SOWK-460 Senior Capstone Seminar in Social Work

Please note that this syllabus is intended as an example only. It may not exactly match each session of the class offered.

Instructor: Linda McIntire, LCSW, LMFT

PDF Download Syllabus

General Course Description

This is the final required course in the social work program curriculum. It is designed as an opportunity for integration of previous learning and assimilation of this learning in a way which is meaningful for each student. As a means of individualizing the contents of this course, students will assist in the transaction of this syllabus.
The course utilizes a discussion format, with inclusion of minimal lecture, student-facilitated groups, and experiential activities.

Prerequisites/Co-requisites

Admission to and good standing within the Social Work program.
Successful completion of a minimum of 90 credit hours.
Successful completion of Junior practicum.

Academic Course Standards

Criteria from the Council on Social Work Education Curriculum Policy Statement (CSWE C.P.S.) relevant to this course are as follows:

Social Work Values and Ethics
- B6.3 Programs of social work education must provide specific knowledge about social work values and their ethical implications and must provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their application in professional practice. Students must be assisted to develop an awareness of their personal values and to clarify conflicting values and ethical dilemmas. Among the values and principles that must be infused throughout every social work curriculum are the following:
  - B6.3.1 Social workers' professional relationships are built on regard for individual worth and dignity and are furthered by mutual participation, acceptance, confidentiality, honesty, and responsible handling of conflict.
  - B6.3.2 Social workers respect people's right to make independent decisions and to participate actively in the helping process.
  - B6.3.3 Social workers are committed to assisting client systems to obtain needed resources.
  - B6.3.4 Social workers strive to make social institutions more humane and responsive to human needs.
  - B6.3.6 Social workers are responsible for their own ethical conduct, the quality of their practice, and seeking continuous growth in the knowledge and skills of their profession.
Diversity
- B6.4 Professional social work education is committed to preparing students to understand and appreciate human diversity. Programs must provide curriculum content about differences and similarities in the experiences, needs, and beliefs of people. The curriculum must include content about differential assessment and intervention skills that will enable practitioners to serve diverse populations.
  Each program is required to include content about population groups that are particularly relevant to the program's mission. These groups include, but are not limited to groups distinguished by race, ethnicity, culture, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical or mental ability, age, and national origin.
Promotion of Social and Economic Justice
- B6.5 Programs of social work education must provide an understanding of the dynamics and consequences of social and economic injustice, including all forms of human oppression and discrimination. They must provide students with the skills to promote social change and to implement a wide range of interventions that further the achievement of individual and collective social and economic justice. Theoretical and practice content must be provided about strategies of intervention for achieving social and economic justice and for combating the causes and effects of institutionalized forms of oppression

Course Objectives and Measures

This course has the following objectives and measures:

Objective 1. Apply and use critical thinking skills within the context of professional social work practice by analyzing current issues and events relevant to social work. (CSWE C.P.S. B5.7.1)
Measures of this objective include the Class Participation grade.
Objective 2. Demonstrate the ability to engage in practice within the values and ethics of the social work profession with an appreciation and understanding of the positive value of human diversity. (CSWE C.P.S. B5.7.2) Measurement will be based upon the successful inclusion of ethical content in the Student Project and appropriate content, and upon discussion in Group Lab and other class discussions.
Objective 3. Demonstrate ability to analyze the implications, values, and impact of social policies on client systems, workers, and agencies. Participation in discussions of current events and of organizational climate and behavior will be indicator of mastery of this objective.
Objective 4. Demonstrate ability to utilize professional self appropriately. (CSWE C.P.S. B5.7.3) Measurement criteria for this objective directly include the Personal Assessment Paper, and indirectly include successful completion of resume and videotaped job interview. Class and group participation in general will be another measure.

Resources

Required

There is one required text for this course:

Serving and Surviving
J. Robert Russo
Waveland Press, 1993

Various journal and newspaper articles will be utilized. Although some of these will be supplied by the professor, it is required that students bring in others which are interesting and relevant.

Course Design

Content to be covered can be organized into the following 5 units. Please note that, with the exception of Unit 1, there is not at this time any ordering or sequencing of these units. In fact, the class may be in the process of covering more than one at any one time; for example, Unit 5 most likely will be an ongoing process throughout the course, rather than delegated to a number of sessions. These issues will be determined during the first session of class.

