SUNY Brockport

Department of Social Work

Welcome to the Undergraduate Social Work Alumni Page!

As an alumnus of the BSW program, the department of social work values your contributions to the profession and to the education of current students. The alumni list serve was created so that alumni can keep in touch with each other/with faculty, post job listings, etc. If you wish to subscribe to the list serve, simply enter your email address and your name in boxes below and click "submit." You will receive a confirmation notice stating that you have been subscribed to the list. Once you've done this, you may send messages to swalumni@list.brockport.edu

Alumni Focus Group
2009

Introduction:

The department of social work believes education is a continual process--strengthening relationships with graduates will benefit current students and faculty in relation to sharing real-life practice experience, shaping curricular design, and much more. Alumni benefit by helping to shape future social work practitioners and the profession itself.

In July of 2009, the Department of Social Work, Undergraduate Program invited BSW graduates to participate in a focus group. The purpose of the focus group was to collect information and feedback about participant’s experience in program in relation to career preparation and graduate education. A series of questions were developed by the Department Chairperson, Field Coordinator, and Assessment Coordinator. A significant number of questions were designed to gain insight about participants’ self-perceived level of competence with regard to the recent shift to competency-based education. Alumni were recruited via email communication from the Assessment Coordinator. Alumni contact information was gathered from the GRCMSW program (current students who were BSW graduates) and from faculty recommendations. The meeting was held at the College’s MetroCenter in downtown Rochester. Comments were recorded by a student office assistant, while the Assessment Coordinator facilitated the group. The summary/conclusion is provided below followed by the detailed results of the group/participants for each question.

Results:

The three participants represent a diverse range of alumni with each graduating at a different time (2000, 2005, and 2007) and having different areas of practice (substance abuse/mental health, children/family services, and mental health). Each had either completed or was in the process of completing their MSW degree. All described their BSW education has having prepared them well for the challenges associated with graduate school; field and course work were helpful to learn/apply knowledge and skills.

When asked to reflect on each of the ten competencies, participants reported they felt prepared to achieve these competencies. Competencies related to critical thinking (2.1.3), diversity (2.1.4), social and economic justice (2.1.5), research (2.1.6), human behavior and the social environment (2.1.7), policy (2.1.8), contexts that shape practice (2.1.9), and the final competency (2.1.10) were described as being very well covered by these alumni. Competency 2.1.2 (Application of ethical principals) was an area that alumni stated was more emphasized in graduate school and in practice than in the classroom. One participant suggested ethics could be more of a focus of the Methods/Practice courses.

When asked how their field placements helped them to apply knowledge and skills, the group described how their learning contracts and journal assignments provided structure and focus. Field supervisors were also described as being knowledgeable and providing effective feedback. One suggestion to improve the field process was to expand placements outside of Monroe County.

When asked if they had suggestions for improving the undergraduate experience, participants described the need to provide more clinical education/coursework as these students didn’t feel prepared for the types of mental health assessment and intervention work expected by their agencies and current employer. One student took elective mental health courses at another institution because Brockport didn’t offer them. As practicing social workers all suggested that recent BSW and MSW grads need more training in the DSM and other aspects of mental health service provision.

Alumni provided a number of suggestions to improve the BSW website including an emphasis on the variety of job opportunities SW has to offer, faculty expertise, flexibility to take course at Metro and on-campus, and providing information about what graduates are doing with their degrees (jobs, etc.).

Other suggestions included targeting agencies as a potential market for elective courses as there is a need for ongoing education, but agencies don’t always know what is available. The supportive learning services at Brockport (student learning center) and the positive impact the SSWO has on students’ development should also be emphasized to potential students.

Limitations:
The primary limitation of this report is the information is based on a small number of alumni participants. Future options for collecting information from alumni may include online surveys and more frequent social gatherings between alumni, faculty, and current students.