Program Overview

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Bachelor of Science in Social Welfare

Overview

The undergraduate social welfare program at UAlbany teaches students how to advance social, economic, and environmental justice and to serve people who are vulnerable, marginalized, and oppressed. Students gain firsthand experience working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and/or communities to create change and improve social conditions.

Program of Study

Social Welfare Elementary Base (15-16 credits)

• Introduction to Psychology
• Introduction to Sociology
• Social Problems
• American Politics
• Social Welfare in the U.S.
• Human Biology (choose one): General Biological Sciences, Nutrition, General Biology: Molecular and Cell Biology, Human Population Biology, Human Population Genetics, Physical Growth and Development

Social Welfare Advanced Base (15 credits)

• Abnormal Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Perspectives on Globalization or World Cities: Geographies of Globalization
• Elementary Statistics (choose one): Elementary Statistics, Statistical Methods in Psychology, Statistics for Sociologists, Introduction to Statistics in Criminal Justice
• Elective

Core Requirements (32 credits)

• Social Work Practice I and II
• Social Work Practice III and IV
• Human Behavior and the Social Environment
• Introduction to Research Methods in Social Welfare
• Field Instruction in Social Welfare I and II
• Integrative Field Seminar
• Organization and Community Theory
• Introduction to Social Policy Analysis

Core Course Descriptions

Social Work Practice I and II

Learn about the roles of social work in helping processes of engagement and assessment with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities, and the effects of oppression and injustice when intervening with populations at risk.

Human Behavior and Social Environment

Discover the biological, psychological, social, and environmental influences on human behavior within individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Special attention is given to the elderly, women, people of color, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Research Methods in Social Welfare

Gather and analyze information presented in professional journals, learn how to evaluate the effectiveness of your own practice, and think critically about how to use scientific evidence to ameliorate social problems and improve social work practice.

Social Work Practice III and IV

Learn social work and professional skills in intervention, evaluation, and termination with diverse clients.

Field Instruction in Social Welfare I and II

Apply, integrate, and extend the social work practice theory learned in the classroom at an internship in a social welfare agency.

Integrative Field Seminar

Compare practice experiences, integrate classroom learning with practice, and increase critical thinking skills.

Organizational and Community Theory

Study the practice of social work among oppressed populations and within communities and organizations.

Introduction to Social Policy Analysis

Examine the strengths, limitations, and alternatives to governmental intervention in social welfare and study the differential impact of social welfare policies on at-risk and oppressed groups.

Gain Knowledge and Field Experience

Study the Practice of Social Work

In your initial coursework for the social welfare major, you study the generalist intervention model of social work in a systems framework, and gain an understanding of the ways that oppression and injustice affect at-risk populations.

As you move through the program, you learn how to professionally engage with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities through the phases of engagement, intervention, evaluation, and termination with your client(s) and client systems.

By the end of your senior year, you will be fully prepared to practice social work in a variety of settings, including government agencies, nonprofit agencies, hospitals, schools, correctional facilities, mental health agencies, and substance use agencies.

Develop Skills through Internship

During your final year in the program, you complete a structured internship, 16 hours a week with an agency that provides social work learning opportunities with clients and client systems. The two-semester field education practicum enables you to develop valuable, practical skills in a supportive and supervised setting. Sites used for the field practicum are varied. They include public and voluntary agencies, such as children and family services, health care, aging, mental health, substance abuse, homelessness, and schools.

By the end of your field placement, you’ll know how to apply what you’ve learned in ways that lead to positive outcomes with real clients and client systems.

Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Option

You can save time and money by beginning your graduate degree coursework while still enrolled as an undergraduate student. Up to 12 academic credits, billed at the undergraduate rate, will count towards both degrees – so you’ll complete your combined program in only 5 years and spend less than you would if you completed each program separately.

Combine your Social Welfare degree with the MS in Information Science program. This ALA-accredited master's program covers a broad range of interdisciplinary topics related to library science, information processing, information management, and data analysis.

Social Welfare Studies Minor

The Social Welfare Studies Minor complements study in a variety of fields for which a broader perspective on human development, the structure and development of social systems, and the impact of both on individuals, families, and communities are relevant. You will be required to complete at least one Community and Public Service course giving you agency-based experience in an area of interest. Students in Community and Public Service courses complete volunteer work hours at a public or nonprofit organization in the community, and complete reflection and other written assignments related to the service experience.

Students majoring in Human Development, Sociology, Psychology, Criminal Justice, and Education may find the Social Welfare Studies minor relevant. If you're interested in careers in health care, journalism and communications, and politics you will also find the courses particularly helpful to your long-term career interests.

Required Courses (18 credits)

• Community and Public Service Program
• American Social Welfare System
• Human Development Life Cycle OR Life Span Development*
• Organizational and Community Theory (prerequisite RSSW 210)
• Introductory Research Methods in Social Welfare OR Introduction to Social Research**
• Introduction to Social Policy Analysis (prerequisite RSSW 408)

*Students majoring in Human Development who complete Life Span Development in the major may substitute RSSW 390 for the human development course in the social welfare studies minor.

**Students majoring in Sociology who complete Introduction to Social Research in the major may substitute RSSW 390 for the Research Methods course in the social welfare studies minor.

Student Learning Outcomes

Bachelor of Science

• Understand the history and structure of social work as a profession and social work roles.
• Demonstrate a commitment to personal growth including the professional use of self.
• Identify as a professional social worker, including understanding and applying the profession’s values and ethics, and committing to continuing their professional growth and development.
• Understand the processes of critical thinking and apply critical thinking in beginning professional practice.
• Use communication skills differentially and appropriately with a variety of client populations, colleagues, and members of the community in such activities as verbal interaction, interviewing, and report writing.
• Examine and apply knowledge of human diversity that reflects an approach to practice that is both culturally sensitive and responsive.
• Understand the theories and mechanisms of oppression, discrimination, and power, and apply the strategies and skills of change that advance human rights and social and economic justice.
• Understand and apply qualitative and quantitative research methods including defining the research problem, developing and testing hypotheses, sampling, ethics of research, reliability and validity, logic of causal inference, basic data analysis, clinical research, and program evaluation.
• Understand the impact of information technology and how it relates to social work practice.
• Understand and apply bio-psycho-social-spiritual aspects of normal growth and development, and use theoretical frameworks to understand the interactions among individuals and between individuals and social systems.
• Understand and apply bio-psycho-social-spiritual aspects of non-normative behavior, including psychopathology and the DSM, and the interactions among individuals and between individuals and social systems.
• Understand and apply knowledge of clinical and non-clinical group dynamics.
• Understand and apply knowledge of the behavior of larger social systems (groups, organizations, and communities).
• Understand and carry out non-clinical social work roles (e.g., broker, advocate), including engaging in policy practice, at a beginning level.
• Understand and apply knowledge of social welfare policy: History of social welfare, policy process and value choices, content of basic social welfare programs (e.g., TANF, SSI, Social Security); understand the organization of social welfare as an institution; carry out policy analysis at a beginning level.
• Understand and apply theories of organizations and how they work and relate to the community; organizational context of practice; organizational change; social psychology of organizational behavior; and administrative and supervisory practice.
• Develop skills in promoting sustainable changes in service delivery and practice to improve the quality of social services and human environments.
• Understand beginning social work practice within a global perspective.
• Understand and carry out evidence-based practice at a beginning level in all phases of the helping process (engagement, assessment, intervention, termination, and evaluation) with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
• Understand and apply at beginning level theories of social work (e.g., psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, systems, ecological, task-centered, problem-solving, feminist, strengths).