SOCWORK-BS - Social Work

The York College Bachelor of Science in Social Work Program is committed to undergraduate social work education of the highest academic rigor and professional relevance with a particular emphasis on serving diverse urban populations in the global context. The cohesive curriculum of the Program, built on a strong and well-integrated liberal arts base, is designed to educate students in the knowledge, skills, and values for generalist social work practice. The York College undergraduate Social Work Program prepares students for successful professional employment and advancement as well as graduate study in the field of social work.

In a perpetually changing social landscape in the United States and global demands, social work higher education institutions are continuously engaged in the practice of self-assessment, rejuvenation, and adjustment to current demographic, cultural, and economic realities. York College of the City University of New York is located in Queens County, which is one of the most ethnically diverse boroughs in the nation. Students who attend York College speak 84 different languages; many of them are 1st generation immigrants who represent 125 different countries. Diversity on campus and at the Program level goes beyond ethnicity and is expressed in family structure, gender, age, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, and religion.

One of the main pedagogical aspects of the York College Social Work Program is the emphasis on preparing students to work with diverse urban populations in a variety of practice settings. The complexity of the human condition in the context of a rapidly changing global environment and technological advances demands a high level of expertise and sophistication from social work practitioners. The Program prepares students through an effective integration of a liberal arts foundation with the social work knowledge base. The distinctive and effective pedagogies which characterize the York College Bachelor of Sciences degree in Social Work, equip students with a broad and cohesive generalist knowledge base and the skills that allow graduates to work competently as emerging social work practitioners and leaders, and who pursue graduate study in social work.

For assessment purposes, the Social Work Department treats the 10 required CSWE Core Competencies as Goals, and the subsequent Practice Behaviors as SLOs (For a complete list, see https://www.cswe.org/Accreditation/Standards-and-Policies/2008-EPAS CSWE).

The Social Work Program, accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, prepares students for the beginning level of professional social work practice and for graduate school. The curriculum provides students with a solid liberal arts foundation and a generalist social work education, including professionally supervised training in agencies. Two admission procedures are required in order to advance to the upper division (SCWK 360 and above) admission to the Social Work Program; and admission to Social Work Field Education. Students also must satisfy retention criteria.