Social Work

The mission of the Department of Social Work is to prepare students at the baccalaureate level for entry into social work practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities, to work with diverse populations as well as for continued study at the graduate level.

Housed in the Medgar Evers College School of Liberal Arts the Department of Social Work offers a Bachelor of Science in Social Work (BSSW) degree that prepares students for entry level positions in social work and for graduate school education. The BSSW degree program was established in January 2008. The CUNY Board of Trustees approved departmental status to the BSSW degree program in June 2017. The BSSW degree program has been accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Commission on Accreditation since October 2012.

The program builds on a solid liberal arts foundation and provides a challenging generalist curriculum. The program incorporates courses that focus on field education, policies and services, research, social work practice, diversity, populations-at-risk and social and economic justice, and human behavior in the social environment. All courses are aligned with the standards for social work education as defined by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Commission on Accreditation (CSWE, 2015). In addition to eleven foundation courses, the BSSW offers three areas of special interest: 1.) Child Welfare; 2.) Substance Abuse, and 3.) Gerontology.

Consistent with the College’s Mission and Goals, the BSSW degree has been designed to prepare its graduates for entry into the social work profession as well as further development in graduate study. The overarching goal of the baccalaureate degree program is to graduate students who will demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge, ethical values and skills of the profession, be grounded in the profession’s history, purposes and philosophy, social work practice and research in an ethical manner, helping to alleviate social and economic injustice as engaged, socially responsible citizens in a rapidly changing world.