importance of human relationships and relations between individuals and social institutions. It further promotes practice that values professional competence and scientific inquiry to inform the facilitation of societal change, elimination of poverty, and the provision of health-promoting opportunities and resources to individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations. The Program conveys the central importance of developing relationships in ways that reflect integrity and respect for human diversity, serve especially those who historically have been oppressed and devalued, and promote the fulfillment of human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
Program Goals
- Prepare generalist social work practitioners to use their knowledge, values, and skills in professional entry-level positions in human services across the various domains of social work practice;
- Inspire graduates to apply a global human rights framework, and empowerment models in their practice across systems;
- Educate students to utilize, at every systems level, cultural sensitivity and with an understanding of how racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism, and other forms of oppression and discrimination affect clients and the client –worker relationship; and
- Prepare students to employ their understanding of how social, political, and economic factors influence social problems, social policies and programs, and organizational procedures and practices in client, organizational, community, and social change efforts;
- Develop graduates’ ability to understand and utilize evidence based practice models in their work.
The program is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. The program meets the requirements necessary to apply for admission to Master of Social Work (MSW) programs and to apply for advanced standing in Master’s programs in those schools of social work that offer that option.
