Fort Hays State University MSW Program Mission Statement:
The Master of Social Work Program educates students to become competent clinical social workers who adhere to professional principles, values, and ethics, respond with compassion using critical thinking skills, evidence-based practice, respect for human diversity and individual strengths, in order to advocate for human and community well-being in Western Kansas and beyond.
MASTERS OF SOCIAL WORK COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
SOCW 810 Social Welfare and Policy Analysis (Fall)
The purposes of this course are to help students: (1) learn the history, mission, and philosophy of the social work profession and the evolution of social welfare policy (2) develop a beginning level understanding of the development, implementation, and impact of major US social welfare policies and programs (3) research and analyze US social welfare policies and programs using a comprehensive framework with special attention to equity and justice (4) build foundation level policy-practice skills.
Throughout the course, students are helped to connect their classroom work and their field work with current social welfare policies and related programs. Special attention is given to policies and programs that affect social and economic security throughout the life span. The course also includes an introduction to policies and programs that are central to fields of practice in child and family welfare, aging, health, and mental health.
SOCW 815 Social Work Research Methods and Data Analysis (Spring)
This course is designed to help students gain and understanding of, and appreciation for, the use of research as a tool for professional evidence-based practice. Students are introduced to the concepts and skills underlying a systematic approach to social work research, including basic research terminology, the scientific method in social work, the value of research in social work, research ethics and the social work value base, problem formulation and conceptualization, measurement, research designs to evaluate programs and practice, sampling, alternative quantitative and qualitative data gathering and analytic techniques, and preparation and use of research reports. The emphasis in the course is on equipping students with the research knowledge and skills needed to engage in the evidence-based practice process at all levels of social work practice. As part of that process, students will learn how to critically appraise sources of scientific evidence and how the criteria for that appraisal will vary depending upon the purpose of the research. Fundamentals of research design, data collection, and analysis are presented. The nature of bias in research is explored. Development of skills for using and conducting research in practice settings is emphasized.
SOCW 820 HBSE: I Micro Social Work Knowledge and Theory (Fall)
This is the first of two Human Behavior and the Social Environment courses. From a systems/ecological approach, this course will focus on a range of social systems theories, social roles and the life cycle of general human development from conception to older adulthood. Course content will also include an overview of cognitive behavioral and psychodynamic theories as applied to professional micro social work assessment and case summary analysis. A holistic ecological framework will include an examination of factors related to socioeconomic, gender, and cultural diversity environmental contexts.
SOCW 825 HBSE II: Mezzo/Macro Knowledge and Theory (Spring)
This is the second course on Human Behavior and the Social Environment continuing to study social systems theory as a foundation to generalist social work practice. This course examines the theoretical basis for understanding groups, organizations, & communities. Emphasis is placed on providing students with theoretical knowledge which can then be applied to assessing and intervening with mezzo and macro client systems. This course presents and critiques knowledge of human development in the context of families, groups, communities, organizations, and institutions, and provides foundation knowledge about the structure and function of larger systems and their impact on people.
SOCW 830 Generalist Social Work Practice I: Micro Skills (Fall)
This Generalist Practice 1 course provides entry-level individual engagement, assessment, treatment planning, intervention, and evaluation knowledge and skills practice for students. Social work theory, knowledge, research, values, and skills for social work practice are covered. Self-awareness, critical thinking, problem solving, intervention skills, goal planning, professional relationships, and ethics are explored. Students must be concurrently enrolled in SOCW 840 (Generalist Field Practicum I) in order to integrate and apply classroom learning in the field setting. Failure by the student to pass the SOCW 830 Generalist Social Work Practice I course will lead to an incomplete grade in the SOCW 840 Generalist Field Practicum I course. Students will need to retake and successfully pass the SOCW 830 Generalist Social Work Practice I course prior to receiving a passing grade in the SOCW 840 Generalist Field Practicum I course and enrolling in the SOCW 845 Generalist Field Practicum II course.
