Daemen College : Academics & Research : Division of Health & Human Services : Social Work : Undergraduate Programs

Social Work Undergraduate Programs

Degrees Offered

• Bachelor of Arts in Social Work

Social Work Program Mission Statement

The mission of the Social Work program is to prepare students to be professionally responsible beginning generalist practitioners who will intervene on behalf of diverse groups. This preparation includes education in foundational knowledge, skills, and values necessary for work with client systems of all sizes. Through the integration of classroom instruction and community-based learning opportunities, students are prepared for leadership in the community and the profession.

Program Goals

The Bachelor of Arts in Social Work degree program is comprised of a two-year lower division and an additional two-year upper division undergraduate curriculum, which has as its primary goals:

1. To promote the development of professional entry-level social work practitioners.
2. To provide students with opportunities to develop and demonstrate leadership skills in the community.
3. To prepare students to pursue graduate level social work education.

Program Objectives

Graduates of the Daemen College Social Work program will demonstrate:

1. that they have internalized both a professional identity and professional responsibility required for effective social work practice;
2. the ability to apply knowledge, practice and problem-solving skills included in the generalist model of social work practice with client systems of all sizes;
3. leadership skills by advancing social justice within organizations and delivery systems on behalf neighborhoods and communities;
4. the ability to integrate the bio-psychosocial sources of human development into their social work practice;
5. the capacity to apply empirical principles to evaluate and advance their practice and evaluate and apply research results to their practice;
6. critical thinking skills necessary to analyze, formulate, and influence social policy within the context of past and present social work and social welfare issues.

The program of study leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work is accredited at the baccalaureate level by the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social Work Education.

The Social Work curriculum is carefully sequenced around a professional foundation that includes content on social work values and ethics, diversity, social and economic justice, populations-at-risk, human behavior and the social environment, social welfare policy and services, social work research, social work practice, and a field practicum.

Admission Requirement

Freshmen are admitted to the Social Work program on a conditional basis. In the second semester of the sophomore year, conditionally accepted students submit an application for full acceptance into the Social Work program.