The field internship takes place during the spring semester and is a placement for a minimum of 400 clock hours. The student works at their field placement for 32 hours per week for the entire semester and attends the senior seminar once a week at the Saint Leo University campus. Students are responsible for their own transportation to their field placements.

Requirements for Admission to SWK 425: Field Placement in Social Work

To be eligible for SWK 425, a student must maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA in all social work courses. A student must demonstrate dependability, good character, acceptable standards of professional conduct, effective integration of practice skills necessary for professional social work practice, and satisfactory academic standing.

Students who are denied admission to field placement must select another major.

Field Placement Supervision & Grading

An approved on-site M.S.W. supervisor, the field instructor, supervises the students. Twice during the semester, for the mid-term evaluation and final evaluation, the student is visited by the social work program field liaison who conducts an interview with the student and field instructor to monitor progress, address concerns, and review all evaluation materials. The field liaison assigns the final grade for the student.

Senior Seminar

The senior seminar is designed to integrate social work course materials with the student's field experience. This is achieved through weekly seminar discussion of the student's field placement, numerous presentations, resume building, interviewing, formal case presentations, and an integrative senior paper.

Program Objectives & Outcomes

The field instruction in the social work program grows out of the overall educational goals of the program. It is student- and learning-centered, and the learning sought is conceptual—that is, it teaches principles that are generalized and transferable.

The broad objectives of the field internship are that students must demonstrate practice competence in the 10 identified educational outcomes:

1. Identify and assess situations where the relationship between people and their environment needs to be initiated, enhanced, restored, protected or terminated.
2. Develop and implement a plan for improving the wellbeing of people based on problem assessment and the exploration of obtainable goals and available options.
3. Enhance the problem-solving, coping and developmental capacities of people.
4. Link people with and assist in the development of systems that provide them with resources, services, and opportunities.
5. Intervene effectively on behalf of diverse and oppressed populations.
6. Promote the effective and humane operation of the systems that provide people with services, resources, and opportunities.
7. Contribute to the improvement of service delivery by participating in change efforts with others in response to community needs.
8. Evaluate at various intervals throughout the intervention process, the extent to which the objectives of the planned change effort were achieved.
9. Evaluate and pursue one's own professional growth, development, and performance.
10. ontribute to the improvement of service delivery by supporting and upholding professional standards, values, and ethics.