Degree Requirements
Sacred Heart University requires that students complete 120 credits of course work to meet the requirements for graduation. Social work students fulfill the core curriculum requirements and general electives, in addition to the identified liberal arts prerequisite courses and the social work professional foundation course work. The University Core Curriculum Plan is described below.
Required Liberal Arts Supporting Courses
The Baccalaureate Social Work Curriculum requires students to complete 18-19 credits of liberal arts prerequisite courses (12-13 of these credits are applied to the Elective Core requirements) and 48 credits of social work courses. The liberal arts courses are taught by other disciplines and provide necessary content for social work majors in the social, political, behavioral, and biological sciences, as well as the area of economics. Students earn 19 credits for their liberal arts prerequisite courses if they select BI 101 The Nature of Life, a 4-credit biology course that includes a laboratory, or 18 credits if they instead take BI 103 The Human Body, a 3-credit course with no lab attached. Four of the required liberal arts courses, PS 110, BI 101 or BI 103, SO 110, and PO 121 (totaling 12-13 credits) may be taken in partial fulfillment of Elective Core area requirements, as indicated in the listing below. The other two prerequisite liberal arts courses, MA 131 and SO 254 (totaling 6 credits), are additional required supporting courses for the social work major.
Choose BI 101 or BI 103
This course examines science as a process to understand basic biological concepts of cells, genetics, evolution, and ecology. Students will examine current biological research and how that impacts their lives and the future of humankind. Three hours of lecture per week. Non-science majors. A prerequisite to SW 267.
Focuses on human physiology and the role humans play in the health and maintenance of their bodies. Topics include human organization, processing and transporting, integration and coordination, and reproduction. Three hours of lecture per week. Non-science majors. A prerequisite to SW 267.
This course is geared toward liberal arts, science, business, and health science majors." It introduces descriptive statistics, probability distributions (both discrete and normal), confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and correlation. Real-world applications are offered and computer statistical software may be used.
Provides an introduction to the American political system, beginning with constitutional foundations, then examining how major political institutions actually function. The course explores politics through analysis of parties, interest groups, voting behavior, and the different ways citizens have participated in and shaped American democratic life.
Introduction to psychology as the science of behavior, focusing on the physiological, cognitive, learning, sociocultural, and psychodynamic bases of behavior.
Students are taught how to investigate social issues as sociologists do-by tracing the troubles of men and women back to broader social forces and problems. The relevance of sociology is demonstrated through examples of applied sociology and through the students' use of social theory and methods to address social problems.
Major socioeconomic developments in twenty-first-century capitalism (e.g., consumer culture, global labor market, media empires) are studied. The persistence of inequality and poverty, fragmentation of family and community, unhealthy constructions of self image, and other social problems are explained in terms of these developments.
Professional Foundation Required Courses
The curriculum has been designed to provide students with coursework and field experiences to prepare them for beginning level professional social work practice and for graduate study in social work or related disciplines. Graduates of the program are educated for generalist practice with individuals, families, small groups, organizations, and communities.
The Baccalaureate Social Work Curriculum at Sacred Heart University adheres to the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards of the Council on Social Work Education.
The Social Work curriculum is founded on a strong liberal arts base and incorporates content on human diversity and the dual perspective; ecological systems theory in relation to understanding human functioning from an interactional, transactional, and interdependent perspective; resources and resource systems; populations-at-risk; the consequences of social and economic injustice; and the patterns of discrimination and oppression existing in society. These themes are first introduced in the liberal arts courses and are reinforced and infused throughout the social work curriculum. Following the Introduction to Social Work course, students take required courses in each of the five areas of the professional foundation: Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Social Welfare Policy and Services, Social Work Practice, Research, and Field Education.
The major in social Work requires the completion of 48 major credits, plus 18-19 credits of required supporting courses in Psychology, Biology, Political science, sociology, and Math. The student is required to maintain an overall GPA of 2.6 or higher and a GPA of 2.6 or higher in required major courses.
Explores the profession of social work as a career choice. Focuses on generalist social work practice as a societal response to social problems with an orientation to professional knowledge, skills, values, and ethics.
Provides a framework for understanding how diversity and inclusion shape the human experience, especially through consideration of cultural and constructed social and political norms. This course is a prerequisites for SW 278 and SW 279.
Examines the history and formulation of social welfare policy in the United States, with a focus on structural and politicized inequities in cultural and institutional elements of society. This course is a prerequisite to SW 266 and a corequisite to SW 275 and SW 276.
