Shawn D. Ginther, M.S.W, Ph.D - Department of Social Work

Overview:
Social Work 250 is an introductory course that explores social welfare, as well as professional social work -- both within the context of American society. Social Work 250 must be taken by social work majors; it can, however, be taken by non-social work students as a survey course.

Prerequisites: None

Things to do before our first class meeting:

Attendance
Academic Honesty
Professional Expectation
Curricular Context
DescriptionGoal
Logistics
Requirements
Late Assigments
Grading Policy
Listserv
Principal Reading Materials
Teaching Methods
Resources

ACADEMIC HONESTY:
Each student will be held to MSUM's high standards regarding academic honesty and student conduct. Therefore, each student is expected to review MSUM's policy on Academic Honesty. Violations of this policy will be addressed according to procedures outlined by MSUM.
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Attendance:

As this is a pre-professional class accredited by the National Counsel on Social Work Education (CSWE), and because your are adults seeking pre-professional training, attendance is mandatory and expected.
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Professional Expectation:

Just as licensed professionals must prepare themselves in advance to practice competently, Social Work 250 places professional expectations on both the instructor and students. The instructor pledges to come to class prepared to study with students the materials for each week. Similarly, students must ready themselves for competent and critical discourse of assigned materials. Therefore, readings listed for a given week are to be read prior to that week in anticipation of critical, in-depth discussions of that material, and other classwork. To assist students in meeting these expectations, Social Work 250 will enable students to develop their critical thinking skills and writing ability since both are germane to professional social work practice. Critical thinking is defined in Social Work 250 as the careful examination of beliefs and actions that ideally leads to creative opinions or conclusions that form the basis for professional action. Critical thinking skills will be developed via the deliberate, judicious, and methodical evaluation -- both verbally ( class discussions ) and in writing ( take-home examinations ) -- of our class material's logic, assumptions, stated conclusions, and practice relevance.
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Curricular Context:
Social Work 250 is the first in the social work major sequence, and must be taken by social work majors. This course provides students with the foundational knowledge they will need in subsequent coursework (i.e., the practice sequence: SW330, SW360, SW420, SW430, SW440, SW450, SW460, SW469, and SW470).
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Description:
Social Work 250 is an introductory course that explores social welfare , as well as professional social work -- both within the context of American society. Social Work 250 must be taken by social work majors; it can, however, be taken by non-social work students as a survey course for persons contemplating a social work career. Social Work 250 will cover historic and contemporary social problems, and the successes and shortfalls of the programs designed to ameliorate them. Professional values and ethics will be presented, as will be the mission and philosophy of the field. A major hallmark of this course will be the illustration of instances of human resilience, diversity, adversity, oppression, discrimination, as well as social and economic justice and injustice. Students will also review theories basic to generalist social work practice in many contexts with diverse populations.
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Goal:
The cardinal goal in Social Work 250 is to provide students an overview of social welfare and professional social work practice within American society.
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Logistics:
Meetings:***
Room:***
Faculty: S. D. Ginther, M.S.W., Ph.D .
Office Locale: Lommen 83b
Office Phone: 218.477.2634
E-mail: ginther@mnstate.edu
Social Work Department phone: 218.477.2632
Department Web Page: www.moorhead.msus.edu/socialwk/
Office hours:By appointment
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Requirements:
To accomplish the goal, formal class requirements are:
? Theoretical Analysis Paper #1 ( LE 100 points total; 50% of final grade);
? Theoretical Analysis Paper #2 ( LE 100 points total; 50% of final grade);
? Attendance.
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Late Assignments:

As a pre-professional university student in a CSWE-accreditated social work program, it is imperative to be on time when submitting work. For example, imagine being negligent in providing court reports, administrative reports, other managerial documents, case notes, progress reports, grant applications, etc. Indeed, each document will have strict guidelines regarding submission dates. Therefore, as part of your professional training, 5 points will be deducted for each day (including weekends) assignments are late. A Late assignment will be work that is submitted anytime after the end of the class session when it is officially due. If work is submitted late, the student is responsible for ensuring office staff stamp the date on the assignment at time of submission. If not officially stamped, submission date will be the date graded. No FAXED or mailed assignments will be accepted for any reason, and late points will acrew until the paper copy is submitted! In case of university closure due to weather, the due date will become the next official business day. To avoid penalty under this policy, please consider the following actions:

To avoid penalty under this policy, please consider the following actions:

For computer (printing) problems:
To allow yourself some assurance that deadlines can be met, complete assignments well before the due date!! This will allow you time to attend to emergencies!

