Defining the Minimum Expectation of MSW Students: Implementation and Application of Technical Standards

ABSTRACT

The call for professional education programs to clarify the standards students are held accountable to is particularly challenging for social work. For social work educators, tackling this task not only involves grappling with their role as gatekeepers to the profession but also ensuring that such standards preserve the profession’s commitment to accessibility in the student body. This article describes the process and lessons learned at one graduate school of social work who developed and implemented technical standards for professional and ethical behavior for MSW students. The challenges articulating professional standards for students beginning their social work education are shared and the discussion serves as a guide to inform the future development and implementation of similar standards across social work programs.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lisa de Saxe Zerden

Lisa de Saxe Zerden is an Associate Professor and the Senior Associate Dean for MSW Education at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Social Work. She has been awarded over $5 million of federal funding since joining the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill to train and expand the behavioral health workforce and integrate social workers into primary care settings. Dr. Zerden is a Research Fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and her research interests remain focused on health disparities in drug use, treatment and overdose prevention, harm reduction, the role of social workers in integrated settings, and interprofessional education.

Sarah M. Naylor

Sarah M. Naylor is the Associate Dean for Student Affairs at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Social Work. She received her PhD from the University of Greensboro School of Education and has remained committed to higher education and supporting students via improved academic advising, policy development and implementation, and enhancing the explicit and implicit curriculums’ students receive in graduate school.

Sharon Thomas

Sharon Thomas is the Assistant Dean, Recruitment, Admissions and Financial Aid and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and her MSW from UNC- Chapel Hill. Sharon remains committed to helping students obtain post-graduate education and increasing student success while matriculating through MSW degree programs. Her areas of focus include adolescent pregnancy prevention and risk behaviors, families and children, and international social work education.

Rebecca B. Brigham

Rebecca B. Brigham serves as the Assistant Dean for Field Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social work. She received her MSW from UNC in 1991 and has had precious professional roles in the field of child welfare and public policy, and foster care and adoption. She has presented nationally and internationally on Adult Learning Theory, international social work education, and best practices for social work field education.

Tiffany Bailey

Tiffany Bailey serves as the Director of the Office of Accessibility Resources & Service at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has a Masters of Science in Education from the Student Affairs in Higher Education program at Colorado State University and has worked in the disability services profession since 2006. She has been involved in the NC Association on Higher Education and Disability (NC AHEAD) and served as the president of the organization from 2010 to 2011. She has presented both locally and nationally regarding best practices in disability services.