Prerequisite: Take SW-101
Examines social welfare services and delivery systems, including critical frameworks and theories necessary to understand welfare in the U.S. and abroad and the relationship between welfare and social work practice. This course is a corequisite for SW 278 and SW 279
Prerequisite: Take SW-265
Examines structural theories and post-modern lenses critical to understanding human development, with emphasis on life stages, human diversity, and biopsychosocial, socioeconomic, spiritual, cultural, and systemic influences. This course is a prerequisite to SW 268 and a corequisite to SW 275, SW 276
Prerequisite: Take PS-110 SW-101
Addresses contexts of human behavior across the life course, including extended family, groups, communities, and sociopolitical participation and influences on human development and the human condition. This course is a corequisite to SW 278 and SW 279.
Prerequisite: Take SW-267
Prepares BSW majors to anticipate the expectations of professional social work internships, including the integration of evaluation of Generalist social work skills in both coursework and professional internships. Students must be accepted into the BSW Program and a junior standing. This course is a prerequisite for SW 375 and a corequisite for SW 276
Prerequisite: Take SW-101 PS-110 SO-110 PO-121
Provides students with an orientation to practicum placement to prepare them for generalist social work and to assess student readiness for practicum. A prerequisite to SW 278 and SW 279. Prerequisites: Take SW 101, PS 110, SO 110, and PO 121
Prerequisite: Take SW-101 PS-110 SO-110 PO-121
Generalist internship, typically two full days each week in a human service organization, school, or another community setting, wherein students experience professional practice under the supervision of social work professionals. Course must be taken concurrently with SW 279 and student must be admitted to BSW Program and be junior standing. This course is a prerequisite to SW 375, SW 378 and SW 380.
Prerequisite: Take SW-279 SW-266 SW-268
The Practicum Seminar facilitates, reinforces, and supports field-based learning while emphasizing both the values and ethics of professional social work. The course assists students in developing Generalist practice skills, including active listening, interviewing, engagement, assessment, intervention planning, and termination. Course must be taken concurrently with SW 278 and student must be admitted to BSW Program and be junior standing. This course is a prerequisite to SW 375, SW 378 and SW 380.
Prerequisite: Take SW-276 SW-224
Examines intervention skills with families, groups, communities, and organizations using the planned change process. Introduces spirituality in social work practice. Student must be admitted to BSW Program and be senior standing. This course is a prerequisite to SW 380 and SW 381 and a corequisite to SW378 and SW379.
Prerequisite: Take SW-275 SW-276 SW-278 SW-279
Professionally supervised senior internship for two days each week. Integration of theory with practice and the development of appropriate skills and knowledge, along with professional identification, values, and attitudes. Course must be taken concurrently with SW 379 and student must be admitted to BSW Program and be senior standing. This course is a prerequisite to SW 380 and SW 381 and a corequisite for SW 379 and SW 390.
Prerequisite: SW-278 SW-279;
The Practicum Seminar emphasizes Generalist professional development, incorporating research methods to evaluate personal practice and the application of theory learned in classrooms to professional practice in field internships. Capstone project is completed in the co-requisite seminar. Course must be taken concurrently with SW 378 and student must be admitted to BSW Program and be senior standing. This course is a prerequisite to SW 380 and SW 381 and a corequisite for SW 379 and SW 390.
Prerequisite: SW-278 SW-279
Professionally supervised senior internship for two days each week. Integration of theory with practice and the development of appropriate skills and knowledge, along with professional identification, values, and attitudes. Course must be taken concurrently with SW 381 and student must be admitted to BSW Program and be senior standing. This course is a prerequisite to SW 391 and a corequisite for SW 381.
Prerequisite: Take SW-378 SW-379 SW-375
Emphasis is on professional development, the use of research methods to evaluate one's own practice, and application of theory from the entire curriculum to professional practice. Course must be taken concurrently with SW 380 and student must be admitted to BSW Program and be senior standing. This course is a prerequisite to SW 391 and a corequisite for SW 380.
Prerequisite: Pre: SW-378 SW-379 SW-375
Development of research skills for evaluation and enhancement of social work practice. Emphasizes research designs, sampling, practice evaluation, program evaluation, measurement instruments, and basic statistics. Student must be admitted to BSW Program and be senior standing. This course is a prerequisite to SW 391.
Prerequisite: Take MA-131