Social Work Major (61 SH)

Owned by Laura Lehman (Deactivated)
Last updated: Apr 14, 2020 by Barbara Byer (Deactivated)
3 min read

Carol Hurst and Deanna Durham, advisors


The social work major is a professional degree program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), the standard-setting commission for social work degree programs in the United States. Graduates qualify for Baccalaureate in Social Work (BSW) licensure exams and for opportunities in master of social work advanced standing programs. The EMU social work program's emphasis on social justice and cross-cultural learning in domestic and international venues is distinctive. Graduates are prepared for generalist social work practice with individuals, families, groups, and communities within the context of various human service organizations. Graduates may also pursue graduate degrees in social work including advanced standing admission to CSWE accredited masters’ in social work programs to finish an MSW degree on an accelerated basis.

Professional social work practice requires grounding in the core values of the social work profession: service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, the importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence.  Throughout the curriculum students grow in self-awareness of their own family backgrounds and their own cognitive and affective responses to trauma, injustice, and marginalization of persons.  Ethical boundaries and self-care are emphasized as students learn to provide compassionate presence and healing care to others. Practical service learning, community engagement, language study, and cross-cultural experience build capacity to care competently for diverse populations.

The curriculum includes course sequences in the discipline's focus areas including Human Behavior and Social Environment (HBSE), policy, and practice. HBSE courses provide social scientific perspectives of patterns of human behavior. Policy courses focus on understanding organizations and government and legislative advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations and social programs. Practice courses provide structured skills practice at the micro or direct one-to-one interpersonal level, at the mezzo or group and family interpersonal level, and at the macro or large system level requiring community and organizational leadership skills.  Students can develop knowledge in particular interest areas through class projects, choice of their elective social work topics course, and through selection of field practicum setting.

Students must apply for formal admission into the social work program after the initial social work courses.  Transfer students apply to the program after their first semester in the social work major at EMU. The social work program does not grant credit for life experience or previous work experience. Admission to and continuation in the social work program is contingent upon academic performance (a minimum of C in all social work/sociology courses required in the major and a minimum overall GPA of 2.5) as well as personal qualities essential for working with people such as a value orientation consistent with the profession, compassionate sensitivity towards others, self-awareness, and a sense of personal and global responsibility.  Students must demonstrate capacity to meet professional standards through conscientious timely attendance and follow-through in all coursework, as well as maintenance of a minimum 2.5 overall GPA, to be accepted into a practicum placement.

Career opportunities for social workers abound in diverse community settings and organizations.  Types of social work include: early intervention, adoption and foster care services; school-based social work; youth/child mentoring and after-school programs; juvenile justice and corrections; judicial/court programs; mediation programs; domestic violence prevention and intervention services; public sector social services; disaster relief; immigrant and refugee programs; mental health and counseling services; substance and alcohol addiction recovery; emergency family shelters and homelessness services; day programs for children and the elderly;  residential geriatric communities and nursing homes; developmental disabilities support programs; sexual assault crisis intervention and child advocacy services; hospital social work; and hospice care organizations.

The major consists of the following 61 SH:

Foundation Requirements:

  • PSYC 101 General Psychology - 3 
  • PSYC 202 Developmental Psychology - 3 
  • SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology - 3 
  • Choice of either ECON 201 Survey of Economics or ECON 212 Principles of Macroeconomics or PXD 365 Social and Political Economy - 3 
  • SOWK 101 Exploring Social Work - 3 

Human Behavior & Social Environment (HBSE) courses:

  • SOWK 200 Social Behavior and Diversity - 3 
  • SOWK 210 Social Stratification - 3 
  • SOWK 360 Race and Gender - 3 
  • STAT 120 Descriptive Statistics - 2
  • SOC 336 Methods of Social Research - 3 

Policy Courses:

  • POL 111 Comparative Politicsor POL 112 American Politics - 2
  • SOWK 220 History and Philosophy of Social Welfare - 3
  • SOWK 330 Social Policy Analysis - 3 

Practice Courses:

  • SOWK 310 Social Work Practice I - 3 
  • SOWK 400 Social Work Practice II - 3 
  • SOWK 410 Social Work Practice III - 3 
  • SOWK 420 Topics in Social Work - 3 
  • SOWK 430 Senior Practicum in Social Work - 12