Course Descriptions

BPH300 Human Biology (3 cr.)

This course introduces fundamental aspects of human physiology with emphasis on organ systems, their components, and their functions.  Students compare states of health and disease across the lifespan spectrum.  Topics include introductions to human physiology, organ systems, cell biology, and genetics.  The molecular bases for physiologic processes are introduced.  The roles of exercise, nutrition, lifestyle, aging, and the environment on states of health are introduced in relation to fundamental physiological principles.  

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following. 

1. Describe the functions of different organ systems and their constituent components.
2. Explain what a gene is and how genetic regulation and differences contribute to normal physiology as well as diversity and disease.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of how lifestyle affects physiology and ultimately an individual’s state of health or disease. 

BPH400 Foundations of Public Health (3 cr.)

This course provides an overview of the discipline of public health by introducing concepts and structures essential to the promotion of a healthy society.  Emphasis is placed on viewing health and disease from a population perspective in comparison to that of the individual.  The history of the field of public health, the major institutions in the U.S. and worldwide, and critical concepts such as the roles of communication, human behavior, and cultural competence are introduced. 

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Differentiate between the concepts of individual health and public health.
2. Discuss the history of public health initiatives and their impact on local and global health. 
3. Examine the relationship between biological, environmental, developmental, and socio-economic domains of health and disease.
4. Describe interventions of epidemiological research, primary prevention, program development, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of such interventions.
5. Discuss the concept of social determinants of health.
6. Outline the structures and functions of the U.S. public health system.

BPH405 Measurement and Statistics for Health Professionals (3 cr.)

This course introduces students to the use of data, measurement, and basic statistics in the field of public health. This introduction to biostatistics provides an overview of data collection, sample sizes, normality of data sets, basic measurement statistics, parametric and non-parametric statistical comparisons, and statistical significance. Students apply concepts through in-class labs and real world data collection.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1.  Apply basic statistical methods.          
2.  Describe the role of data in making inferences and decisions about comparison groups, treatments, and interventions. 
3.  Examine data sets for suitability for statistical analysis.
4.  Use a statistical software package to perform basic statistical analyses. 
5.  Understand approaches to data collection, data evaluation, and statistical comparisons.

BPH410 Introduction to Epidemiology (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): BPH400 , BPH405 , HHSM302  
This introductory course considers the meaning, scope, and applications of epidemiology to public health practice and the uses of vital statistical data in the scientific appraisal of community health. Students learn and apply basic epidemiology concepts within a population-based framework, and examine the study of determinants and distributions of disease in the population.  More broadly, students analyze and research health outcomes using a population health lens. Students actively apply epidemiological concepts to current health environments, health trends, emerging research, acute and chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and evolving public health concerns/problems.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1.  Define elements of the field of epidemiology and examples of problems that are addressed by epidemiologists. 
2.  Describe the contributions of the field of epidemiology to public health.
3.  Discuss how health data are collected, analyzed, and used to study diseases in populations.
4.  Differentiate between a statistical association and a causal relationship. 

BPH415 Health Policy and Ethics (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): HHSM302  
This course explores the concepts of legal, ethical, economical, and regulatory dimensions of healthcare and public health policy, and the roles, influences and responsibilities of the different agencies and branches of government.
 

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Examine the relationship between policy decisions and their effects on community systems and social change.
2. Understand the roles of both governmental and non-governmental agencies in healthcare and public health policy.
3. Identify and relate codes, regulations, and laws to public health issues, including vaccination, drinking water, work place safety, food safety, gun violence, and motor vehicle safety.
4. Analyze the significance of ethical values and beliefs, and the roles they play in decision making.

BPH425 Principles of Population Health and Disease (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): BPH300 , BPH400 , HHSM302  
This course provides an introduction to common diseases and their biological and behavioral bases. The relationship between individual health and behavior, and population health and behavior are explored. Acute and chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and their prevention and treatments are described and discussed. The roles that social determinants play in health and diseases are examined.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Discuss current diseases of societal importance and their biological and behavioral bases.
2. Identify the determinants of health outcomes both within and across groups of individuals.
3. Analyze the socio-economic impact on health status within populations.
4. Articulate the socio-ecological models of population health, including community organizations, social networks, institutional factors, public policy, and individual characteristics.
5. Describe the interaction between biological, genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors on health across the lifespan continuum.
6. Identify a spectrum of public health interventions that address specific diseases, including the challenges to their implementation.

