Bachelors Degree

Mission

The mission of the Bachelors of Arts in Social Work program is to prepare students for beginning generalist social work practice responsive to the challenges and resources present in rural areas in particular and in more populated areas in general. The BA Program is designed to help meet the need for entry-level practitioners in northern coastal California and the United States for entry-level generalist social work professionals.

Goals

The goals of the BA Program are to:

  1. Prepare students for beginning generalist social work practice.
  2. Promote continued learning and critical thinking that builds in the broad knowledge base provided by the liberal arts perspective.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Humboldt State University Baccalaureate Social Work Program…

  1. Exercise critical thinking strategies that recognize the complexities involved in empowering social work practice.
  2. Demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and values of generalist social work for assessing, planning, facilitating, and evaluating change across systems and contexts, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and policy.
  3. Apply strategies of advocacy and social change that advance social, environmental, and economic justice.
  4. Respond to issues of power and privilege in their professional relationships as a basis for ensuring collaborative social work practice informed by the values of the profession and its ethical standards and principles.
  5. Honor diversity as a source of community enrichment and engage in social work practice that challenges injustices related to dominant discourses around race, ethnicity, color, culture, age, class, income, spirituality, religion, ability, family structure, nationality, first language, sexual orientation, sexuality, gender identity, and legal unions.
  6. Use theoretical frameworks supported by empirical evidence and alternate knowledge systems to understand lifelong human behavior and development as it relates to individual, family, group, organizational, community, political, and cultural contexts.
  7. Understand the history, structures, and technologies of power, oppression, and discrimination, including those related to the social work profession.
  8. Analyze, formulate, and influence social policies that promote justice, equality, and sustainability.
  9. Evaluate and critique research studies, apply research findings to practice, and assess the outcomes of their own practice interventions.
  10. Communicate effectively orally and in writing with people receiving services, colleagues, and community members.
  11. Work well within organizational structures and service delivery systems.
  12. Utilize supervision, consultation, and self-reflection effectively.

Generalist Social Work Practice

Generalist social work practitioners work with individuals, families, groups, organizations, social policies, and communities in a variety of settings in pursuit of social and economic justice. Generalist practitioners view people and systems from a strengths perspective in order to recognize, support, and build upon the innate capabilities of all human beings. They engage, assess, broker services, advocate, counsel, educate, and organize with and on behalf of individuals, families, and collections of people. Generalist practitioners engage in community development, organizational development, and evaluation in order to ensure that services are useful, effective, and ethical.