Department of Social Work

Robin Ringstad, Ph.D., LCSW, Director / Department Chair

Office: Demergasso-Bava Hall - DBH 122
Phone: (209) 667-3091

Professors: Garcia, Tibrewal, Ringstad, Leyva
Associate Professors: Brodie, Wright
Assistant Professors: Banks, Galvian, Bith-Melander, Rousseau
Lecturers: Collet, Johnson, Berenguer, Sivak, Zamora

Graduate Programs in the Department of Social Work:

Master of Social Work (MSW)   

Program Goals

1. Prepare professional social workers to engage with diverse populations in a process of critical reflection and action to address oppression and promote social justice.
2. Prepare professional social workers to engage in the struggle to understand and transform their biases.
3. Prepare social workers to use an integrative practice framework for multi-system interventions guided by ethics and informed by research.
4. Prepare professional social workers to assume leadership roles in meeting the social service needs of the region.
5. Create a learning environment based on principles of social justice where faculty and students participate in the development of knowledge that contributes to improving the social conditions of the region.
6. Create partnerships with community constituents based on principles of social justice that allow faculty and students to participate, both as leaders and learners, in the development of social work knowledge and service delivery systems.

Student Learning Outcomes/Competencies

The MSW Program intends to graduate social workers who possess and demonstrate core competencies of professional social work practice based on Educational Policies and Accreditation Standards (EPAS).

Competency-based education is an outcome performance approach to curriculum design. Competencies are measurable practice behaviors that are comprised of knowledge, values, and skills. The goal of the outcome approach is to demonstrate the integration and application of the competencies in practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

1. Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior.
2. Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice.
3. Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice.
4. Engage In Practice-informed Research and Research-informed Practice.
5. Engage in Policy Practice.
6. Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities.
7. Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities.
8. Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities.
9. Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities.