East Tennessee State University
Office of Registrar

Department of Social Work

(SOWK)

Box 70645               Phone: (423) 439-4372

The program’s overall mission is to prepare students for entry-level generalist practice in a culturally diverse society and to instill in those students a lifelong commitment to addressing social problems and to challenging all forms of oppression and injustice. The total program functions to provide leadership and instruction that will ensure preparation of a continuous pool of social work graduates who are able to assume professional positions in a variety of social welfare settings, particularly in Northeastern Tennessee and the southern Appalachian region. The mission of ETSU’s B.S.W. Program supports the philosophy of social work and its major aim to restore, maintain, enhance, and promote the social functioning of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities by helping them to accomplish life tasks, to prevent and alleviate distress, and to utilize resources.

The faculty believes that the philosophy of social work must be demonstrated as it is taught and, as such, must be incorporated into not only faculty-student relationships but also relationships between the program and the social work practice community. The social work faculty believes that social workers should function in accordance with the profession’s purpose and with adherence to the profession’s ethical canon and therefore programmatically emphasizes acceptance of difference between and among individuals, as well as within and among groups and other larger systems.

The Baccalaureate Social Work Program’s mission is reflected and implemented in the seven broad goals of the program.

1. To build upon students’ liberal arts foundation by facilitating their knowledge and understanding of the development, implementation, and growth of social welfare and social work practice.

2. To prepare students as beginning generalist social work practitioners who possess the knowledge, values, and skills necessary for carrying out effective change efforts, in various social contexts, helping individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities to enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning.

3. To prepare students to take an active role, personally and professionally, in addressing social problems and advocating for social, economic, and environmental justice for client systems of various sizes and types.

4. To prepare students to serve social welfare needs, particularly those of Northeastern Tennessee and the Southern Appalachian region, in a culturally competent manner.

5. To provide a sound educational foundation that instills in students the need for continued professional development, which may include graduate-level education in social work or in other allied programs of study.

6. To provide an educational environment that nurtures learning, stimulates self-reflection, encourages open dialogue, and is characterized by honesty, integrity, trust and respect.

7. To provide selective courses and extra-curricular events to non-social work students and members of the local community who want to increase their understanding of social problems and the professional social work response to them.

As a result of the B.S.W. experience, graduates should be able to:

1. Apply critical thinking skills within the context of professional social work practice.

2. Practice within the values and ethics of the social work profession and with an understanding of and respect for the positive value of diversity.

3. Demonstrate professional use of self.

4. Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and the strategies of change that advance social and economic justice.

5. Understand the history of the social work profession and its current structures and issues.

6. Apply the knowledge and skills of generalist social work to practice with systems of all sizes.

7. Apply knowledge of bio-psycho-social variables that affect individual development and behavior, and use theoretical frameworks to understand the interactions among individuals and between individuals and social systems (i.e., families, groups, organizations, and communities).

8. Analyze the impact of social policies on client systems, workers, and agencies.

9. Evaluate research studies and apply findings to practice, and, under supervision, to evaluate their own practice interventions and those of other relevant systems.

10. Draw on practice knowledge and skills to interact effectively with clients, colleagues, and individuals in other practice contexts who have differing social, cultural, racial, religious, spiritual, sexual orientation, and class backgrounds.

11. Use supervision appropriate to generalist practice.

12. Function within the structure of organizations and service delivery systems, and under supervision, seek necessary organizational change.

13. Function effectively as generalist practitioners, particularly in the culturally diverse area of Northeastern Tennessee and the Southern Appalachian region.

14. Use a variety of learning strategies to promote lifelong learning and ongoing professional development.

15. Identify how personal values can impact service delivery and reconcile value conflicts that will prevent effective service provision.