INSTRUCTOR: Lynn Bye, MSW, Ph.D.
OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday 1:30 -3:30 p.m.
and by appointment including evenings

OFFICE: 218 Bohannon Hall
PHONE: 726-8492
E-MAIL: lbye@d.umn.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The focus of Field II is on developing the knowledge and skill base for advanced generalist practice. Accordingly, students are involved in micro, mezzo, and macro level intervention. The degree of involvement on each level will vary with individual agency placements. Students will work with a variety of client systems and problems.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
The student is expected to have achieved the following expectations in their field placement:

• Demonstrate advanced mezzo practice skills to address issues at the organizational level of practice by engaging in administrative, program development, organizational change and/or supervisory activities.
• Demonstrate advanced micro practice skills, which address complex issues with individuals, families and/or small groups.
• Demonstrate advanced mezzo practice skills to address issues at the organizational level of practice by engaging in administrative, program development, organizational change and/or supervisory activities.
• Demonstrate advanced macro practice skills by addressing complex issues through community development, social action, social planning, and/or systemic change strategies to advance social and economic justice.
• Incorporate appropriate theoretical developments and research findings into one's own practice at all three levels.
• Demonstrate a high level of interpersonal skills at all levels of advanced practice.
• Demonstrate the ability to analyze policy issues and assess their impact on practice at all levels of advanced social work practice.
• Demonstrate the ability to conduct evaluations, integrating principles learned in their MSW course work, at a direct practice, organizational and community level.
• Identify and apply social work values and ethics at a micro, mezzo, and macro level of social work practice.
• Demonstrate the ability to practice autonomously, be self-reflective, and incorporate feedback into one's professional practice.
• Demonstrate a professional level of competency in critical thinking skills and their expression in oral and written communications.
• Demonstrate a professional level of competency in the knowledge and skills relevant to issues of human diversity (American Indians, other ethnic populations, low income, women, gay/lesbian/bi-sexual, and rural communities).
• Demonstrate cultural competency skills in assessment and intervention at a personal and organizational level.

TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS

Learning Contract
A learning contract/plan must be developed in consultation with the Field Supervisor and the Field Liaison
within the first four weeks of the beginning of the placement.

Field Placement Evaluations
You will be responsible for setting up the appointments with the Field Supervisor and the Field Liaison to review the learning contract at the beginning of the term, mid-point evaluation, and the final evaluation of the students learning process.

Weekly field Experience Journaling
You will be required to journal your placement learning experiences on a weekly basis. Journals are to be submitted each week and can be sent electronically on the weeks the class does not meet.

Each weekly journal entry needs to include three components:

1. Learning Experiences: What learning opportunities presented themselves during the week (your actual activities) and what did you learn during the week in placement?
2. Subjective Responses: What were your thoughts and feelings about your learning experiences of the week?
3. Learning Application & Integration: This pertains to the application and integration of your various classroom learning to your work with clients and client systems. To what extent were you able to demonstrate the bodies of knowledge, theories, values and skills used in advanced generalist practice? Be specific.
   

To satisfy the expectations of this section of your journaling, you will need to show specific evidence of integrating things you learned from other SW coursework with what you are doing in your field placement.

Each journal entry needs to include each of these three content areas. You do not need to necessary separate the 3 sections as long as you clearly note in parenthesis or in the margin which content area a particular statement or discussion represents. Be concise in your journal entries---your weekly field journaling should generally not exceed two or three double-spaced pages.

In each weekly journal entry, note the specific times that you met with your agenda field supervisor (e.g., “1-2 on Thursday”). Remember that it’s critical that you meet one hour a week, and that failing to meet one hour a week could jeopardize your completing field requirement.

Special Journaling Assignments
Besides your weekly journaling about your field experiences, some weeks you will be required to address a particular Social Work issue in your journal (these “Special Journaling Assignments” are listed in the time-schedule below). In your weekly field journaling, it is important that, to the highest degree possible, you specifically integrate knowledge and skills hat you’ve learned in other SW coursework.

Submitting Journals
As indicated on the weekly time-schedule below, journals will be due for my review five times during the semester. You need to submit them to me as a hardcopy each week. Be sure to submit journals on time.

Seminar Attendance & Participation
Your attendance at all Field Seminars is required. Except for emergencies, absences should be approved ahead of time by me. Written assignments will be required for missed seminars. If assignments are not completed and handed in, an Incomplete will be issued at the end of the semester.

Seminars will typically begin with brief “check-in’s” to inform other students about your field placement setting and experiences, as well as to afford everyone the opportunity to process and/or problem-solve around particular issues that have arisen in your placement. In problem-solving, it will be important for you to specifically integrate professional knowledge and skills that you have learned in your SW coursework. Guidelines for confidentiality will be discussed before we have our first check-in.

After the check-in, we will discuss the topic of any Special Journaling Assignment for the week.

Field Seminar Purpose

• To provide for the discussion of current issues and concerns arising from agency expectations and experiences.
• To provide the opportunity for students to enhance their knowledge and skill base by integrating their classroom learning and the practical experience in their agencies.
• To provide a forum for advanced generalist case study discussion.
• To provide the opportunity for discussion of placement agencies within the context of their service delivery systems.
• To provide the opportunity for student interaction and mutual feedback concerning agency learning experiences.
• To provide an avenue for expressing any personal placement difficulties being experienced (i.e. sexual harassment, discrimination). Students are expected to openly share their feelings and thoughts about their Field experiences, including ethical dilemmas and practice problems. In doing this, they will work collaboratively with the other students and the Seminar Instructor to process what they have been experiencing and to address problematic issues. Confidentiality of the information shared is expected.

Field Placement Hours
Students in Field II spend 16 hours per week, over the academic year, for a total of 480 hours in their agencies. These hours must be recorded by the student and verified by the agency supervisor.

Grading
Grading is on a satisfactory/not satisfactory basis only. The grade is determined by the Field Liaison, who uses the input provided by the agency Supervisor. Each student will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Completion of the 480 hours of Field Placement.
2. Fulfillment of the learning contract/plan.
3. Completion of all weekly journal entries.
4. Attendance and satisfactory participation at the Field Seminars.
5. Completion of all seminar assignments and presentations.
6. Submission of all required forms to the Field Liaison for inclusion in the student Field II file.
7. Review of the Student Performance Evaluation forms and the evaluations with the student and Field Supervisor.
8. Submission of the student=s evaluation of the placement agency (completed at the end of the field placement)

SPECIAL NOTES

• My highest priority is for our classroom and course work to facilitate participation and exchange. I am eager to make accommodations to
  guarantee to students with disabilities access to class sessions, course materials, and the activities of the class. You are encouraged
  to contact the Access Center-Disability Services to discuss and arrange reasonable accommodations (102 Kirby Center, tel. 726-8217). In
  addition, please let me know as soon as possible if you have a disability for which accommodations will be requested. Note that you
  are under no obligation to disclose the nature of your disability to me or other faculty.
• Students wishing to take an incomplete for the course must submit a departmental incomplete request form to the instructor for advance approval. Students can not enter Field II with an incomplete from Field I.
• Ground rules for class discussions: We can assume that discrimination exists in many forms (e.g., sexism, racism, classism, ageism, homophobia, ableism, etc.). Any understanding of these various Bisms means that we need to recognize that we have been taught misinformation about our own group as well as about members of other groups. By creating a safe and learning environment in the field seminar we can work collectively to share and explore our experiences in a way that does not devalue or disrespect others in the process.

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SPRING 2004 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

(Note any readings assigned for a particular week need to be completed by the time of that week’s field seminar)