Department of Social Work
About the Department
BSW Program
The Department of Social Work provides an undergraduate program in social work which prepares students for beginning generalist social work practice. This program currently has 150 majors. Completion of 122 semester hours is required for graduation. International study opportunities are available through our relationship with Strathclyde University in Scotland and Costa Rica.
The Department of Social Work's Bachelor of Social Work program has been continuously accredited by the Council on Social Work Education since 1974. The Director of the BSW Program is Dr. Melissa Floyd Taylor.
The undergraduate social work program is a 41-hour major with two community-based volunteer placements and a 440-hour internship during which students apply theoretical knowledge and skills with diverse client groups in over 50 community social welfare and educational agencies and organizations. These internship sites include health and mental health services, social services, child welfare agencies, schools, and substance abuse centers.
Graduate Curriculum
The Department of Social Work implemented a collaborative graduate program in social work with North Carolina A & T State University in fall 1997. This Master of Social Work program requires completion of 60 credit hours and is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Each MSW student completes 1165 hours of internships in community agencies.
Research and Scholarship
Our research is applied and aimed at understanding and solving problems in social welfare. Our work is developed in partnership with community agencies and provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate student participation as well as publication in high quality refereed journals. For the period of 1990-2000, we received more than $2,000,000 in external funds with all tenure track faculty receiving at least one award from external sources. There were also 42 publications and 85 conference presentations during this time. Areas of faculty research include:
- Effective interventions with at-risk children and youth
- Social agency program development and evaluation
- Social work practice methods
- Social work with families
- Homelessness
- Long-term care
- International social welfare
- Family crisis intervention
- Intervention with the elderly
- Religious congregations in human services
- Social and economic impacts of unemployment and income deficiency upon older workers