SOWK 747: Concepts of Advanced Practice with Organizations and Communities

 Course Syllabus

I.  Purpose/Rationale for the Course

Masters-prepared social workers require knowledge of and skills in working within organizations and planning for the needs of communities. This course is designed to provide an overview of personnel management, organizational functioning, planning, and community practice processes for advanced year students in the Social Work Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups Concentration.

II.   Course Content

The course focuses on the knowledge and skills needed to understand and work effectively with the various components of a social service organization.  Emphasis is placed on management concerns related to personnel, including legal matters, staffing needs, staff development, respect for cultural and social diversity, and administrative and clinical supervision and evaluation.  The role of the social work manager within the organizational context is examined, including the structure of social service organizations, public relations, management information systems, and leadership skills. Attention is given to planning processes, including fund development, program development, and budgeting and to advanced community practice tasks of coalition building. Theory drawn from business and management fields will be explored for its usefulness in human service organizations.

III. Course Objectives

Students who successfully complete the course should be able to:

1. Describe the structure of a human service agency, including legal authority, mandates/sanctions, board of directors, intra- and inter-organizational relationships, political pressures.
2. Describe supervisory behaviors and styles that facilitate or impede effective professional practice.
3. Discuss current legal issues affecting the workplace, such as affirmative action, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and sexual harassment, and supervisory implications and responsibilities related to each.
4. Read and monitor a budget, including personnel and program components.
5. Develop a basic staffing plan for a small agency, including position requirements, job description, caseload and scheduling, interview and hiring processes, issues of diversity, orientation, staff development model, evaluation criteria, and possible causes for termination.
6.   Discuss the components of a plan for a new service in an established organization, including parameters for the service, staffing, possible funding sources, budget, marketing, internal communications, staff training needs, management information needs.
7. Identify and analyze common ethical dilemmas that may arise in supervisory and management practice, and describe ethical responses consistent with the NASW Code of Ethics.
8. Discuss the importance of the interaction between individuals and their community, and describe the essential components of community coalition building.
9. Describe some common needs of vulnerable populations that often experience social and economic injustice, and discuss their implications for planning and for supervision.

IV.       Linkages to Other Courses

This advanced year “crossover” course provides a condensed overview of the content presented in three advanced year practice courses (733, 734, & 735) in the social work practice with organizations and communities concentration for those students who have chosen a concentration in social work practice with individuals, groups, and families. It builds upon the knowledge of human behavior in organizations and communities developed in the foundation year course on human behavior in the social environment (712), and on the foundation year course on practice with organizations and communities (732).  This course also interacts with the integrating capstone course (718) taken concurrently.

V. Methods of Instruction

A variety of instructional methods are used in this course and include lecture, discussion, collaborative learning, problem-based learning, field-based case studies, role play, videotapes, videotaping, and class presentations.  Emphasis will be placed on the integration of field placement experiences and course content through such tools as case consultation, learning journals and logs, case studies, role plays and written assignments requiring the critical application of theory to practice with large systems in the students’ field placement settings.

Any student who because of a disability may need special arrangements or accommodations to meet the requirements of this course should consult with the instructor as soon as possible.  The office of Disability Services provides an array of services to meet the needs of students with disabilities, according to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. See information and guidelines provided in The Carolina Community: Student Handbook and Policy Guide.