Admission Requirements
All social work majors are expected to make formal application to the social work program after they have completed 53 credit hours. This usually occurs at the end of the sophomore year, prior to the junior year, with a deadline of April 1. For admission into the program, the student must have completed 53 credit hours, must have an overall GPA of 2.0, and must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 in the following prerequisite courses: SOWK 1301, SOCI 2300, and PSYC 2300. In addition, the application process requires a completed Application for Formal Admission form, a personal statement from the student, and two letters of reference. See the section on "degree plan" for information regarding a second bachelor degree.
Acceptance Into the Program
Decisions about which students will be officially accepted into the program are made once a year--several weeks after the deadline for submission of the application, which is April 1 st . An exception may be possible to admitting a student in mid-year under special circumstances. However, such an exception will require the approval of the Program Coordinator. Each student will be notified of his/her official admission into the program during the spring semester prior to his/her junior year. He/she will then be able to register for the social work classes that are restricted to all but accepted students to the program. A following section shows a sample curriculum and the order in which classes will ideally be taken.
Scholastic Standards and Requirements
Formally admitted social work majors are expected to maintain a high standard of academic performance. Students who do not meet the following program requirements will not be allowed to register for additional social work courses until they have successfully completed previous ones. The process for appealing a grade can be found in the UALR Student Handbook. Students are encouraged to consult his or her advisor, another faculty member, or the Director of the Program if he or she is having trouble locating the policy or is confused about the process.
- Students must maintain a overall GPA of 2.5 in social work courses.
- Students must receive a grade of C or better in the following social work courses:
- SOWK 1301 - Introduction to Social Work
- SOWK 3303 - Human Behavior and the Social Environment I
- SOWK 3304 - Human Behavior and the Social Environment II
- SOWK 3313 - Social Welfare Policy I
- SOWK 3314 - Social Welfare Policy II
- SOWK 3315 - Policy Practice
- SOWK 3322 - Methods of Social Work Research
- SOWK 3381/3381 - Social Statistics.
Students who receive a grade lower than a C will be required to retake the course before registering in additional social work courses.
- Students must receive a grade of B or better in the following social work courses:
- SOWK 3302 - Social Work and Diversity
- SOWK 3313 - Practice I
- SOWK 4332 - Practice II
- SOWK 4333 - Practice III
- SOWK 4341 – Field Experience I
- SOWK 4342 – Field Experience II
- SOWK 4212 - Field Seminar I
- SOWK 4213 - Field Seminar II.
Students who receive a grade lower than a B will be required to retake the course before registering in additional social work courses.
- Learning in a professional social work program is based, in large part, on the interaction that occurs between the instructor and the students as well as among students through collaboration and team building. Therefore, regular attendance in class is an expected professional responsibility of the student. Absences of greater than 20% of total class time can constitute grounds for grade reduction or course failure. Excessive tardiness may be considered to constitute absences.
- Students may be dismissed from the program if they violate the NASW Code of Ethics, the University's rules and regulations on academic integrity and discipline, state or federal laws, and/or the Standards of Conduct explicated in this handbook. Students also may be immediately suspended from the program and/or their field placement, pending the appeals process, for violations of the above.
Standards of Conduct
Standards of conduct for students in the Program are consistent with university policies as well as the ethical standards and values of the social work profession. See the UALR Student Handbook for a listing of behaviors specifically discussed.
Honor Code:
The social work faculty is committed to maintaining an atmosphere of academic excellence and integrity in the Program. Because of this commitment, students are expected to refrain from any act of dishonesty. The Honor Code is an essential aspect of the Program and is a commitment on the part of each student to maintain an atmosphere of intellectual integrity and academic honesty. An understanding of this commitment ensures that, as a student of the Program, one thereby affirms his/her own personal commitment to honor and integrity. Any confirmed violation of the Honor Code could result in a failing grade.
