SCWK 440

SCWK 202

Course Syllabus

Instructor: Professor Ron Green

Time: NA Room: NA

Office Hours: By appointment Room: Bancroft 130

Voice: 803-323-2646 FAX: 803-323-2176

Email: greenr@winthrop.edu

SYLLABUS

GENERAL PURPOSE:

The general purpose of this course is to provide an opportunity for testing out one’s career interest in the human services field by actively observing (a) a human service agency's operations and practices, (b) an agency’s application of policy to practice, (c) the needs of the population served by the agency, and (d) the community network of services in which the agency functions. This is not a practice course.

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The course allows students to define their individual learning objectives within the framework of the particular human service agency providing the volunteer field experience. The student is expected to contract with an agency serving children and/or youth, older populations or those with health needs to provide the opportunity for 80 hours of supervised volunteer service and to conjointly, with agency personnel, formulate specific objectives of what they want to learn. These objective must be obtainable within the agency structure, be achievable within the time frame of the semester, and the achievement of the objectives capable of being measured by the student at the end of the semester.

STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS:

It is the practice of the Social Work Department to accommodate students with various impairments pursuant to federal and state law. Any student with an impairment who desires accommodation should inform the instructor at the beginning of the course. Such students are also encouraged to contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities at 2233.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Within the first two weeks of the course, the student is expected to complete the Agency-Student Contract and course essay to be submitted to the course instructor for approval. The student’s essay is to include: A) a description of the structure and the function of the agency, the population served, the needs of this population and how this agency fits into the community of helping agencies and B) a statement of the student’s learning objectives and how each learning objective is to be met within the volunteer experience. The essay is an important part of the contract. The weekly logs relate directly to the contract. Therefore, it is essential to have the contract approved by both the agency and course instructor in a timely fashion.

The student is expected to write a weekly log stating his/her activities that are related to the learning objectives. The course instructor will react to these logs and promptly return them to the student. At the completion of the course, the agency supervisor will send a written evaluation of the student's volunteer work to the course instructor and the student will submit a written evaluation of his/her learning. The instructor will be available for consultation to both the student and agency personnel.

ASSIGNMENTS:

Each student is expected to:

1. Complete learning objectives and how they will be met.

2. Submit weekly logs which describe the week's field experience.

3. Complete 80 clock hours of volunteer work.

4. Submit a critical evaluation of the total field work experience by the last class day of the semester.

GRADING SYSTEM:

SCWK 202 is graded on an S/U basis. Grades are based on approval of the contract by the course instructor, successful completion of 80 hours in the agency, satisfactory weekly journals, completion of critical evaluation of the experiences stating specifically how the educational objectives were met, and the field supervisor's evaluation of the volunteer experience.