Program Overview
Social Work BSW Program
The Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program at East Carolina University prepares students for beginning professional generalist practice and for graduate study in social work. Students will take courses in human behavior and diversity, social work practice with individuals, families, groups and communities, assessment, problem-solving, critical thinking, social policy and research, as well as complete a semester-long internship.
About the Program
The program supports the concept that professional social work practitioners in human services have a strong professional knowledge, skill, and value base from which they offer services. Thus, the Social Work, BSW ensures graduates master the following nine generalist practice social work competencies.
Mission and Goals
The BSW program aligns with the School's mission of preparing graduates with the knowledge, skills, and professional values and ethics necessary to inspire positive change and to succeed in a global, multicultural society. Based on the profession's values and ethics, and social work education's generalist practice competencies, graduates of the BSW program are prepared to:
Admission Requirements
A student is eligible to apply for admission to the Social Work, BSW program when the following conditions are met:
- Completion of a minimum of 32 semester hours of general education credit
- An overall 2.5 GPA
- Completion of SOCW 1010 and SOCW 2010 with a 2.5 GPA in these courses Students not meeting the required GPA may apply for provisional acceptance to the major.
Academic Performance (Progression Requirements)
Students must maintain an overall GPA of 2.5 or higher once accepted into the Social Work, BSW program. Failure to maintain a 2.5 GPA will result in probation and possible dismissal from the program. If a student earns lower than a C (2.0) in a tier/core course, they will remain on probation and be required to retake the course.
Degree Requirements
The degree requires a minimum of 120 semester hours as follows:
- General education requirements - 40 semester hours
- BIOL 1050 - General Biology
- BIOL 1051 - General Biology Laboratory
- BIOL 1060 - Environmental Biology
- ECON 2113 - Principles of Microeconomics
- MATH 1050 - Explorations in Mathematics or higher approved general education math course
- POLS 1010 - National Government
- PSYC 1000 - Introductory Psychology
- Cognates (social and behavioral science core) - 15 semester hours
- History: Choose one course from the following:
- HIST 1051 - American History Since 1877
- HIST 3240 - The Age of Franklin Roosevelt
- HIST 3245 - The United States Since 1945
- Psychology: Choose two courses from the following:
- PSYC 2777 - Ethnocultural Psychology
- PSYC 3206 - Developmental Psychology
- PSYC 3221 - Social Psychology
- PSYC 3300 - Psychology of Personality
- PSYC 3375 - Abnormal Psychology
- Sociology: Choose two courses from the following:
- GENS 2400 - Introduction to Gender Studies
- SOCI 1010 - Race, Gender, Class
- SOCI 2110 - Introduction to Sociology
- SOCI 2111 - Modern Social Problems
- SOCI 3289 - Community Organization
- SOCI 4347 - Social Class and Inequality
- SOCI 4350 - Social Change
- Social work tier core courses - 57 semester hours
- SOCW 1010 - Introduction to Social Welfare and Social Work
- SOCW 2010 - Introduction to Social Work Practice with Special Populations
- SOCW 3101 - Human Behavior and the Social Environment I
- SOCW 3201 - Social Work Practice I
- SOCW 3202 - Social Work Practice II
- SOCW 3306 - Social Work Policy I
- SOCW 3401 - Social Work Research I: Quantitative Methods and Statistics
- SOCW 3402 - Social Work Research II: Qualitative Methods
- SOCW 3501 - Writing for Social Work
- SOCW 4102 - Human Behavior and the Social Environment II
- SOCW 4203 - Social Work Practice III
- SOCW 4306 - Social Work Policy II
- SOCW 4980 - Pre-Field Capstone
- SOCW 4990 - Field Education and Seminar
- Choose 6 semester hours SOCW electives
- Choose 6 semester hours SOCW electives
- General electives to complete requirements for graduation
Professional Performance (Ethics)
The Social Work, BSW program fully subscribes to and is guided by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics. Applicants and students are expected to demonstrate professional behavior which reflects a commitment to the values and ethics of the social work profession as exemplified in the Code of Ethics. Behavior and statements contrary to these ethics or the technical standards for professional and ethical behavior may be cause for denial of the applicant's admission to or a student's dismissal from the programs.