Skip to Navigation Skip to Content Skip to Search Keyboard Shortcuts

Bachelor of Social Work

About the program

Mission Statement

The Bachelor of Social Work Program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is unique: we are the only undergraduate social work program in the state that is located in a metropolitan university as well as in the state’s Capitol. We are committed to the values of diversity, human rights, and social justice. With this value base, we educate our students in the knowledge, values, and skills necessary for generalist practice within our diverse population. (Revised October 2009)

Career Opportunities

Bachelor level social workers have more opportunities than ever before as central Arkansas grows in population and in service oriented agencies. The Arkansas Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is the largest organization in the state that hires bachelor level social workers, and they are continually upgrading their standards to achieve a professional staff of service workers—both in direct service roles and in supervisory roles. Agencies working in conjunction with the health care field, whether they be inpatient/outpatient, physical/mental health or resource development, are hiring BSW graduates to fill these positions. Welfare reform has created a need for more in-depth assessments of individuals and families, job training, and referral services, all with which the bachelor level social worker is prepared to work. Agencies working with youth services, aging issues, veterans, or addictions have a place for the BSW.

A Little Bit of History

The UALR BSW program was conceived and developed as a result of a collaborative effort with other educational institutions in the Arkansas Partnership in Public Child Welfare , the impetus for which was made possible through funding from a federal grant known as the IV-E Child Welfare Grant. These funds are provided through the Department of Human Services, Division of Children and Family Service, for the purpose of educating and training child welfare employees statewide. One of the workgroups formed as a result of this partnership addressed the issue of increasing access to social work education. This workgroup consisted of representatives from UALR, UA Monticello, Philander Smith College, UA Pine Bluff, and UA Fayetteville in conjunction with the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS). From their research, they have determined that the greatest unmet need for undergraduate social work education is in central Arkansas. Although BSW programs existed at other Arkansas colleges in the mid-1990’s, the need for social workers in central Arkansas was outstripping the institutions’ abilities to provide educated and licensed social workers.

The Partnership funded the writing of a proposal prepared for the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. The Bachelor of Social Work Program at UALR was approved by ADHE’s Board of Trustees in February, 1997.

Currently, the program has four full-time faculty as well as several adjunct instructors who teach courses.  The program received its initial accreditation from The Council on Social Work Education, the accrediting body for all social work programs, in November, 2001.

Program Goals

  1. To prepare graduates to enter the beginning level of the profession as generalist social work practitioners.

  2. To advance graduates’ basic understanding of the common human needs of people that exist globally as well as locally.

  3. To enhance the ability of graduates to identify various factors that can affect people and environments, and to identify how these factors interact to produce stresses and problems that affect individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

  4. To increase both graduates’ awareness of and sensitivity to issues of race, ethnicity, gender, class, age, sexual orientation, ability, and religion, as well as other factors, in our pluralistic society.

  5. To prepare graduates to use social work knowledge, skills, and values to enhance both the quality of life for the people whom they serve and the quality of services in the metropolitan Little Rock area, as well as rural areas throughout Arkansas.

  6. To give graduates the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to continually evaluate the effectiveness of their practice as well as the services offered by community agencies, and to contribute to the knowledge base of the profession.

  7. To prepare graduates for continued professional education, and for entry into graduate schools of social work.

  8. To give graduates the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to effectively engage in social work practice at the micro-, mezzo-, and macro-levels, to advocate for social change, and to ameliorate environmental conditions that contribute to social and economic injustice.

Program Objectives

Before graduation, students must demonstrate :

  1. The ability to apply critical thinking skills within the context of professional social work practice with clients at all system levels.
  2. The ability to adhere to the philosophy, values, and ethical standards and principles of the profession while engaged in social work practice at all system levels.
  3. The ability to effectively communicate verbally and in writing with diverse client populations, colleagues, and other systems.
  4. Using the historical roots of social work as a context, an acceptance of the legitimacy of efforts to change existing social institutions, systems, and policies for the purpose of aiding individuals, families, groups, and communities.
  5. The ability to alleviate and prevent social problems, and improve social conditions, by analyzing, formulating, and influencing social policy.
  6. Skill in identifying and assessing human needs and strengths as well as social problems and environmental conditions at all system levels. Such demonstration must include consideration and application of the following:
    • Theories and research about the various social, cultural, biological, psychological, and ecological factors that influence human behavior, development, and functioning across the lifespan.
    • Theories and research about social and organizational structures, social institutions, and interactions among and between individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  7. Skill in formulating plans, establishing objectives and goals, implementing appropriate and timely interventions, and evaluating results and outcomes when practicing with clients at all system levels. Such demonstration must include:
    • The application of theories and research regarding interventions appropriate for generalist social work practice with clients at all system levels.
    • Appropriate consideration of the client systems’ age, class, color, culture, ability-level, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation.
  8. The ability to utilize research findings, conduct original research, evaluate practice and outcomes, analyze the impact of social policies and practices, and contribute to the knowledge base of the social work profession.
  9. An understanding of the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination that affect client systems.
  10. The ability to advocate for justice, equality, and an end to discriminatory policies and practices that impact at-risk individuals, families, groups, and communities.
  11. The ability to appropriately use supervision within the context of generalist social work practice.
  12. The ability to practice effectively within an organizational or service delivery system structure, and seek organizational change when necessary.

 

Updated 10.10.2009