BPH430 Community and Behavioral Aspects of Public Health (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): BPH400 , HHSM302  
This course introduces students to theories and approaches behind health behavior change.  It is an overview of health behaviors that contribute most dramatically to morbidity and mortality.  This course emphasizes public health interventions and strategies to transform unhealthy behaviors into healthy behaviors, how to promote that change, and barriers to affecting such change.  Behaviors are examined from multiple perspectives – individual, social, environmental – with a systems perspective in mind. Current research and theory are applied to behavior change interventions to better understand the roles of health disparities, policy, current political environments, and contemporary research.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Identify aspects of human psychology and sociology that impact the ability to change behavior.
2. Describe successes and failures in directed health-behavioral changes and causes related to change management.
3. Develop example behavioral change programs, and evaluate their likelihood for success.
4. Examine patterns, outcomes, risk factors, and interventions related to behaviors and associated health problems.  

BPH435 Public Health Communication (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): BPH400 , HHSM302  
This course explores fundamentals of public health communication’s role in the healthcare delivery structures, the evolution of healthcare reform, and emergency preparedness. Students explore the roles that health literacy and overall public understanding of health-related concepts and data play in development and implementation of communication strategies.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Build skills needed to inform and educate people about health issues, including understanding and using appropriate health literacy approaches.
2. Apply skills needed to influence people to adopt healthy behaviors and lifestyles using multiple media, including written, verbal, and technological modalities.
3. Identify best practices in using social marketing and media as part of a strategy for designing an effective public health campaign.
4. Examine the latest communication innovations, tools, technologies, research, and strategies used in the public health field.

BPH440 Introduction to Public Health Program Planning and Development (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): BPH400 , BPH410 , BPH435 , HHSM302  
This class provides students with the tools for planning effective public health interventions. Students learn about conducting needs assessments, developing intervention strategies involving community stakeholders, project and budget management, and writing grant proposals.  

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Identify and study a public health organization based on an intervention topic.
2. Review best practice methods and techniques in relation to program development, including stakeholder involvement and needs assessment tools.
3. Propose a program and develop goals and objectives, using a health education logic model.
4. Plan an intervention strategy based on appropriate behavior change models.
5. Identify a project management system and action plan for implementing a program.
6. Understand funding sources/cycles and grant application writing and submission as part of the program planning and development process.

BPH445 Introduction to Public Health Program Implementation and Evaluation (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): BPH400 , BPH410 , BPH430 , BPH435 , HHSM302  
This class provides students with the tools for implementing and evaluating public health programs, following the planning and development stages.  Students learn applicable skills such as project management, working with community stakeholders, and collecting and analyzing data.  Effective program evaluation, compliance, reporting, and quality improvement techniques are explored.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Discuss application of an intervention strategy based on appropriate behavior change models.
2. Demonstrate how to effectively identify and engage a community stakeholder gathering.
3. Review and analyze data related to measuring the effectiveness of public health programs.
4. Assess quality improvement techniques to determine if public health project goals have been met.
5. Demonstrate how to effectively communicate public health programs and supporting information through written and oral methods.

BPH490 Applied Public Health Experience-Capstone (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): Completion of all required BPH courses and general education requirements must be completed or taken concurrently.
This summative course integrates the skills and knowledge developed in previous coursework and applies them to a practice-based project.  Students select a focused problem, challenge, or question pertaining to the practice of public health. This full semester course includes a public health field experience, a research paper, and a final presentation related to the student’s professional goals.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Describe the social, behavioral, and cultural frameworks in public health that promote positive change within a focused aspect of the discipline.
2. Analyze the impact of public health strategies on a local problem and relate this to regional and global problems.        
3. Synthesize related literature on a focused public health topic into written and verbal summaries.
4. Summarize the challenges and opportunities that affect the public health within one or more public health agencies.
5. Create professional goals and career development strategies designed to impact the job seeking process for the individual student.

MPH600 Principles of Public Health (3 cr.)

