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Location: Professional Faculties 3256

Student Information: 403.220.2011/5430

Dean's Office: 403.220.5945

Dean's Office Email: browna@ucalgary.ca

Student Services Email: socialwk@ucalgary.ca

Web page URL:

Information and application forms may be obtained from the following:

Students interested in studying in Calgary or in the Learning Circles Virtual Site program:

International Definition of Social Work

The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well being. Utilizing theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.

Faculty of Social Work Vision

Creating social well being and just societies.

Faculty of Social Work Mission

• Dedicated to promoting societies that respect human dignity and worth, meet basic human needs, are anti-oppressive, inclusive, and based on principles of social justice.
• Committed to learners by providing and building a knowledge base and set of skills in environments designed to stimulate and support a spirit of critical inquiry.
• Focused on serving as a catalyst for positive community impact through the creation and dissemination of knowledge and innovation.

The Faculty of Social Work prepares BSW graduates to address individual, family, community and social concerns in the context of diverse and changing societies. Graduates are prepared to draw upon a variety of assessment and intervention methods to help achieve social well being outcomes with appropriate structural supports across the life span.

The program is based on the social work tenets of mobilizing strengths of individuals and groups, social engagement and civil societies, respect for diversity, inclusion, equitable participation, and social justice.

The program is grounded in the vision and mission of the Faculty, inquiry based methods of learning, the Codes of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the social work profession, and the national accreditation standards for schools of social work.

The BSW provides the student with the professional knowledge, theory and skills of social work including a wide range of experiential opportunities to integrate this learning in supervised practice settings. Upon graduation, students are prepared to practice as generalist social workers in a wide variety of social welfare fields in a continuously changing world. Areas of practice opportunities include child welfare, family violence, community development, mental health, gerontology and social policy development working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in a variety of settings including public, non-profit and for-profit agencies and organizations.

Social Work Students' Society

The Social Work Students' Society (SWSS) is actively involved in the governance of the Faculty, with representatives on Faculty Council and Faculty committees. The society is an active advocate of student interests and issues, and a sponsor of fundraising social events for charitable causes. All students in the Faculty of Social Work are eligible for membership.

The study of social work practice places students in a position of special trust with professional social workers and their clients. The Faculty recognizes that social work education occurs both inside and outside the classroom and has the responsibility to ensure that its graduates are competent and ethical. A student's impaired judgment or non-academic misconduct may be grounds for determining whether the student should continue in the program, with or without conditions, or be dismissed from the Faculty of Social Work.

Criteria

The following examples illustrate situations in which, in particular circumstances, a student may be assessed as being unsuitable for professional social work education at this time. The list is not exclusive of other forms of misconduct:

• Concealment or distortion of the truth on the Application for Admission to the Faculty of Social Work or the Áù¾ÅÉ«ÌÃ.
• Persistent and/or serious conduct that contravenes the Áù¾ÅÉ«Ìà Statement on Principles of Conduct.
• Persistent and/or serious unethical behaviour as defined by the Canadian Association For Social Work Education Code of Ethics, 2005 and the Standards of Ethical Practice for Social Workers in Alberta, 2001. Such unethical behaviour includes (but is not limited to):

(a) Persistent and/or serious medical condition that affects the student's ability to perform as a social worker if that condition negatively affects judgement and interferes with the ability to function within a professional context;

(b) Persistent substance abuse (e.g., alcoholism, drug addiction, use of illegal drugs) that interferes with the ability to function within a professional context;

(c) Criminal behaviour (i.e., arrests and convictions for such crimes as physical assault, sexual assault, drug trafficking) that interferes with the ability to function within a professional context;

(d) Persistent and or/serious conduct that contravenes the policies of the practicum setting (applies to students in practicum);

(e) Imposing stereotypes on a client, including behaviour, values, or roles related to race, ethnicity, religion, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, income source or amount, political affiliation, disability or diagnosis, or national origin, that would interfere with the provision of professional services to the client; and

(f) Persistent and/or serious inability to form a professional, helping relationship.

Procedures following an allegation of misconduct can be obtained from the Faculty of Social Work Student Services Office.