Plagiarism:
A lengthier rendition of the following text was adapted into the UALR Graduate Catalog, with permission, from Appendix IIIA of the 1993-95 Graduate Policies and Procedures and Course Catalog of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University . Appendix IIIA, in turn, was reproduced, with permission, from Appendix II of the Constitution of the Virginia Tech Honor System.
DEFINITION:
The Virginia Tech honor system constitution states that “Plagiarism includes the copying of the language, structure, ideas, and/or thoughts of another and passing off same as one's own, original work.” The violation, then, consists of both copying and misrepresenting the material in question.
Generally, when a student places his/her name on any kind of work, he/she claims responsibility for the originality of the contents except for those parts that are specifically attributed to another or that are considered common knowledge. Thus, if a student has consulted any outside source, whether published or not, and has incorporated any of its “language, structure, ideas, and/or thoughts” into his/her work without acknowledging that source, he/she may be guilty of misrepresenting the work's originality.
The most flagrant kind of plagiarism is copying, which includes a whole range of offenses. Buying or “borrowing” a term paper in order to use it as one's own is akin to lifting an entire assignment in its entirety from a book or journal article. The student who uses the writing of another, in whole or in part, and submits under one's own name is clearly guilty of plagiarism.
Equally serious involves the translation of a part of a book, article, or other source into different words--otherwise known as paraphrasing. Although the language is not the same because the exact words of the source have been changed, the structure, ideas, and thoughts of the original author have been copied. Thus, the student who submits an assignment which simply paraphrases a source without identifying it may also be guilty of plagiarism.
Similarly, any combination of simple copying and paraphrasing, whether from one source or from many, is also a type of plagiarism, and the offender may be equally guilty as the previous example. Students should be aware that the copying of drawings, designs, photographs, maps, graphs, illustrations, tables, primary data, derived equations, computer programs, verbal communications or information and ideas, and other sources may also constitute plagiarism, unless the source is acknowledged and properly documented.
Therefore, plagiarism can be broadly defined as the act of appropriating the literary composition, language, structure, ideas, and/or thoughts, drawings, laboratory reports, or computer programs of another or parts or passages thereof, and of passing them off as the original product of one's own mind. To be liable for plagiarism, it is not necessary to duplicate another's literary work exactly; it being sufficient if unfair use of such work is made by lifting of substantial portions of it. Plagiarism is not confined to literal copying, but also includes any of the evasive variations and colorable alterations by which the plagiarist may disguise the source from which the material was copied. On the other hand, even an exact counterpart of another's work does not constitute plagiarism if such counterpart was arrived at independently.
THE PROBLEM OF COMMON KNOWLEDGE
The concept of common knowledge is one of the more difficult points to explain in any consideration of plagiarism. How can a student, often a novice in the subject, determine whether an idea or fact included in a paper is so widely known that it is considered common knowledge and requires no documentation? A few general guidelines for solving this dilemma can be suggested, but none is inviolate. Given the seriousness of plagiarism, the prudent writer cites a reference whenever he or she is uncertain.
- Concepts and facts widely known outside of the specific area of study are generally considered common knowledge. These include undisputed dates (e.g. the adoption of the declaration of independent on July 4, 1776 ), scientific principles (e.g. Newton 's Laws of Motion), and commonly accepted ideas (e.g. Hamlet's role as a tragic hero). Such data require no specific reference. Students should be aware, however, that the addition of minor informational embellishments might require documentation (e.g., that the Declaration of Independence was unanimously adopted by the American colonies on July 4, 1776 , despite the abstention of New York ).
- The fact that material appears in a dictionary, encyclopedia, handbook, or other reference work or textbook does not guarantee that it is common knowledge. Such books are written by experts, and most of the information they contain is not widely known.
- There is no simple test to determine whether information is common knowledge. In cases of doubt, the student should consult his/her instructor.
For further information on plagiarism, your professor will be able to further explain and cite examples to clarify the issue for any student requesting it. Also, examples may be perused in Appendix A of the Dissertation and Thesis Guide, UALR Graduate Catalog, 1997/98.