This course provides an overview of the public health field to begin to explore the gaps and inequities in health outcomes.  Students consider the history of public health practice and research, national and global structural institutions, and basic concepts and theories that inform public health practice.  Emphasis is placed on healthy equity from a population perspective. Major data and research resources are reviewed to support future research endeavors.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Relate public health history, philosophy, and values to current programs or initiatives.
2. Understand the core functions of public health, public health goal setting, and how measurements are used in reaching policy and programmatic outcomes.
3. Describe the current healthcare field as it relates to population health.
4. Identify and use public health behavioral theories, interventions, and strategies to describe examples of public health and how they contribute to population health and health equities.
5. Define the fields of environmental health, community health, epidemiology, biostatistics, and their interrelationship.
6. Articulate the interrelationship between international, federal, state, local, and community organizations and how they contribute to population health and health inequities.
7. Locate and use key public health data sources.
8. Summarize and analyze current literature and research on public health topics.

MPH605 Foundations of Biostatistics (3 cr.)

This course covers the appropriate use of data in characterizing the health of a population and provides an overview of probability and statistical inference in public health. Students learn the principles of collecting, analyzing, and presenting data. Topics include random variation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, chi-square distribution, and linear regression.  Students apply concepts through in-class labs that evaluate statistics used in public health publications.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Describe the role of biostatistics in planning, conducting, analyzing, and interpreting public health research.
2. Apply basic statistical methods commonly used with public health data.
3. Use a statistical software package to perform basic statistical analyses, including descriptive and inferential techniques.
4. Identify the principal national and state public health data sets that are available for analyses.
5. Articulate the benefits and pitfalls of using statistical significance in interpreting findings.
6. Evaluate the use and interpretation of statistical analyses in public health publications.

MPH610 Social and Behavioral Aspects of Public Health (3 cr.)

This course provides an overview of social, cultural, and behavioral aspects that influence public health.  Students examine socio-cultural structures related to behavioral health, and apply concepts and theories to begin to address community health issues.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Articulate behavioral and psychological factors that affect a population’s health.
2. Distinguish social determinants of health from biological and other determinants of health.
3. Analyze the social structures that influence health status and behavior in individuals and populations.
4. Use an ecological or systemic analysis to analyze individual, community, and population level problems in mental health, addiction, obesity/nutrition, and violence.
5. Identify the most important considerations in choosing the right theory to address a health behavior problem in a particular population and context.
6. Apply basic theories, concepts, and models used in public health interventions.

MPH615 Principles of Epidemiology (3 cr.)

This course provides basic epidemiologic concepts and methods for public health practitioners, including an understanding of various measures of risk, disease, and mortality in populations. Students learn types of epidemiologic strategies used to examine associations between risk factors and morbidity and mortality and how to distinguish between a statistical association and a causal relationship.  The course includes an overview of chronic and infectious disease epidemiology using historical and current public health challenges. In addition to studying various aspects of disease in populations, the importance and types of disease prevention are included.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Distinguish between a clinical and a population approach to risk factors and disease.
2. Articulate biological and genetic factors that affect a population’s health.
3. List major causes and trends in morbidity and mortality in the United States or other large population.
4. Illustrate how globalization affects global burdens of disease.
5. Calculate and interpret common epidemiologic measures (incidence and prevalence rates, relative risk, odds ratios) to draw appropriate inferences.
6. Discuss how various epidemiologic studies (cross-sectional, case-control, cohort, ecologic, and intervention) are used to study statistical associations between risk factors and disease or death outcomes.
7. Critically evaluate strengths and weaknesses of epidemiologic methods.
8. Use an existing database to describe risk factor prevalence and morbidity and mortality rates for a specific disease in a specific geographic area.
9. Differentiate between a statistical association and a causal relationship between a risk factor and a health outcome. 
10. Discuss the science of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention in population health including health promotion and the use of clinical prevention services.
11. Identify ethical and legal implications of epidemiologic practice.
12.  Interpret epidemiological data, evaluating the strengths and limitations of epidemiologic reports.
13. Interpret results of data analysis in technical and lay language both in writing and through oral presentation.      

MPH620 Environmental Determinants of Health (3 cr.)