Unit I: Assessment of Professional Growth

In this unit, each student will examine his or her own growth, both personally and professionally, as a beginning social worker. Students will assess their strengths as well as areas still requiring significant attention. This will be a focus in the classroom during this unit, and will be the focus of the Personal Growth and Needs Assessment Paper. Each student will receive a handout outlining the contents and expectations for this assignment.

Unit II: Social Work Career Choices

This unit involves the exploration of students' short-term and long-term goals, with classroom activities primarily determined by the class in terms of speakers and content. Topics to be considered include job searching, interviewing for jobs, information of graduate schools, content on licensing and the state examination for licensure. There are two planned activities at this point. First, each student will write and submit a resume. Second, students can participate in mock job interviews and process these experiences.

Unit III: Career Issues

Students will be explore field-related issues such as supervision, organizational environments, and co-workers, and how these impact beginning social workers. Students are encouraged to be creative in ways in which they would like to address this, and may very well utilize some of the Group Lab time for this unit.

Unit IV: Ethics

This content in infused throughout course readings, discussions, and activities. The student project will also address this topic, and involves the integration of previous learning from courses such as Foundations, Policy, the Practice sequence, and Research. The development of the nature of this project will be discussed.

Unit V: Current Issues

In this unit, students will explore current issues which build upon their social work knowledge and impact the human services field. Students will present recent articles from sources such as professional journals, the NASW state or national newspapers, and/or local or city newspapers. Students should consider this Unit for Group Lab content.

Course Evaluation

Students will be evaluated by performance on the following measures:

Personal Assessment Paper: 30%
The Personal Growth and Needs Assessment Paper is designed to assist the student in doing two things. First, to evaluate her or his development as a professional and her or his ability to utilize this professional self. Second, to assess curricular needs still remaining, so as to better tailor the course to student needs. Each student will receive a handout detailing the mandatory contents for this assignment and the criteria for grading.
Group lab and logs: 15%
The Group Lab Grade is based upon the student's efforts and effectiveness as the group facilitator. Group Lab will usually occur the last hour of class on Thursdays, and will be facilitated by one class member. Each student should count on facilitating at least twice, and will submit an evaluative log of each experience. Look at Units 3 and 5 for suggested content for the Group Labs.
Class Participation Grade: 20%
The Class Participation Grade will include the following: attendance, participation in discussions, presentation of relevant articles from various media sources (minimum of 3), satisfactory completion of a resume, reaction log after videotaped job interview, and other miscellaneous small assignments.
Student Project: 35%
The Student Project will be designed by the class as a group. Based upon the interests of the individuals in the course, the students will work together to create some type of project which the criteria, in that it will in some way contribute to the field and/or to the program at the University of Indianapolis.

Portfolio Requirement

Students are reminded that the program requires the periodic maintenance and update of their portfolios, as described in the Social Work Program Student Handbook. The minimal portfolio requirement for this course, and the final for the program, is the Personal Growth and Needs Assessment Paper. Students are to turn in two copies of this final paper, one identified by name while the other is identified by date of birth.

Course Policies

Papers and assignments are due on assigned dates. No credit will be given for late assignments unless granted by the professor prior to the class session.
The standard for clear, concise, and grammatically correct writing will continue to be upheld in this course, even though the one assigned paper is of a personalized nature. Pre-grades are available; all pre-graded entries must be submitted with the final revision. Students are encouraged to utilize the University's Writing Lab for assistance as needed.
All University policies regarding academic integrity will be strictly upheld.
Due to sabbatical, I am only on campus on Wed and Thurs nights and every other Sun this semester. Appointments are not necessary but advised. Also, as you probably know, I do have Email and Voice Mail. I recommend that you use email both addresses, as I have the opportunity to check this throughout the day, and have better opportunity to respond at an acceptable time.
At the onset of the semester I will obtain from each of you a phone number and your Email address. If this information should change during the course of the semester, please keep me updated. Also, I will assume that those of you who provide an Email account actually check it regularly.
Regular attendance is expected. Not only does missing class affect your Class Performance grade, but it puts you at risk of missing a randomly scheduled quiz.
Pagers and phones are to be turned off or placed in a silent mode during class time, and are always to be off during group.

