Social Work, BA

This is the first version of the 2025–26 General Catalog. Please check back regularly for changes. The final edition and the historical PDF will be published during the fall semester.

The undergraduate program in social work prepares students to work professionally as direct service providers and social change agents. The program has been accredited continuously by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) since 1974 and is designed to be consistent with CSWE’s 2022 Educational Policy Statement competencies:

  • demonstrate ethical and professional behavior;
  • advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice;
  • engage anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) in practice;
  • engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice;
  • engage in policy practice;
  • engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities;
  • assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities;
  • intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities; and
  • evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Consistent with CSWE standards, the program explores how diversity and intersectionality shape human experiences and identity development and affect equity and inclusion. The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersections of factors including but not limited to age, caste, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, generational status, immigration status, legal status, marital status, political ideology, race, nationality, religion and spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status. Social workers understand that a person’s life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege and power.

See the CSWE Assessment of Learning Outcomes for the BA program on the School of Social Work website.

The specific mission of the BA program in social work is to prepare culturally aware generalist social workers whose practice is consistent with social work values and ethics, including a commitment to social justice and social change. The program's goals are to:

  • prepare generalist practitioners to work with individuals, families, small groups, organizations, and communities;
  • provide students with a base for continuing graduate education in social work and for lifelong learning; and
  • prepare students for active engagement with issues of social justice, oppression, and social welfare in local, state, regional, national, and global contexts.

Learning Outcomes

In the social work major, students will build foundational competence in social work practice and demonstrate the following learning outcomes.

  • Identify personal and professional ethics that guide social work practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  • Examine how one’s own culture, values, biases, and beliefs influence professional use of self and one's ability to affect change at all levels of social work practice.
  • Apply evidence-informed knowledge and skills to effectively engage, assess, and intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  • Identify social policies at the local, state, federal, and global levels that affect well-being, human rights and justice, service delivery, and access to social services.
  • Develop a deeper understanding of historical and current contexts of power and oppression to engage in practices that advance human rights and promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.