Illness:
To allow yourself some assurance that deadlines can be met, complete assignments well before the due date!! This will allow you time to attend to emergencies!

Family death or demise of a friend:
To allow yourself some assurance that deadlines can be met, complete assignments well before the due date!! This will allow you time to attend to emergencies!

Confusion over the assignment:
To allow yourself some assurance that deadlines can be met, complete assignments well before the due date!! This will allow you time to attend to emergencies! (Meet with me A.S.A.P. to discuss your confusion)

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Grading Policy:

The following grading scheme will be used for all students seeking academic credit:
A = 90 - 100
B = 80 - 89
C = 70 - 79
D = 60 - 69
F = 00 - 59

REMEMBER: Poorly written and unprofessional work will not be graded!
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Listserv:

A Listserv called ?sw250? is available. Students may join this list to talk with class members and the instructor about class materials and class-related questions! To subscribe, send Email to ?majordomo@mnstate.edu?; the "subject" line must be blank; and the message should read ?SUBSCRIBE sw250?.

? Popple, P.R., & Leighninger, L. (1999). Social work, social welfare, & American society (4th Ed.) Needham Heights, MS: Allyn & Bacon

? APA. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

? NASW Code of Ethics . ( Available on the NASW Web Page )

? NASW (1995). Encyclopedia of Social Work & Supplement (19th ed.). Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers (Available in the library, in the department, or on the NASW Web Page).

? NASW (2003). Social Work Dictionary (5th ed.). Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers (Available in the library, in the department, or on the NASW Web Page).

