Weber State University   

Social Work

Results of Assessment

2001-2002 (submitted 03/22/02)

The Social Work Program at Weber State University seeks to accomplish 19 educational objectives. At the completion of requirements for the Social Work major, students will be able to:

1. Explain how the behavioral and social science liberal arts perspective underpins professional social work practice.

2. Discuss the historical development of the social work profession that impacts on current structure and services.

3. Link people with and assist in the development of resources, services, and opportunities.

4. Identify and assess interactions of people within their social environment.

5. Explain how systems promote or deter people in the maintenance or attainment of optimal health and well-being.

6. Explain the effect of policy on social work practice in helping or deterring people in the maintenance or attainment of optimal health and well-being.

7. Explain the knowledge of bio-psycho-social variables that affect individual development and behavior, and use theoretical frameworks to understand the interactions among individuals, and between individuals and social systems (i.e., families, groups, organizations, and communities).

8. Define issues, collect and assess data, plan and contract, identify alternative interventions, select and implement appropriate course of action, use appropriate research-based knowledge and technological advances, and termination.

9. Assist and empower people to develop and use problem-solving, coping, and networking capacities.

10. Recognize the forms and mechanism of oppression and discrimination and apply the strategies and skills of change that advance social and economic justice.

11. Explain and evaluate studies that are critical for understanding client systems of various sizes and shapes.

12. Identify and use professional written and verbal communication skills that are effective when working with clients groups, colleagues, and members of the community.

13. Employ generalist practice skills sensitive to diverse, oppressed, and at-risk populations.

14. Apply critical thinking skills within the context of professional social work practice.

15. Apply knowledge of research studies to practice, and, under supervision, evaluate one's own practice interventions and those of other relevant systems.

16. Explain the values and ethics that guide professional social workers in their practice.

17. Under supervision, functions within the structure of organizations and service delivery systems and seeks necessary organizational change.

18. Discuss factors that are critical for continual professional growth and development.

19. Explain attributes that are critical to the professional use of self.

Six (6) different evaluation measures are in place to systematically assess how well the program is meeting these educational outcomes. These evaluation mechanisms include: 1) senior capstone paper; 2) indirect measures of assessment conducted in the classroom (e.g., assignments, papers, exams, etc.); 3) field practicum evaluation; 4) survey of graduating students; 5) the Baccalaureate Educational Assessment Program (BEAP); and 6) graduate school admissions. Each of these measures is described in more specific detail below.

Senior Capstone Paper. To qualify for graduation, each student is required to write a major capstone paper in Social Work 4990, Senior Seminar. This paper provides the students with the opportunity to pull together the curriculum and further develop their conceptualization of social work as a profession. The paper is completed in three parts.

Part one of the senior paper is completed in SOCLWK 4860. This section provides the students with the opportunity to demonstrate their conceptual understanding of social work as a profession. For the most part, the students discuss the knowledge, skill and value base for social work practice. They are required to input how they have been able to use the skill(s) in an actual agency with clients. This requires the students to discuss more than the theoretical base of the concept, but the skills that are needed and how this theoretical base can be implemented in an agency setting.

Part two of the paper provides the students with the opportunity to complete an analysis of the agency. This section is completed in SOCLWK 4861. The students are required to work closely with the field practicum supervisor in the development and completion of this section. Field supervisors are asked to review and evaluate this section with student during their first draft. Other social work courses in the curriculum provide content that is very relevant to the completion of this section (SOCLWK 3500, Social Policy and SOCLWK 3930, Macro Intervention).

Part three of the senior paper is completed in SOCLWK 4861. This section demonstrates the ability of the student to evaluate the outcome and effectiveness of their intervention models with clients across a micro, family, mezzo, organizational or macro setting. Students are required to submit two cases that they completed during the 400 clock hours of field practicum experience. The choices are between a micro, family, mezzo, organizational, or community; however, each presented case cannot be totally a micro or mezzo experience. There must be a combination approach.

