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"Professional social workers
are leaders in a variety of organizational settings and service
delivery systems working with individuals, families, groups,
communities within a global context. The profession of social
work is based on the values of service, social and economic
justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human
relationships, and integrity and competence in practice. With
these values as defining principles, the purposes of social
work are:
-To enhance human well-being and alleviate poverty, oppression,
and other forms of social injustice.
.-To enhance the social functioning and interactions of individuals,
families, groups, organizations, and communities by involving
them in accomplishing goals, developing resources, and preventing
and alleviating distress.
- To formulate and implement social policies, services, and
programs that meet basic human needs and support the development
of human capacities.
- To pursue policies, services, and resources through advocacy
and social or political actions that promote social and economic
justice.
- To develop and use research, knowledge, and skills that
advance social work practice.
- To develop and apply practice in the context of diverse
cultures."
Concordia Benefits:
The Liberal Arts
• Concordia is a leading liberal arts college where
students develop critical-thinking, problem-solving and evaluation
skills. Through our curriculum, students are exposed to the
foundations of becoming a feeling, ethical and sensitive human
being.
• Utilizing this foundation, the Social Work program
adds depth to the understanding of human dynamism and how
the individual and the environment influence one another.
• Faculty members work with students to develop self-awareness,
a trait necessary in helping others.
Program Purpose and Mission
The primary purpose of the Social Work Program is the preparation
of students qualified for employment as B.A. level generalist
social workers. This features generic knowledge, values, skills
of social work, and the basic understanding and experience
necessary for generalist practice. "Generalist social
workers possess an integrated view of people-and- environments
and can use appropriate interventions to empower consumers
at all social system levels. Generalists regard clients in
relation to the social milieu, view problems in the context
of the situation, and seek solutions within both personal
and environmental structures. (Dubois & Miley)" In
addition, our students as generalist social workers, will
work from the strengths/asset based planned-change approach
which is empowering for the clients, incorporates the systems
they are involved with, and is based on solution-focused participatory
action research.
The Social Work program's mission guides each student to
reach their sense of vocation: " To provide service to
fellow human beings and social leadership in order to influence
by confronting disadvantage through a framework of social
justice and peace making, favoring undervalued persons and
providing conditions of hope leading to individual and social
change."
The understanding of vocation and discernment of Christian
calling provides both rationale and motivation for the following
Social Work Program goals, to:
1) Provide content about social work practice with client
systems of various sizes and types.
2) Prepare graduates to practice with diverse populations.
3) Provide content about the social contexts of social work
practice, the changing nature of those contexts, the behavior
of organizations, and the dynamics of change.
4) Infuse throughout the curriculum the values and ethics
that guide professional social workers in their practice.
5) Prepare graduates who are aware of their responsibility
to continue their professional growth and development.
A graduate will have an understanding of and experience
with a liberal arts perspective; written and oral communication
skills; various uses of technology and related implications;
promotion of social and economic justice; social welfare policy
and services; social systems; human behavior and the social
environment; professional and personal ethics and values;
gender, minorities and cultural differences; populations at
risk; self and others awareness; the range of social work
practices; and, applied research.
The students' education will prepare them to engage in social
work practice in a variety of micro, mezzo and macro settings.
A graduate will also have the necessary academic skills, values,
knowledge, and experiential learning through contextual learning
and field practicum to pursue future graduate studies or leadership
in other endeavors. The social work program is accredited
by the Council of Social Work Education, a national accrediting
body. As a result of the accredited status of the program,
students who apply to social work graduate programs may be
eligible for advanced standing.
Careers in Social Work
• Concordia students graduating with a major in social
work are qualified for positions in both public and private
social service organizations. These may include county social
service agencies; social services in hospitals, nursing homes,
foster care, adoption, and abuse crisis centers; and work
in public schools and churches.
• Wherever there is a need for human services, there
are employment possibilities for social workers.
• The knowledge and skills gained in the study of social
work strengthen preparation in many other fields.
• Students interested in careers in communication, health
professions, law, ministry, or church-based youth work, will
find social work courses invaluable in helping develop an
understanding of society and societal problems.
• An advanced degree in social work qualifies candidates
for counseling, teaching, administrative and supervisory positions.
Graduate training consists of one to two years of professional
education leading to a master’s degree in social work.
Internships and Cooperative Education
• Social work students may benefit from opportunities
available in the Fargo-Moorhead community to put their classroom
learning into on-the-job experience.
• Examples of recent internships and Cooperative Education
experiences include:
Bethany Homes
Centro Cultural
Churches United for the Homeless
County Social Service Agencies
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Schools
Dorothy Day House
Glyndon Lutheran Church (Church Social Work)
Elim Care Center
First Link
Human Rights Education
Justice Circles
Lakeland Mental Health Center
Merit Care Hospital
People Escaping Poverty Project
Prairie at St. Johns (Psychiatric and Chemical Dependency
Treatment)
Professional Association of Treatment Homes (PATH Foster Homes)
Rape and Abuse Crisis Center
Spectrum Inc.
West Central Regional Detention Center
YWCA Women's Shelter
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