Securing Field Placements

In the Foundation Year you are assigned to field placements that will fulfill the requirements for developing your generalist social work practice skills. Advanced Concentration Year students are asked to list some of their choices for field placements. Although the Field Education Department will make every effort, we cannot guarantee that students will be assigned to one of these choices. Students who perform social work-related jobs at their place of employment may wish to consider an Employment-Basedfield placement. Final approval of field sites and instructors is at the discretion of our field education department.

You will find lots of information about field placements in the Field Manual. If you would like to propose a field placement site, you will need to fill out a Proposed Field Site Form and make sure the field placement meets the following criteria. If you work in a social service job (case aide/manager, CASAC, etc.), you may qualify for employment based field placement, as long as you and your agency meet the criteria and your field work is a new assignment with a qualified new field instructor (not your current supervisor.)

Criteria for All Field Placements:

Assignments must follow the plan approved by the Graduate School of Social Work Field Department. The field liaison must be notified immediately of any changes.

1. Foundation Year Assignments
• Direct service assignments provide students with experience in pre-encounter, engagement, exploration, contracting, assessment, ongoing interventions and termination.
• Assignments may include a variety of organization and community work, casework and collateral contacts.
2. Advanced Concentration Year Assignments
• Clinical assignments in the second year provide the students with ongoing counseling opportunities that will further develop engagement, assessment and intervention skills.
• Assignments may include individual group, family and collateral contacts.
• Students should have the opportunity to work with a variety of issues.
3. A qualified field instructor must be assigned. Qualifications include 3 years post-MSW experience, an LMSW, and the Seminar in Field Instruction (SIFI). If your field placement is employment-based, the Employment-Based Field Instructor must differ from the intern’s regular supervisor AND cannot serve as the field instructor for more than 1 academic year.
4. The student’s assignment must be appropriate as a field practicum and accommodate the student’s educational needs in the following ways:
1. The assignment should be considered an educational experience and should be limited in size and scope based on number of hours.
2. The level of assignment must be consistent with the student’s learning needs in field placements.
3. The assignment must include at least one hour per week of individual supervision, plus available time for other learning opportunities.
4. Process Recordings:
   Full-time interns are responsible for writing a minimum of 2 process recordings weekly for the field instructor to review and utilize as a teaching tool. Part-time interns must submit at least 1 process recording weekly. These process recordings should follow school guidelines.

Criteria for Eligible Field Placement:

Students must complete 600 hours of field placement per academic year.

Full-Time (21 Hours) field work assignment includes:

• 10 – 14 hours of direct service assignments.
  (Client contact, collateral contacts)
• 1 hour of field instruction
• 1 hour for process recordings.
• Staff meetings, team conferences, in/service training.

Part-Time (15 Hours) field work assignment includes:

• 7 – 10 hours of direct service assignments.
• 1 hour of field instruction.
• 1 hour for process recordings.
• Staff meetings, team conferences, in/service training.

Criteria for Eligible Employment-Based Field Placement:

An employment-based intern must complete 450 hours of field placement per academic year, in an assignment different from his/her regular work responsibilities that includes a change of program and/or population served.

Full-Time (15 Hours/Week) field work assignment includes:

• 7 – 10 hours of direct service assignments.
• 1 hour of field instruction.
• 1 hour for process recordings.
• Staff meetings, team conferences, in-service training.

Part-Time (11.5 Hours/Week) field work assignment includes:

• 6 – 8 hours of direct service assignments.
• 1 hour of field instruction.
• 1 hour for process recordings.
• Staff meetings, team conferences, in-service training.