Class Schedule

Week 1
Intro to Course
Transaction of Syllabus
Initial Development of Group Project

Week 2
Approval of Syllabus
Graduate Programs – Different Degrees, Different Routes?
Personal Growth, Interests, and Development
Read for next week: Chapter 1

Week 3
The Hunt Begins:

Where to Look For Jobs
Applications, Resumes, and Cover Letters

Pregrade Deadline for Personal Assessment Paper

Week 4
The Interview: Skills and Strategies
Cover Letter and Resume Due
Final Deadline for Personal Assessment Paper

Week 5
Mock Job Interviews
Discussion following Interviews
Class Project Formal Proposal Deadline

Week 6
Salaries to Expect
Benefits (what is a 401K?)
Negotiations
Interview Reaction Logs Due

Week 7
Licensure – IN and other states
Read for next week: Chapter 4

Week 8
Universal Expectations of All Employees
Surviving the Medical Setting (Docs and nurses!)
Licensure Practice Test Due
Read for next week: Chapters 2 and 3

Week 9, Spring Break
Dealing with Organizational Issues: The Supervisor
Dealing with Organizational Issues: The Troubling Peer

Week 10
Being A supervisor
Read for next week: Chapter 6

Week 11
Bringing in the Dough: Funding Formulas and Grant Writing
Read for next week: Chapter 7

Week 12
How to Quit a Job: Professional and Ethical Considerations.
Terminating with Clients

Week 13
TBA – class to determine
Final Group Project Due

Week 14
TBA – class to determine
Read for next week: Chapter 9

Week 15
TBA – class to determine
Completion of Media Presentations

Week 16, Finals Week
Terminating Activity

Capstone 2004 Personal Assessment Paper

Content and Criteria

It is my hope that you can utilize this assignment in order to fully inventory and assess your strengths and limitations as a beginning level generalist social worker. Please respond to each of the following in your paper:

What value changes have you made while in the program? Were any other values questioned? challenged? validated?
How do you see your value system coinciding with that of the social work profession? How do you see it as differing?
Have you experienced any personal growth during your time in the program? Please describe. I am not concerned with the catalyst for this growth, it may not be specifically related to the curriculum, yet it may be relevant. We learn life lessons in many different ways!
What do you see as your greatest strengths and assets as a beginning social worker? Consider both knowledge and skills in your response. Be specific.
In what areas do you see that you need to further develop skills or gain knowledge? How and when do you anticipate doing this?
How do you see social work "fitting" into your life plans? If applicable, what facets or tasks are of interest to you?
Overall, assess your competence as a worker in a beginning level position. Keep in mind that you may feel quite competent in some areas/positions and incompetent in others. If so, please elaborate.

Criteria for evaluation (as always): successful inclusion and completion of all above-listed contents. Organization of contents is totally up to you, but it must be a concise, well-written essay with clear transitions (no headings or subtitles, please). Length: 5 page minimum.

Due Dates:

Pre-grade: Jan 28
Final Due Date: February 4

Reminder: Two copies are to be turned in – portfolio requirement. Please use only birth date on the portfolio copy.

Program Objectives Met by this Assignment:

1 – Develop and use critical thinking skills
2 – Gain an understanding of social work ethics and values
3 – Develop and demonstrate a professional use of self
10 – Develop the communication skills necessary for the field

Capstone Group Project Process:
Each year, the social work seniors work together as a committee in order to complete a project which is designed, implemented, and documented by the student group. The nature of the project is to be determined by the students and must meet one criteria: it must constitute a contribution to either the profession or a community. The committee must:

Determine the nature, scope, and objectives of the program
Decide how the group will function in order to be a successful organization
Submit a proposal for the project to the Director, L. McIntire. This proposal should include the following:
- Description of project and objectives
- Review of pertinent literature
- Methodology and plans for implementation
- Methods for measuring outcomes
- Timeframe and persons responsible for completion
- Any other documentation, such as research committee petition and approval
The Director will review the proposal, provide feedback, then authorize the project to begin.
The committee must then implement the project as planned.
Submission of the final project summary should include:
- The proposal and all of its components
- A description of implementation process
- Any materials developed or utilized in the implementation of the program
- Analysis and discussion of outcomes
- All raw data should be separately submitted
- An analysis of the project with discussion of what could be improved
- A discussion of the group process, describing the strengths and weaknesses of the committee as a working group

Criteria for evaluation:

Organization
Writing (accuracy, clarity)
Lit review
Appropriateness of materials
Analysis of outcomes
Analysis of project
Analysis of group process

Program Objectives Met by this Assignment:
1 – Develop and use critical thinking skills
6 – Apply and use the skills and knowledge of generalist social work
9 – Evaluate research studies and apply what is learned from them in practice
10 – Develop the communication skills necessary for the field
12 – Learn how to function within the structure of various organizations