The Field Education Program

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIELD EDUCATION PROGRAM

The Field Education Program at the Boston University School of Social Work provides students with the opportunity to apply theoretical concepts and principles and research evidence to practice with clients who are consumers or planners of services.

The major objective of field education is to prepare students for competence in advanced social work practice by helping them develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values they will need to assume a range of professional roles. The field education curriculum reflects the content of the School’s academic curriculum, with the various knowledge and skill areas integrated to meet the particular demands of the setting, the client population, and interventions.

All students, with the exception of Advanced Standing students, have both a foundation and an advanced field placement experience. To foster the integration process, each field placement is taken concurrently with practice methods courses.

The foundation placement teaches students basic social work knowledge and skills and exposes them to assignments in clinical and macro social work practice. Ideally, the foundation placement gives students the opportunity to work in settings and with populations or social problems that differ from previous work or volunteer experiences.

The advanced placement offers students in-depth experiences in their primary method concentration and in a setting or with the population of their choice. The placement is seen as the bridge to the students’ career paths, helping them develop expertise and a network of colleagues and resources to call upon after graduation. Students are placed throughout New England (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Maine). The School of Social Work is affiliated with more than 500 agencies, and currently about 250 of these have students. Approximately 300 social workers in these settings serve as field instructors for Boston University School of Social Work students.

Field Education Course Offerings

SSW FE 800 Integrative Field Seminar

SSW FE 801, 802 Field Education I, II

SSW FE 803, 804, 805, 806, 807 Field Education III, IV

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Field Education Structure

The foundation placement is two days a week (16 hours) and the advanced placement is three days a week (24 hours). Both are typically scheduled from early September through early May.

Several alternative scheduling options are available for part-time students. Among these options are the summer block program (offered if there is sufficient enrollment) for qualified students to do the foundation placement (32 hours/week for 15 weeks) and the calendar-year option for the advanced placement (16 hours/week for 12 months). Students (except Advanced Standing students) also have the option to do one of their two placements at an agency at which they are employed, if the agency and proposed placement meet specified criteria (available at The Field Education section of the School of Social Work website).

The Placement Process

Placement assignments are made by the Field Education Department based on an educational assessment of the student’s learning goals and needs, work and volunteer experience, educational background, and career aspirations.

Incoming full-time students entering their foundation placement in September are oriented to the assignment process through small group meetings held in late spring and early summer. Continuing part-time students entering the foundation placement receive this orientation through a seminar taken during their first year of part-time study.

Students receive their assignments in early summer and then have the opportunity to interview at the agency. Students play a more active role in deciding the type of setting in which they will do their advanced placement by working collaboratively with their advisor and the Field Education Department.

All field placement assignments must be arranged by the Field Education Department.

For off-campus students, field placement assignments are made by the Off-Campus Program directors in conjunction with the student’s faculty advisor.

Field Instruction, Faculty Advising, and Integrative Field Seminar

In their field placement settings, students receive two hours a week of supervision from qualified field instructors who are agency employees. Primary field instructors must have an MSW and two years of post-master’s degree social work experience. Ongoing workshops and seminars on a range of relevant topics are provided by the Field Education Department for field instructors.

Students are also assigned to a Boston University School of Social Work faculty advisor, who serves as both the student’s academic advisor and the liaison between the School and the field placement agency. The faculty advisor is available for consultation, problem solving, mediation, and advocacy on a range of learning issues and needs.

All students in foundation placements participate in a required integrative field seminar taught by a member of the Field Education Department staff. The seminar meets monthly and covers topics such as learning contracts, recordings, supervision, evaluation, ethical and legal issues, and multicultural practice.

Off-campus students have integrative seminars that span the three years that they are in the program. The focus of the seminar depends on the year of the student’s program.

Field Education Agencies

The School is affiliated with over 500 agencies in New ­England, so students have internships that closely meet their interests in a particular population, social problem, and field of practice. To review a list of these agencies, please visit the Field Education Agencies section of The School of Social Work website.

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Published by Trustees of Boston University
One Silber Way
Boston, MA 02215

22 October 2009
Boston University
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