? NASW (2000). Social work speaks: NASW policy statements. Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers. (On reserve)
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Teaching Methods:
Social Work 250 utilizes lectures, readings, cooperative learning group work, videos, in-class experiential exercises, case vignettes, and music recordings to achieve the course goals and objectives below. Social Work 250 then uses diverse methods to measure student learner outcomes relative to stated programmatic and course objectives.
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	SW 250 Introduction to Social Welfare & Social Work Overview: Social Work 250 is an introductory course that explores social welfare, as well as professional social work -- both within the context of American society. Social Work 250 must be taken by social work majors; it can, however, be taken by non-social work students as a survey course. Prerequisites: None Things to do before our first class meeting: Attendance Academic Honesty Professional Expectation Curricular Context DescriptionGoal Logistics Requirements Late Assigments Grading Policy Listserv Principal Reading Materials Teaching Methods Resources ACADEMIC HONESTY: Each student will be held to MSUM's high standards regarding academic honesty and student conduct. Therefore, each student is expected to review MSUM's policy on Academic Honesty. Violations of this policy will be addressed according to procedures outlined by MSUM. Back To Top Attendance: As this is a pre-professional class accredited by the National Counsel on Social Work Education (CSWE), and because your are adults seeking pre-professional training, attendance is mandatory and expected. Back To Top Professional Expectation: Just as licensed professionals must prepare themselves in advance to practice competently, Social Work 250 places professional expectations on both the instructor and students. The instructor pledges to come to class prepared to study with students the materials for each week. Similarly, students must ready themselves for competent and critical discourse of assigned materials. Therefore, readings listed for a given week are to be read prior to that week in anticipation of critical, in-depth discussions of that material, and other classwork. To assist students in meeting these expectations, Social Work 250 will enable students to develop their critical thinking skills and writing ability since both are germane to professional social work practice. Critical thinking is defined in Social Work 250 as the careful examination of beliefs and actions that ideally leads to creative opinions or conclusions that form the basis for professional action. Critical thinking skills will be developed via the deliberate, judicious, and methodical evaluation -- both verbally ( class discussions ) and in writing ( take-home examinations ) -- of our class material's logic, assumptions, stated conclusions, and practice relevance. Back To Top Curricular Context: Social Work 250 is the first in the social work major sequence, and must be taken by social work majors. This course provides students with the foundational knowledge they will need in subsequent coursework (i.e., the practice sequence: SW330, SW360, SW420, SW430, SW440, SW450, SW460, SW469, and SW470). Back To Top Description: Social Work 250 is an introductory course that explores social welfare , as well as professional social work -- both within the context of American society. Social Work 250 must be taken by social work majors; it can, however, be taken by non-social work students as a survey course for persons contemplating a social work career. Social Work 250 will cover historic and contemporary social problems, and the successes and shortfalls of the programs designed to ameliorate them. Professional values and ethics will be presented, as will be the mission and philosophy of the field. A major hallmark of this course will be the illustration of instances of human resilience, diversity, adversity, oppression, discrimination, as well as social and economic justice and injustice. Students will also review theories basic to generalist social work practice in many contexts with diverse populations. Back To Top Goal: The cardinal goal in Social Work 250 is to provide students an overview of social welfare and professional social work practice within American society. Back To Top Logistics: Meetings:***** Room:********* Faculty: S. D. Ginther, M.S.W., Ph.D . Office Locale: Lommen 83b Office Phone: 218.477.2634 E-mail: ginther@mnstate.edu Social Work Department phone: 218.477.2632 Department Web Page: www.moorhead.msus.edu/socialwk/ *Office hours:By appointment* Back To Top Requirements: To accomplish the goal, formal class requirements are: ? Theoretical Analysis Paper #1 ( LE 100 points total; 50% of final grade); ? Theoretical Analysis Paper #2 ( LE 100 points total; 50% of final grade); ? Attendance. Back To Top Late Assignments: As a pre-professional university student in a CSWE-accreditated social work program, it is imperative to be on time when submitting work. For example, imagine being negligent in providing court reports, administrative reports, other managerial documents, case notes, progress reports, grant applications, etc. Indeed, each document will have strict guidelines regarding submission dates. Therefore, as part of your professional training, 5 points will be deducted for each day (including weekends) assignments are late. A Late assignment will be work that is submitted anytime after the end of the class session when it is officially due. If work is submitted late, the student is responsible for ensuring office staff stamp the date on the assignment at time of submission. If not officially stamped, submission date will be the date graded. No FAXED or mailed assignments will be accepted for any reason, and late points will acrew until the paper copy is submitted! In case of university closure due to weather, the due date will become the next official business day. To avoid penalty under this policy, please consider the following actions: To avoid penalty under this policy, please consider the following actions: For computer (printing) problems: To allow yourself some assurance that deadlines can be met, complete assignments well before the due date!! This will allow you time to attend to emergencies! Illness: To allow yourself some assurance that deadlines can be met, complete assignments well before the due date!! This will allow you time to attend to emergencies! Family death or demise of a friend: To allow yourself some assurance that deadlines can be met, complete assignments well before the due date!! This will allow you time to attend to emergencies! Confusion over the assignment: To allow yourself some assurance that deadlines can be met, complete assignments well before the due date!! This will allow you time to attend to emergencies! (Meet with me A.S.A.P. to discuss your confusion) Back To Top Grading Policy: The following grading scheme will be used for all students seeking academic credit*: A = 90 - 100* B = 80 - 89 C = 70 - 79 D = 60 - 69 F = 00 - 59 REMEMBER: Poorly written and unprofessional work will not be graded! Back To Top Listserv: A Listserv called ?sw250? is available. Students may join this list to talk with class members and the instructor about class materials and class-related questions! To subscribe, send Email to ?majordomo@mnstate.edu?; the "subject" line must be blank; and the message should read ?SUBSCRIBE sw250?. Back To Top Principal Reading Materials: ? Popple, P.R., & Leighninger, L. (1999). Social work, social welfare, & American society (4th Ed.) Needham Heights, MS: Allyn & Bacon ? APA. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. *? NASW* Code of Ethics . ( Available on the NASW Web Page ) ? NASW (1995). Encyclopedia of Social Work & Supplement (19th ed.). Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers (Available in the library, in the department, or on the NASW Web Page). ? NASW (2003). Social Work Dictionary (5th ed.). Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers (Available in the library, in the department, or on the NASW Web Page). ? NASW (2000). Social work speaks: NASW policy statements. Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers. (On reserve)** Back To Top Teaching Methods: Social Work 250 utilizes lectures, readings, cooperative learning group work, videos, in-class experiential exercises, case vignettes, and music recordings to achieve the course goals and objectives below. Social Work 250 then uses diverse methods to measure student learner outcomes relative to stated programmatic and course objectives. Back To Top


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