Departmental Information
Academic Standards
Professional Academic Performance Standards
Students accepted into the social work major need to maintain a 2.0 average to remain in good standing with the college. Failure to do so will result in being placed on probation.
The social work profession requires maturity and ethical and professional conduct. Therefore, professional academic performance extends beyond classroom performance and attendance to include “ethical behavior and psychological well-being sufficient to interact positively and instructively with clients” (Cobb & Jordan, 1989, pp.87-97). Such behavior includes, but is not limited to, students contacting faculty when they expect to miss class or field seminar, when they know they will submit late assignments, and when they may be delinquent with other responsibilities expected in a professional program.
Students who require accommodation to complete the requirements and expectations of the program because of disability are invited to make their needs known to the Coordinator of Disability Services in SW 120. Students will be afforded accommodations for work due after completion of the documentation process with that office.
Persons who have benefited from social work or related helping professions are often attracted to the social work profession. Such persons can bring the strengths of experience to their professional careers. Pursuing social work education should NOT be a principal component of a recovery process. A significant measure of self-awareness should be present such that others’ problems are not viewed through the prism of one’s own experience.
The faculty meets once a semester to review the professional academic performance of each student. The academic advisor or department chair shares any concerns with the student.
Standards
- Students will be expected to exhibit a level of maturity and good judgment consistent with the requirements of sound professional principles.
- Students will adhere to the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. It is printed in the department’s Handbook for Social Work Students, Field Education Manual.
- Students will abide by the Code of Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities of Buffalo State College. In compliance with the April 2004, directive from the Chancellor of the State University of New York, Buffalo State College requires all students to receive and positively affirm the campus’s Student Code of Conduct.
- Grounds for dismissal from the department can include, but are not limited to, the following:
- violence or threats of violence to oneself or others
- substance use or abuse which interferes with performance
- engaging in illegal behaviors which reflect negatively upon the profession
- sexual contact with clients
- sexual harassment
- discrimination on the basis of client's age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation
- serious violation of the Code of Ethics
- mental health issues that impede a student’s ability to work effectively in coursework or in field instruction
- termination from placement for cause
