Wondering where to start?
Explore these ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ about field education.
How many field placements will most students complete?
- Full-Time Students
- One foundation placement in the first year and an advanced placement in the second year
- Part-Time Students
- One foundation placement in the second year of the three- or four-year program and an advanced placement in year three or four of the program
- Human Service Experience (Online and Off-Campus/Hybrid Programs only) and Advanced Standing Students
- One advanced placement of 1,000 hours
Your field placement will be supplemented by a field seminar, the format of which differs depending on your campus and whether you are full- or part-time.
Will my foundation placement setting vary from public schools to community agencies?
- Yes, your foundation placement is intended to broaden your knowledge about social work practice and provide an opportunity to learn general social work skills with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- The advanced placement deepens skills in your major area and population of choice.
- If you’re interested in Clinical Practice you may complete your foundation internship in public schools, after-school programs, therapeutic mentoring programs, nursing homes, housing and homeless services, or community agencies serving clients with a range of needs, from preschool to the elderly.
- Most foundation placements are not in hospitals or in outpatient counseling settings; these tend to be advanced placements.
- If you’re a Macro Practice student, you’ll often be placed in community agencies where you’ll have considerable consumer contact and can practice a variety of skills, such as community organizing, research, policy advocacy, program planning, or human service management.
Will students receive plenty of support?
- Yes, you will be assigned to an advisor who will serve as both your academic advisor and liaison to your internships.
- Advising roles vary depending on whether you are a On-Campus (Boston-Charles River), Worcester Hybrid, or Online Program student.
- In addition, you will receive supervision in your field placement from qualified practicum instructors who are agency employees.
- Primary field instructors have an MSW and at least two years of post-master’s social work experience.
Is finding my field placement a collaborative process with me, my advisor, and the BUSSW field education team?
- Yes, our practicum education staff will determine your assignments based on the pool of agencies that have requested an intern, taking into account your particular learning needs and career plans.
- One of the two placements can be done at your place of employment as long as the placement meets the criteria for an employer agency placement.
- This means that there must be a clearly defined new and different assignment for you, that the placement hours are differentiated from the employment hours, and that the supervisor is someone who is a qualified field instructor and is not your work supervisor.
- You’ll travel up to one hour each way to your placement either by car or public transportation. While having a car is not necessary, some agencies are only accessible by car or require a car for particular assignments.
Will I interview in advance with an agency to determine a match?
- Yes, you will interview for your foundation placement one agency at a time.
- If the first match between you and the agency does not work out, you will be assigned another agency at which to interview.
- Although we know that students might like the opportunity to choose from several options, the large number of students in the field and the limited number of agencies able to provide placements require that we manage the assignment process.
- For your advanced placement, you may interview at several agencies since some placements interview a number of prospective interns for limited slots.
Will field experience require me to be available during agency business hours?
- Most agencies require that you be at your placement from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Although some agencies may offer (or require) early evening hours to provide services to clients, it is important for you to be available to participate in the regular agency activities during the day.
- It might be possible to do the placement for a limited number of evening hours or even on weekends. However, it is not feasible to have the entire placement during weekend or evening hours.
- Foundation Placements
- 6 hours/week for 30 weeks, for a total of 480 hours
- Advanced Placements
- A total of 720 hours can be completed in two semesters at 24 hours/week or three semesters at 16 hours/week
- Advanced Standing and HSE placements
- 1,000 hours can be completed in 24 hours/week over three semesters or in 16 hours/week over four semesters