A student-alumni mentor program that combines aspects of academic and workplace mentoring was developed and implemented in a school of social work. Foundation-year MSW students (mentees) were matched with school of social work alumni (mentors) in a formal mentoring program. This program was developed to address the needs of MSW students, alumni,…

Increasing demand for social work placements in a climate of decreasing availability has intensified the search for capacity-building models of field education. Rotation placements may be part of the solution, yet little is currently known about how rotations affect the experience of field education in the context of block placements. A study of…

The National Association of Social Workers and the Council on Social Work Education identify social justice as a guiding principle of the social work profession, yet there is little consensus in the field of what the term actually means and how it can be achieved. Master of Social Work programs are likewise struggling with how to educate students…

Drawing from original and best practice research, this article proposes a model for teaching social work students how to practice with refugees using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model as a guide. Social workers globally must be prepared across the social work curriculum with best practice research and recommendations that keep pace with the…

The 2015 "Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards" (EPAS) recognizes simulation as a means for students to gain skills, technical proficiency, and field practicum hours. Research on its use in social work education has been largely cross-sectional. The purpose of this 9-month qualitative study was to explore the influence of three…

Social work education has been greatly affected by ongoing technological advances in society at large and in the academy. Options for instructional delivery have been broadened tremendously. The University of Louisville is the first in Kentucky to put its master's of social work degree fully online, with a first cohort admitted in 2012. The…

Evidence-based psychosocial interventions are often required for use by behavioral health organizations serving children, youths, and families; however, professionals entering the workforce may not be prepared to meet these demands. To address this concern, barriers to workforce training and preparation for implementation of evidence-based…

Must a master's of social work (MSW) program's orientation be either advanced generalist or some form of specialist? Or is there the possibility of a hybrid curriculum that provides enough breadth to prepare MSW graduates for a wide range of social work jobs, but that also addresses students' and community agencies' demands for student…

The federal government increasingly expects child welfare systems to be more responsive to the needs of their local populations, connect strategies to results, and use continuous quality improvement (CQI) to accomplish these goals. A method for improving decision making, CQI relies on an inflow of high-quality data, up-to-date research evidence,…

This descriptive article explores a collaborative model that blends the dual missions of training social work students to work with military personnel, veterans, and their families while serving student veterans on campus. The model consists of 2 main components: (1) a nationally recognized service component for providing academic, health and…

The destabilization of the current economy has sparked increased interest in entrepreneurship, especially for underrepresented minority social work students. The entrepreneurial thinking of these social work students entering social work programs at historically Black colleges and universities needs to be fostered in a learning environment. This…

Social workers rarely receive education and training in the areas of grief, bereavement, and death and dying, which may lead to difficulties in compassionately and ethically addressing concerns in end-of-life or grief-related contexts. This article presents actual and potential outcomes from three challenging end-of-life case studies using…

Social work education has a long and successful history of developing change agents through bachelor of social work, master's of social work, and PhD programs, but these programs often create boundaries limiting the reach and infusion of social work perspectives. With rapid changes in social, economic, and political contexts, students from all…

The Council on Social Work Education requires schools of social work to meet diversity and social justice competencies. Many MSW programs meet these standards by having either a dedicated diversity and social justice course, or by using some form of diversity and social justice curricular infusion. The current study explored which of these…

This article introduces a curricular innovation, the Integrated Health Scholars Program (IHSP), developed to prepare master's-level social work students for practice in integrated health care settings, and presents preliminary findings related to students' self-reported program competencies and perceptions. IHSP, implemented in a…