SOCW 835 Generalist Social Work Practice II: Mezzo/Macro Skills (Spring)
Generalist Practice II adds to the learning of micro skills with knowledge of mezzo and macro level engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation. Through working with groups, organizations, and communities in culturally appropriate ways, social workers can improve the well-being of individuals and groups, positively influence the availability and effectiveness of services, and seek to achieve social and economic justice. Students must be concurrently enrolled in SOCW 845 (Generalist Field Practicum II) in order to integrate and apply classroom learning in the field setting. Failure by the student to successfully pass the SOCW 835 Generalist Social Work Practice II course will lead to an incomplete grade in the SOCW 845 Generalist Field Practicum II course. Students will need to retake and successfully pass the SOCW 835 Generalist Social Work Practice II course prior to receiving a passing grade in the SOCW 845 Generalist Field Practicum II course and enrolling in the Advanced year.
SOCW 840 Generalist Social Work Field Practicum I (Fall)
This course is the first of two field practicum experiences that students are required to complete during the generalist year of the MSW Program. This course provides social work majors with supervised learning experiences from a licensed social worker within approved social welfare agencies. Students must be concurrently enrolled in the SOCW 830 Generalist Social Work Practice I course in order to integrate and apply classroom learning in the field setting. Students failing the SOCW 840 Generalist Social Work Field Practicum I course will not be allowed to enroll in the SOCW 835 Generalist Social Work Practice II course and the SOCW 845 Generalist Social Work Field Practicum II course until the SOCW 830 Generalist Social Work Practice I was successfully completed. Students work closely with the MSW Field Director to identify their preferred practice population, preferred agencies, and the geographical area where they want to complete the practicum. Students are required to begin this practicum experience the same week that other MSW courses begin in the Fall semester. A minimum of 200 hours of field practicum experience is required during the Fall and semester (minimum of 12-14 hours/week).
SOCW 845 Generalist Social Work Field Practicum II (Spring)
This course is the second of two field practicum experiences that students are required to complete during the generalist year of the MSW Program. This course provides social work majors with supervised learning experiences from a licensed social worker within approved social welfare agencies. Students must be concurrently enrolled in the SOCW 835 Generalist Social Work Practice II course in order to enable the students to integrate and apply classroom learning in the field setting. Students failing SOCW 845 (Generalist Social Work Field Practicum II) will not be allowed to enroll in the Advanced year until SOCW 845 (Generalist Social Work Field Practicum II) is successfully completed. Students are expected to use this course to build on the first field practicum course. An ethnocultural practice perspective is emphasized. Students work closely with the MSW Field Director to identify their preferred practice population, preferred agencies, and the geographical area where they want to complete the practicum. Students are required to begin this practicum experience the same week that other MSW courses begin in the Spring semester. A minimum of 200 hours of field practicum experience is required during the Spring semester (minimum of 12-14 hours/week). You are not allowed to carry over extra hours from the fall semester over into the spring semester to count as part of your minimum 200 hours during your spring practicum experience.
Once students complete this course and hours, they will have accumulated a minimum of 400 practicum hours to satisfy the practicum requirements to move on to the advanced year of the MSW program.
SOCW 850 Assessment and Treatment of Mental Disorders I (Summer)
The course will present an integrative biopsychosocial model for the understanding of mental and behavioral disorders. This course provides students with a fuller understanding of the process of diagnosing mental disorders utilizing the latest framework as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fifth edition, 2013 (DSM-5). The focus will be on major affective, cognitive, anxiety, and other disorders that graduates are likely to encounter in social work practice. In addition to assessment and diagnosis of mental and behavioral disorders, this course will identify and describe a risk and resilience biopsychosocial framework, and evidence-based treatment interventions for persons who meet the diagnostic criteria for a disorder. Evidence based treatment and intervention strategies covered will include pharmacological treatment, stages of change, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma-based treatments, strengths-based person-centered approaches, along with assessment and intervention strategies using an integrated care model.