A sample Senior Capstone paper from the 2001-2002 is available for review from the Social Work Program Director (see Contact Person link below).

Indirect measures of assessment conducted in the classroom. Indirect measures of assessment include assignments, activities, and exams conducted in the classroom as part of required social work courses. Many of these measures are used not only to evaluate individual student performance in relation to course material, but also to assess the degree to which various educational outcomes are being met.

Sample student papers from SOCLWK 3900, written during the 2001-2002 academic year are available for review from the Social Work Program Director (see Contact Person link below).

Field practicum evaluation. The field practicum in the Social Work Program is based upon the objectives of the educational outcomes of the social work program and the learning needs of the students. Structured learning opportunities have been designed that enable students to compare their practice experiences, integrate knowledge acquired in the classroom setting, and expand knowledge beyond the scope of the micro, mezzo, and macro practice setting.

A sample field practicum evaluation form along with available data from the 2000-2001 academic year (n=35) can be obtained from the Social Work Program Director (see Contact Person link below).

Survey of graduating students. A summary of survey data collected from students between winter 1995 and summer 1997 was presented to Program faculty during the 1999-2000 academic year. Since that time, additional data have been entered into a statistical database and analyzed. 

These data indicated that WSU BSW graduates are predominately white (86.4%) female (81.2%) citizens of the U.S. (98.7%) Nearly 30% indicated they are employed in the field of Social Work at the time of graduation. These data also showed that WSU students were highly satisfied with their field placements (84.8% rating their field placement above average or excellent), with 30.7% of these resulting in employment. Approximately 60 % reported that the social work degree assisted them in obtaining employment. For those who were continuing their education, over 76.1% indicated that WSU helped them get accepted into graduate school. Overall, 90.2% of graduates rated their social work preparation as above average to excellent.

When considering 12 key areas of curriculum, responses were overwhelming positive. Finally, graduates appeared to report satisfaction with their choice of major and experience in the Social Work program since over 89.9% of graduates responded that they would choose the same major again.

Baccalaureate Educational Assessment Project (BEAP). Weber State University is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the Social Work program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Both of these accrediting bodies have emphasized the importance of outcomes assessment. While CSWE does not endorse any particular means of demonstrating educational excellence, the BEAP instrument was designed to help programs answer three major questions: (a) Are we delivering the program we say we are? (b) Are we delivering the program to whom we say we are? and (c) What are students’ and alumni/æ’s perceptions of program process and climate?. The social work program at Weber State University voted to implement the Baccalaureate Education Assessment Project (BEAP) as one of the various means to fully assess achievement of all program goals and objectives. The use of this instrument was implemented Spring of 2000 and the entry survey and the social work value inventory were given to students who were admitted to the social work program that semester.

The BEAP is comprised of five sections. The Entrance Survey, which is conducted with students enrolled in SOCLWK 3900, Social Work Methods, Values, and Ethics, is helping the program develop a useful demographic profile of entering students. It will also allow the program to check the impact of policy changes such as admission procedures. The Social Work Values Inventory, also given to students during their first Social Work Methods course (SOCLWK 3900), is based upon three concepts within the Social Work Code of Ethics: confidentiality, self-determination, and social justice. The results are useful in enhancing the values content within the curriculum by identifying general areas of strengths and weaknesses based upon several years of feedback. An Exit Survey is given to students enrolled in SOCLWK 4990, Senior Seminar, which is one of the final courses in the Social Work Program. This instrument collects feedback from students about their experiences while in the program. An Alumni/æ Survey is sent to former students six months following graduation. This survey seeks to describe graduates’ current employment, assess their professional development activities, and identify those who have completed or are currently enrolled in graduate programs. An Employer Survey is sent to those who have hired Program graduates to help evaluate how well students were prepared for practice based on curriculum objectives.

The BEAP assessment instrument (Entrance Survey and Social Work Values Inventory) was implemented in the Social Work Program at Weber State University spring semester, 2000. The first exit survey was given to students spring semester, 2001.

