Programs

Degree Requirements

Graduates of the B.S. in social work program are expected to apply the knowledge and skills of generalist social work practice with various social systems. Practice is carried out "within the values and ethics of the social work profession and with an understanding and respect for the positive values of diversity."

Social work is an upper division major that builds on a liberal arts base. Buffalo State College requires students to fulfill a general education core, intellectual foundations, as part of its degree requirements. The Social Work Department has identified courses that meet the liberal arts foundation.

The social work major also requires students to complete a basic course in human biology. The course at Buffalo State that meets this requirement is Biology 101, Human Biology. Since it is a required course in the social work major, there is no pass/fail option.

Field education is an intense agency-based experience. It places considerable responsibility on social work students to perform in a professional capacity under supervision. Students must possess personal attributes that will enable them to work in a mature, responsible, and constructive manner with agency staff and clients. Additionally, students will need to have enough personal strength to withstand the stress that comes from intervening in problem situations. Accordingly, some students may be asked to reconsider their choice of major, if they appear ill-suited for field education. In order to be eligible for field studies, students must successfully complete all social work academic prerequisites, while maintaining a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the major and an overall cumulative GPA of 2.0.

Technology Standards

All students will have demonstrated the following competencies upon completing the 300-level required social work classes:

1. Use e-mail to create, reply, save, and edit messages and attach documents.
2. Use word processing software to create, edit, save, format, spell-check, and grammar-check papers and reports.
3. Participate in Web-based activities by becoming familiar with all student features of ANGEL, our e-learning tool, including use of the drop box and sending and receiving assignments as attachments by email.
4. Know how to research material for papers and other assignments by using E. H. Butler Library online, Google Book, and Google Scholar to search and find information on social services, social work, and social policy.