Practicum Education

Practicum education is an integral part of the total educational process that prepares students for beginning level professional social work practice.

This experience allows students to assess their aptitude and motivation for a career in social work. It also provides students with the opportunity to apply the theoretical concepts learned in coursework to generalist practice. In effect, practicum education makes the learning come alive and moves students from textbook examples to real life situations in which they must intervene in order to provide professional social work services to actual clients. For most students this is an exciting process that represents the true beginning of professional development and training. It allows social work majors to use their acquired knowledge and skills and to demonstrate their developing commitment to social work values and ethics. In addition, practicum education helps students explore their interests in particular areas of practice, and this exposure can help them decide whether they wish to seek employment following graduation or pursue graduate studies.

The roles of student, Practicum Supervisor and Seminar Instructor are all vital components of the practicum education process. The student must make a full commitment to the necessary time that is required for the practicum and will need to devote their energies to the integration of theory and practice. The role of student may feel awkward at times because so much is new, but this discomfort is usually alleviated within a few weeks after the practicum begins.

Description of the Practicum Education

The practicum education component of the BSW Program consists of three semesters of practicum education and related seminars taken in conjunction with the practicum in each of the semesters. A one semester Junior Practicum is taken during the second semester of the junior year following completion of SW 275 Social Work Practice I. The Senior Practicum is a two-semester sequence, the first semester of which is taken concurrently with SW 375 Social Work Practice II.

Students are placed in community social agencies with professional agency Practicum Supervisor for two full workdays per week in each of the three semesters. Designed as a continuum of educationally directed, agency-based experiences, practicum education enables students to apply, integrate, and operationalize classroom learning in the development of increasing professional competency over the three semesters.

A broad array of agencies is available for student placement, including child welfare settings, nursing homes, correctional settings, drug and alcohol treatment and rehabilitation, shelters for the homeless, specialized services to children in foster care, mental health services for children and adults, school social work, alternative educational settings, services to persons living with disabilities or persons living with AIDS, domestic violence agencies, community-based services, and others. Students with special requests are encouraged to talk with their Practicum Liaison, who may be able to develop a placement to meet the specific needs of the student.

Student Assignments & Learning Experience

Students are required to engage in direct service assignments and other learning tasks/experiences that can provide them with the opportunity to develop as beginning level generalist social workers. Within each semester of the Practicum, assignments are designed to enable students to meet the specific expectations identified as the behavioral and educational objectives of that semester, culminating in the acquisition of the six generalist practice competencies expected of graduates of the Program. In this way, the primary objective of integration of classroom and practicum learning is achieved.

To allow sufficient opportunity for the student to achieve the expected educational objectives of the Program, the agency is expected to provide learning activities from among the following assignments and experiences:

• A variety of service providing assignments, with different size client systems representing diverse populations, that require:
  • A range of interventive modes and worker roles.
  • Interactions with other agencies and resource systems.
  • Professional teamwork, which may be interdisciplinary in nature.
• Access to information about the agency system, including administrative auspices and funding sources, organizational policies and procedures, formal and informal organizational structure, decision making processes, and service delivery statistics and outcome data.
• Observation of or participation in staff meetings, board meetings, and community meetings related to agency purpose, goals, and function.
• Observation of or participation in committee meetings of board or staff.
• Exposure to and involvement in agency research.
• Observation of or participation in meetings with representatives of other community agencies.
• Practicum visits to other agencies.
• Access to decision making processes within the agency in order to report on data collection and assessment and to make proposals and recommendations for enhancing agency service delivery and effectiveness in relation to community needs.
• Exposure to and participation in preparation for testimony and reports for presentation to legislative committees, administrators and boards of resource systems, resource allocation committees, and others, in order to influence decision making and allocation processes.

Practicum Agencies

A practicum-based educational internship is one of the hallmarks of a professional education. It provides students with opportunities to integrate and implement the knowledge, values and skills learned in the classroom while in a supervised social work practice experience, called a practicum. At Sacred Heart University, students will have an opportunity to participate in three semesters of practicum  education for sixteen hours a week. Social work internships may include work with child abuse and neglect, juvenile delinquency, immigration and refugees, homelessness, high-risk parents, domestic violence, disabilities, schools and medical settings such as hospitals, nursing homes and health centers. Internship assignments are designed to help students explore the role of the social worker, the agency setting, and a diverse client population while maximizing their learning at the individual, family, small group, organizational and/or community levels. Social Work internships at Sacred Heart University take place at a variety of settings.