Welcome Students
from Linda Ferrise, BSW Director

Welcome to the West Virginia University Division of Social Work of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. We are pleased that you have decided to pursue a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree in our program. I know that you have made this decision carefully and the faculty and I look forward to our work with you over the next two years of professional study.

While working toward your degree, you will have a chance to be involved with the professional community of agencies in the greater Morgantown area in ways that will add to your education. Participating in the undergraduate social work student organization will also provide experiences that will complement your studies.

As you begin your education for a career in Social Work, you may have questions or concerns. We hope that this site will address many of them by providing general information about the Division and about your degree program. You will find this site helpful, but it will not include everything you need to know about life on the WVU campus. Sometimes you will be referred to other sources for more information or to resources both on and off campus.

Your success in the program is important to me and to the faculty and staff of the Division. It is our task to instruct and guide you while you are a student in our Division, and your task is to be the very best student that you can be. I wish you success in your academic studies while you are with us and hope that you will participate in the life of the Division long after you receive your degree.


BSW Program Goals

The mission of the BSW Program is to prepare entry-level generalist social work practitioners. The following global goals of the BSW Program flow from this mission. They define the purposes of the program and, therefore, guide the overall educational enterprise. More specifically, the primary goal of the BSW Program is to:


• Prepare undergraduate students for entry-level professional practice, with special attention to rural and small town settings, through a curriculum of liberal arts and professional social work foundations.


The additional goals of the program are to:


• Prepare students for effective, responsible, and creative social work practice that will further develop the social work profession, humanize social welfare programs, and promote social and economic justice in society;

• Prepare students to practice within the value base and ethical standards of the social work profession;

• Prepare students for practice with diverse, oppressed, and at-risk populations;

• Enrich the liberal arts curriculum of West Virginia University by providing opportunities for the undergraduate student body in general to increase their sensitivity, knowledge, and understanding of human needs, social problems, social welfare issues, and approaches toward resolution of problems;

• Provide a sound educational foundation for the student who may be appropriately interested in future graduate-level education within our Division of Social Work, in other graduate social work programs, or in other allied graduate programs of study.


BSW Program Objectives

The program objectives flow from the goals of the program. More specifically, as a result of the BSW educational experience, students will:


• Acquire the art and skill of thoughtful and well-reasoned inquiry as applied to professional social work practice;

• Internalize the profession's value base and gain skill in its application to resolving ethical dilemmas;

• Acquire a world view that embraces the visions and voices of diversity populations as sources of cultural enrichment;

• Recognize the need for and commit to participation in activities that foster ongoing, post-graduation professional growth and development;

• Be able to assume entry-level generalist roles that effectively realize the purposes and functions of professional practice;

• Gain recognition of how one's own personal values can impact service delivery and reconcile value conflicts that will prevent effective service provision;

• Be able to assess and improve practice skills and practice effectiveness;

• Achieve an understanding of the role of dominant societal institutions in perpetuating the oppression of and discrimination against people who categorically belong to certain groups within society;

• Gain knowledge and skill in interventions that promote service and resource systems that are just, effective, and responsive to minority and other oppressed populations;

• Acquire knowledge of the historical, philosophical, and ideological foundations that have influenced and currently shape social welfare policies and programs;

• Gain knowledge of and skill in generalist methods and approaches to interventions with individuals, families, small groups, organizations, and communities;

• Acquire knowledge of the bio-psycho-social-spiritual variables that influence human development and behavior throughout the life span;

• Acquire an ecosystems perspective for making practice assessments;

• Gain skill in applying policy analysis frameworks to organizational and social welfare policies, as well as policy making structures, in order to determine policy impacts on clients, workers, and agencies;

• Acquire tools for evaluating research studies and develop skill in utilizing research findings to enhance practice effectiveness;

• Acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to evaluate practice outcomes and program effectiveness;

• Gain knowledge and skill to interact effectively with clients, colleagues, and members of other practice contexts who have differing social, cultural, racial, religious, spiritual, and class backgrounds;

• Gain skill in the use of collegial and supervisory networks to obtain feedback that will assist in developing practice competence and promoting professional development;

• Acquire knowledge and skill in the use of formal and informal structures to effect needed organizational change;

• Acquire a working knowledge of service delivery to rural and small town populations.