Department of Social Work, and Urban Studies

Cara Robinson, Ph.D.

Department Chair

Avon Williams Off-Campus Instructional Site Suite C400

615-963-7243

Donna Dopwell, Ph.D.

Director of Social Work

Avon Williams Off-Campus Instructional Site Suite C400

615-963-5992

Kimberly L. Triplett, Ph.D.

Urban Studies Program Coordinator

Avon Williams Off-Campus Instructional Site Suite E-405

615-963-7025

Social Work Program

Faculty: W. Bagley, D. Butler, D. Dopwell, C. George, T. Hobbs, S. Hughes, G. Jones Jr., J. Otachi.

Rationale: Tennessee State University has a service-mix area that includes all ethnicities, races, and socioeconomic groups.

The Nashville metropolitan area, including a small rural population, requires a variety of social service agencies to serve this population. Additionally, Tennessee State University’s student body and faculty originate from the United States and more than fifty countries. The Social Work Program is needed to provide leadership and to produce a reservoir of Social Work professionals who can serve diverse populations in Nashville, Middle Tennessee, the State of Tennessee, and the nation.

Mission: The Tennessee State University Social Work Program is dedicated to the enhancement of human well-being, diversity, and social justice through developing and improving systems of social service, especially for the vulnerable and oppressed, by delivering undergraduate training in Social Work with a hybrid model of delivery as a historically Black Institution within the Central Tennessee region.

Core Values:

The program provides leadership training for social service professionals in Metro Nashville and the surrounding region. The Core Values of the Tennessee State University Social Work program are consistent with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics core values. These values are actively promoted and modeled within the Social Work Program and are expected to be demonstrated by our faculty, staff, students, honored alumni, and advisory board. The core values include Service, Social Justice, Dignity and Worth of the Person, Importance of Human Relationships, Integrity, and Competence.

Professional Expectations:

The Tennessee State University Social Work program also maintains a list of professional expectations, set by the Council on Social Work Education. These guidelines are modeled by faculty and staff and expected of students. They are also used to identify challenges and support positive resolutions in student progress through the program and individual development through advising and, if necessary, disciplinary action. The professional expectations can be found in each syllabus and the field and student handbooks. The professional expectations require that students:

1. Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

2. Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice

3. Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice

4. Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice

5. Engage in Policy Practice

6. Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

7. Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

8. Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

9. Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Program Goals:

To prepare students for entry-level generalist social work to effectively meet the human needs of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in Metro Nashville.

To prepare graduates who are aware of their responsibility to continue their professional growth and development.

To provide students with an understanding of the dynamics and consequences of human oppression and discrimination, and to provide students with strategies to promote social and economic justice.

To provide content about the social environment of social work practice, the changing nature of this context, and the behavior of organizations and the change process.

To infuse throughout the curriculum the values and ethics that guide professional social workers in their practice

To provide to students of diverse social, economic, racial, and cultural backgrounds the opportunity to become professional social workers.

Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

Make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the NASW Code of Ethics
Use reflection and self-regulation to manage personal values and maintain professionalism.
Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior; appearance; and oral, written, and electronic communication
Use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate practice outcomes
Use supervision and consultation to guide professional judgment and behavior

2. Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice

Apply and communicate an understanding of the importance of diversity and difference in shaping life experiences in practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro level
Present themselves as learners and engage client systems as experts in their own experiences
Apply self-awareness and self-regulation to manage the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse clients and constituencies

3. Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic and Environmental Justice

Apply an understanding of social economic, and environmental justice to advocate for human rights at the individual and system levels
Engage in practices that advance social, economic, and environmental justice

4. Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice

Use practice experiences to inform scientific inquiry and research
Apply critical thinking to engage in the analysis of quantitative and qualitative research methods and research findings
Use and translate research evidence to inform and improve practice, policy, and service delivery

5. Engage in Policy Practice

Identify social policy at the local, state, and federal level that impacts well-being, service delivery, and access to social services
Assess how social welfare and economic policies impact the delivery of and access to social services
Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice

6. Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks to engage with clients and constituencies
Use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to effectively engage diverse clients and constituencies

7. Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Collect and organize data, and apply critical thinking to interpret information from clients and constituencies
Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the analysis of assessment data from clients and constituencies
Develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives based on the critical assessment of strengths, needs, and challenges within clients and constituencies
Select appropriate intervention strategies based on the assessment, research knowledge, and values and preferences of clients and constituencies

8. Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations and Communities

Critically choose and implement interventions to achieve practice goals and enhance the capacities of clients and constituencies
Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in interventions with clients and constituencies
Use inter-professional collaboration as appropriate to achieve beneficial practice outcomes
Negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf of clients and constituencies
Facilitate effective transitions and endings that advance mutually agreed-on goals

9. Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Select and use appropriate methods for evaluations of outcomes
Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the evaluation of outcomes
Critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate intervention process and outcomes
Apply evaluation findings to improve practice effectiveness at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels

Career Opportunities:

Career opportunities include employment at the professional entry-level in social work positions in public and private agencies in the following areas: human services, public health, mental health, mental retardation, corrections, social services in hospitals and nursing homes, senior citizen centers, state and county social services agencies, public housing, adult protective services, child protective services, school social work, planned parenthood centers, and as resident managers and probation and parole officers.

Accreditation:

The Social Work Program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), the national accrediting agency for the profession. The Program has been certified since 1974.

Admission and Exit Requirements:

Students who wish to gain admission to the Social Work Program must meet the university admission policy, complete the university general education requirements, submit an application to be reviewed by the advisor, and earn a cumulative grade point average of 2.3 (4.0 scale) on college-level coursework. After the review of the formal application, the faculty advisor conducts an interview. The interview serves as the primary tool for the exploration of student’s knowledge of the profession of social work, motivation for selecting social work as a major, prior work or volunteer experiences, and future career goals. The advisor then meets with the faculty to decide on the admission of the student. Without formal admission to the program, students are not considered to be Social Work majors. Students who do not meet the quality point average requirement or who have failed courses in the general education area may be asked to reapply for admission at a later date or may be admitted on a provisional basis. No academic credit is given for life experience or prior work experience. These procedures are all in addition to the procedures for upper-level admission outlined below.

Transfer Students and Transfer Credit:

Credits in Social Work earned at other higher education institutions are accepted toward the Social Work degree at Tennessee State University on the same basis as work taken at TSU, provided the courses are of the same content and quality.

Departmental Requirements for Bachelor of Science in Social Work: 120 Semester Hours

A student must complete a minimum of 120 semester hours to receive a degree. A minimum of 60 of the semester hours must be in courses on the 3000 and 4000 level. A minimum of 45 semester hours is required in social work courses, 15 related liberal arts semester courses, 42 semester hours of general education courses, and 18 hours of other lower-division required courses.

Programs

Major

Minor

Nonprofit Management Minor