SOCW 855 Assessment and Treatment of Mental Disorders II (Summer)
The course will present an integrative biopsychosocial model for the understanding of mental health disorders including personality disorders, trauma, eating disorders, somatic disorders, and a special focus on addictions. Course content includes an overview of the history of substance abuse, a review of models of addiction, a multidimensional model of the addiction process, the physiological effects of commonly abused substances, assessment and diagnosis of substance abuse disorders, and specific, evidence-based treatment and interventions for adolescent and adult clients. The course will provide comprehensive learning about the behavioral health model, dual-diagnosis and differential diagnosis. Evidence based treatment and intervention strategies covered will include stages of change, harm reduction, screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT), motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, strengths-based person-centered approaches, along with assessment and intervention strategies using an integrated care model.
SOCW 860 Personal and Professional Development Seminar (Fall)
The psychotherapeutic process is unique among other kinds of helping. A surgeon is a physician who is educated to master complex, highly specialized, and advanced knowledge. The surgeon is then trained to skillfully utilize specialized surgical and related tools in an effort to successfully treat a biological or structural dysfunction, such as a traumatic injury, or invasive cancer cells. Similar to the surgeon, a psychotherapist is educated in order to master complex, highly specialized, and advanced knowledge. The psychotherapist is likewise trained to develop specialized skills aimed at utilizing this knowledge to treat a variety of human dysfunction. However, unlike the surgeon, the psychotherapist utilizes him or herself as the primary tool in accomplishing this task. As such, self-awareness, self-understanding and a commitment to selfimprovement are an essential part of the development of a clinical social worker. This course is designed to assist students in understanding the theory of one’s individual self, identify areas for self-development, integrate this development within a professional social work context, and develop strategies for personal and professional development across one’s career.
SOCW 865 Social Work Supervision and Agency Management (Spring)
Social work agencies and programs must be administered by people with human resource expertise in order to meet the needs of clients and communities and to build upon strengths and enhance the well-being of individuals, families, households, and communities. Additionally, it is critical that the managers of social programs not only be grounded in the ethics, values, and knowledge of social work but also have specific skills needed to operate culturally appropriate programs. Through this course, students will learn to: (1) supervise and manage social workers and other human service staff members (2) build teams and organizational cultures that maximize staff morale and job satisfaction and (3) create and maintain workplaces that reflect, contribute to, and celebrate diversity in the larger community.
SOCW 870 Medical Social Work and Behavioral Health Practice (Fall)
Assessments and interventions include an understanding of medical concerns, physical function, medical treatment, and the socio-cultural meanings ascribed to illness. The course will discuss issues related to coping with illness, self-concept, identity formation, and the impact of illness on individual well-being and family relationships. The impact of illness on psychosocial functioning over the life cycle with special attention directed to the beliefs and practices of diverse cultures, races, and spiritual orientations will be addressed.
SOCW 875 Forensic Social Work Practice (Spring)
Clinical social work practice is influenced by legal systems to such a degree, it is difficult to conceptualize a competent practitioner without a basic understanding of forensic social work practice. The actions of social workers and their clients are powerfully, implicitly, and explicitly shaped through legal mandates and regulations at multiple levels of governance. This course will provide a foundation for the essential areas of interaction between social work practice and the law, with an emphasis on how these impact the roles and functions of the clinical practitioner. The course also equips the practitioner with a crucial underpinning of the forensic knowledge and skills necessary to provide clinical social work services to clients in legal settings, such as mediation, forensic interviewing, and testimony as an expert witness.
SOCW 880 Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice with Individuals (Fall)
In SOCW 880, students learn selected theoretical orientations and therapeutic interventions designed to promote goal attainment and the well-being of individuals. Students recognize that effective and efficient clinical social work practice is guided and informed by a theoretical foundation as well as policies and demands of agency function and funding sources. Students will demonstrate theoretical knowledge and psychotherapeutic skills through coursework, clinical intensive meetings, and practicum. Students must be concurrently enrolled in SOCW 890 (Advanced Clinical Social Work Field Practicum I) in order to integrate and apply classroom learning in the field setting. Failure by the student to pass SOCW 880 (Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice with Individuals) will lead to an incomplete grade in SOCW 890 (Advanced Clinical Social Work Field Practicum I). Students will need to retake and successfully pass the SOCW 880 Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice with Individuals course prior to receiving a passing grade in the SOCW 890 Advanced Clinical Social Work Field Practicum and enrolling in the SOCW 885 Advanced Clinical SW Practice course and the SOCW 895 Advanced Clinical Social Work Field Practicum II course.
