Augustana University is offering social work as a minor this fall, followed by all 社会工作学士(BSW) courses for the major beginning in the fall of 2024 — part of Augustana’s 维京大胆号:2030之旅 strategic plan to establish new academic programs grounded in the liberal arts that challenge the intellect while responding to the needs and interests of students.
“There’s a high demand and there’s a lot of need for social workers, nationally,” said Dr. 巴特英里, who was hired as the program director in the spring of 2022.
迈尔斯从密歇根州来到非盟大学, 他在那里担任社会工作和社会学系主任, as well as the director of the Master of Social Work (MSW) program at Madonna University. He has nearly 20 years of experience as a faculty member in the field of social work, as well as seven years experience as a social worker in various settings in the Midwest, 西南及西海岸. 迈尔斯获得了城市生活垃圾和博士学位.D. 亚利桑那州立大学社会工作专业毕业.
“对我来说，能够建立一个程序是令人兴奋的，”迈尔斯说. “But, I think what really stands out is the history of the program, and that it incorporates the 勇气圈模型 (Sharon Lust教育学派的概念框架).”
奥古斯塔的社会工作史
12bet游戏平台于2022年4月宣布 that the university would bring back its social work program after 20 years, 感谢斯科特家族和桑福德健康中心的慷慨支持. The Harriet Emily Scott Social Work Program within the Sharon Lust教育学院 is named after former Director of Augustana’s Social Work program and Assistant Professor Emerita of Social Work Dr. 哈丽特·艾米丽(约翰逊)斯科特1959年.
“The reputation of the institution’s social work program before me is still strong. I went to the National Association of Social Workers 南达科塔州 Chapter (NASW-SD) conference and Harriet, 当然, 在那里,迈尔斯回忆道. “字面上的, I got asked to take pictures of her with professors from USF (University 苏福尔斯) because she was their professor. 他们可能在USF获得了学位, 但当这是一个联合项目时, 他们联系的是哈丽特.”
新BSW
整个社会工作专业总共有43个学分. Augustana is offering introductory courses in the major this academic year and its upper-level courses beginning next fall. 该项目已经聘请了希瑟·埃尔-库利, 社会工作助理教授, 作为负责学生实习的现场主管, 哪些学生将在他们的最后一年从事. 因为奥古斯塔有那么多双学位的学生, 英里说 he was intentional when scheduling courses so they could major in social work and the other social sciences, 比如社会学和心理学, 哪一对很相配.
Several students have already declared majors and minors in the program, 包括26岁的艾玛·坎贝尔, 苏福尔斯.
“理想情况下, I would like to go into clinical therapy — I have some child play therapy ideas bouncing around in my head,坎贝尔说。.
Campbell initially came to the university thinking she wanted to go to medical school, 但她很快意识到这份工作并不适合她.
“Social work interests me because I’ve always wanted to go into a helping profession,坎贝尔说。. “I realized I have always had a deep interest in helping people with their mental health and that social work would bring me closer to that, 同时也给了我在这个领域很多不同的机会.”
Theodora Crawford ‘26 also declared a major in social work, as well as sociology.
“我喜欢社会学从更广阔的角度看待事物, 然后社会工作就像是放大个人,克劳福德说.
克劳福德从皮埃尔来到12bet游戏平台, 南达科塔州, after reading an article about how Augustana would once again be offering the program.
“我经历了很多逆境, and I chose social work because it would give me the tools I need to help people like myself when I was younger,克劳福德说。, 谁在年轻时就与滥用和成瘾作斗争. “I want to help people who nobody else is helping — the kind of people others gave up on.
“我想我可以利用这些艰难的时刻来真正帮助别人. There’s not another career that I’d be able to do that — use the bad things I’ve been through and turn that into something good for someone else.”
就像坎贝尔和克劳福德一样, 英里说 students who are drawn to the profession often have the same characteristics, 当他和他们说话时，同样的心态也很突出.
“总的来说，学生们通常会说一些相同的事情. 他们说，‘我想帮助别人.“通常, 他们说, ‘I want to be the person who helps someone overcome challenges like I had to overcome challenges.’
“They have an innate nature in them to be advocates — they want to stand up for other people. People who have a social justice perspective tend to fit really well with social work because social work really is embedded in that action-oriented social change kind of focus, 即使是在临床领域,迈尔斯解释道. “A large part of social work addresses people who are impoverished, marginalized and oppressed. So, people who tend to be interested in helping people in those populations.”
很多时候在社会工作专业被忽视, 英里说, is that social workers are often advocates — the ones who push back against systems that aren’t providing the services for which they qualify.
当父母听到他们的孩子说, “我想要社会工作学士学位,“他们经常认为他们会把别人的孩子带走, 什么是儿童保护服务. The reality is that most Child Protective Services workers do not have a social work degree. Child Protective Services isn’t a major field in which most social workers go,” said Miles.
接下来是什么
奥古斯塔正准备被 社会工作教育委员会(CSWE) — the only approved programmatic accrediting 年龄ncy for social work programs in the U.S. Accreditation from the CSWE ensures high standards for social work education and that students are able to graduate from the program.
AU hopes to launch a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree in the fall of 2025, 哪个项目将包括一个混合项目. Students who have earned a BSW from an accredited program will be able to enter the MSW program with Advanced Standing, 这意味着他们可以在一年内完成城市垃圾项目. Those with earned bachelor's degrees in related areas could complete the 2-year MSW program. 该项目将整合医疗保健和儿童 & 青少年，以及药物使用的重点领域.
要了解更多12bet游戏平台12bet游戏平台BSW，请访问 奥吉.edu/SocialWork.