The first Alumni/æ Survey and Employer Survey will be distributed spring semester, 2003 with complete data from this initial pool of students available sometime during spring semester, 2004.

Graduate school admissions. A major outcome of the Social Work Program is the preparation of students for graduate course work. Over the last five years, the WSU Social Work Program has been very successful in helping students get accepted into a graduate program. During that period, students from Weber State University have been accepted into a number of MSW programs through the United States.

Other program evaluation measures. Direct student input is also a valuable source of information about the functioning of the WSU Social Work Program and its effectiveness in meeting the Program’s educational objectives. Feedback from students is collected regularly through three specific means. First, beginning summer semester 2001, the department chair began holding "town meetings" each semester. Students are invited to meet individually or in groups with the department chair to discuss their experiences in the program and identify their perception of its strengths and weaknesses. Several "town meeting" times are set aside at varying times during the semester to accommodate different schedules and give all students the opportunity to provide input. A second means of collecting student feedback is through the establishment of a student advisory committee. This group, which involves three to five students who have been formally admitted to the Social Work Program, is expected to meet at least once a semester to discuss concerns related to the social work curriculum. A sample of minutes from "town meetings" and meetings of the student advisory committee are available for review from the Social Work Program Director (see Contact Person link below). Finally, students are expected to meet with their faculty advisor at least once a semester. This is an opportunity to review student progress, work out problems in scheduling and registration, and discuss any individual concerns related to specific courses and/or the curriculum in general.

Effects of Evaluation Data on Program Planning and Curriculum Design
The assessment plan and the related evaluation measures described above are provided as evidence of the WSU Social Work Program’s efforts at ongoing systematic self study. The assessment plan has been under development for a number of years. Significant refinement of this plan has occurred in the two to three year period leading up to application for reaffirmation and additional revisions have been made since the site visit last spring. Copies of minutes from recent departmental and Program faculty meetings which reflect the effects of evaluation data on program planning and curriculum design are available for review from the Social Work Program Director (see Contact Person link below). These documents demonstrate formal review and discussion of evaluation data and the use of this feedback in curriculum planning and program refinement.

Overall, the outcomes assessment data appear to indicate that the Program is doing well in meeting its educational outcome objectives. Furthermore, data collected through formal processes are consistent with informal feedback and anecdotal reports from students who reflect general satisfaction with the academic curriculum, with field instruction and supervision, and with Social Work Program in general. Pre-/post- data from the BEAP assessment instrument reflect positive change among WSU students after participation in the Social Work Program in important values such as confidentiality, self-determination, and social justice. In fact, WSU social work students score as well or better than their peers nationally in these areas. WSU students have an impressive record in admission to MSW programs and the majority express the belief that their experience in their undergraduate program played a significant role in their acceptance for graduate study. Furthermore, data from specific measures related to the 19 educational objectives of the WSU Social Work Program (graduate survey) suggest that the curriculum is preparing students well for a career in social work. As a result of the positive indications seen in these data, few significant changes have been made in curriculum design in recent years.

Nevertheless, the data do seem to indicate three curriculum areas in need of some attention and some minor changes in the curriculum have been made as a result. According to data from graduate surveys, preparation to evaluate research, preparation to analyze the impact of social policies, and preparation to apply critical thinking skills are the weakest areas of the curriculum. One specific modification in the curriculum that has been made as a result this information was a change in the required research course. Prior to the 1999/2000 academic year, social work students were required to take research within the department, but were allowed to register for this course in either program within the department (Social Work or Gerontology). Beginning summer semester 1999, social work majors have been required to complete their research credits within the Program in a course that is taught by social work faculty. The other curriculum areas noted here are currently being discussed by Program faculty and administration. Curriculum changes will be made as deemed necessary and appropriate.

Mission Statement / Student Learning Outcomes / Curriculum Grid / Assessment  Plan / Contact Person