SOCW 885 Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice with Groups and Families (Spring)
Students learn selected theoretical orientations and therapeutic interventions designed to promote goal attainment and the well-being of groups and families. Students recognize that effective and efficient clinical social work practice is guided and informed by a theoretical foundation as well as policies and demands of agency function and funding sources. Students are expected to display autonomous ethical practice, to utilize critical thinking and reflection as they expand awareness of conscious use of self in the social work clinical helping partnership. Students will demonstrate theoretical knowledge and psychotherapeutic skills through coursework, clinical intensive meetings, and practicum. This course has been designed to synchronize with SOCW 895 Advanced Clinical SW Field Practicum II and topics and assignments from this course have been integrated into the practicum.
SOCW 890 Advanced Clinical Social Work Field Practicum I (Fall)
This course is the first of two clinical field practicum experiences that students are required to complete during the advanced year of the MSW Program. Clinical social work practice augments and extends social work knowledge, values, and skills to engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate within areas of specialization. Students must be concurrently enrolled in SOCW 880 (Advanced Clinical SW Practice with Individuals) in order to integrate and apply classroom learning in the field setting. Students failing SOCW 890 (Advanced Clinical Social Work Field Practicum I) will not be allowed to enroll in SOCW 885 (Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice with Groups and Families), and SOCW 895 (Advanced Clinical Social Work Field Practicum II) until SOCW 880 (Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice with Individuals) has been successfully completed. An ethnocultural practice perspective is emphasized. Students work closely with the MSW Field Director to identify their preferred practice population, preferred agencies, and the geographical area where they want to complete the practicum. Students are required to begin this practicum experience the same week that courses begin in the Fall semester.
Students are required to complete a minimum of 250 hours of field practicum experience during this semester (minimum of 16-18 hours/week), in an agency placement predetermined to the beginning of the practicum course.
SOCW 895 Advanced Clinical Social Work Field Practicum II
This course is the second of two clinical field practicum experiences that students are required to complete during the advanced year of the MSW Program. Clinical social work practice augments and extends social work knowledge, values, and skills to engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate within areas of specialization. Students must be concurrently enrolled in SOCW 885 (Advanced Clinical SW Practice with Groups and Families) in order to integrate and apply classroom learning in the field setting. Students failing SOCW 895 (Advanced Clinical Social Work Field Practicum II) will not complete the program until all the requirements have been successfully met. An ethnocultural practice perspective is emphasized. Students work closely with the MSW Field Director to identify their preferred practice population, preferred agencies, and the geographical area where they want to complete the practicum. Students are required to begin this practicum experience the same week that courses begin in the Spring semester.
A minimum of 250 hours of field practicum experience is required during this semester (minimum of 16-18 hours/week). You are not allowed to carry over extra hours from fall semester over into spring semester to count as part of your minimum 250 hours during your spring practicum experience. Once students complete this course and hours, they will have accumulated a minimum of 500 practicum hours to satisfy the practicum requirements for graduation.
Students will be required to attend both a full-day online clinical intensive via Zoom to demonstrate their learning during finals week in the Fall semester prior to their graduation in May, and a 2.5-day clinical intensive on campus in Hays, Kansas. During the intensives, students will be reviewed and evaluated by faculty to determine the level of competence each student displays. This feedback will be given to the student and Field Instructor for targeted practice to improve the skills, techniques, or other issues identified as being less than competent. This evaluation also serves as the comprehensive exam required by the FHSU Graduate School.