This course examines how urban and rural environmental factors, including social, physical, and chemical, are examined as determinants of health, with an emphasis on current topics related to national issues and laws and strategies used to reduce or eliminate health threats and provide health equity.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Relate key concepts and strategies of environmental sciences to public health practice in various situations.
2. Explain an ecological perspective on the connections among human health, animal health, and ecosystem health (e.g., One Health)
3. Identify contributing factors, such as biological susceptibility, social, political, and economic determinants of health, to individual and population vulnerability, health, and health inequity.
4. Analyze possible impacts of a range of environmental factors, including changes in demographics, economics, energy demand, climate, and pollution, on human health and food and water security.
5. Articulate roles, policies, and regulations of agencies and institution involved in regulating and mitigating environmental and occupational risks.
6. Connect the concepts of equity, justice, and sustainability to proposed health and environment solutions.
7. Identify opportunities for and barriers to sustainable changes to promote health, well-being, and equity.

MPH630 Public Health Research and Analysis (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): all MPH core courses
This course provides an overview of quantitative and qualitative research study design, data collection, and analysis. Ethical issues in health studies and research are explored within the context of research studies and data algorithms.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Analyze the critical importance of evidence in advancing public health knowledge.
2. Interpret and synthesize related literature as a foundation to a research study.
3. Analyze ethical aspects of research, including informed consent.
4. Select and evaluate the most appropriate methodology and research design for studies.
5. Analyze the cultural context and bias in research design and interpretation.
6. Apply quantitative and qualitative methods and science in describing and assessing a population’s health.
7. Interpret and apply the principles of the ethical practice of public health.

MPH635 Design of Community Health Programs and Interventions (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): all MPH core courses
This course explores the research and process of designing effective public health programs and interventions.  Students use tools and techniques to engage and involve communities, assess community needs, and create appropriate, evidence-based programs and interventions with an emphasis on health equity. Topics include behavior change theory, logic models, community engagement and participation, rationale development, and timeline and budget creation.  

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Define the presence of a community or potential community and its subgroups to ensure appropriate place-based public health initiatives.
2. Create and use tools that assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities’ health.
3. Select appropriate strategies for different audiences and sectors.
4. Develop a realistic and valid logic model to support program development.
5. Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design or implementation of public health policies or programs with a focus on health equity.
6. Critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of program design strategies for different populations and situations.
7. Apply basic principles and tools of budget and resource management.
8. Integrate public health behavior change theories, interventions, and strategies into community engagement, organizing, and outreach.
9. Outline expected outcomes to be measured through evaluation.

MPH640 Evaluation of Community Health Programs and Interventions (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): all MPH core courses and MPH635  
This course builds upon concepts and experiences of MPH635 Design of Community Health and Interventions.  Qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods for design and implementation are explored using real examples and experiential learning.  Topics include survey development and execution, interview and focus group design and practice, return on investment, reporting, and communicating evaluation results.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Provide rationale for program evaluation in a variety of circumstances.
2. Critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of evaluation tools for different populations and situations.
3. Critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of evaluation methodologies for different populations and situations.
4. Select quantitative and qualitative data collection and evaluation methods appropriate for a given public health context.
5. Create effective evaluation tools to meet the needs of identified populations.
6. Implement an effective program evaluation.
7. Use evaluation analyses to suggest future program development.
8. Use a combination of communication avenues (oral, written, and visual) to explain evaluation purpose, methods, and findings. 

MPH645 Population Health and Community Organizing (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): all MPH core courses
In this course, students focus on community organizing as a process for collaborative efforts among communities and organizations to identify public health issues, set mutual goals, assess and gather resources, and develop actions to address them in a culturally-competent manner.

Upon completion of this course, students are exepcted to be able to do the following:

1. Identify community assets and resources toward building community health initiatives.
2. Assess community characteristics and capacities in order engage community members as equals in identifying, mobilizing, and addressing public health issues together.
3. Articulate methods to build social capital among people and organizations to work toward mutually beneficial public health goals.
4. Practice cultural humility to appreciate, value, and celebrate cultural differences.
5. Apply community organizing models to community health initiatives.
6. Articulate the role and ethical implications of health educators working in community organizing.
7. Plan community public health collaborations with other sectors, including faith communities, public safety, public officials, civic organizations, and urban and rural planning agencies.
8. Build and maintain community and individual partnerships through the use and promotion of leadership, team building, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills.

MPH650 Health Promotion and Communication (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): all MPH core courses and MPH645  
In this course, students learn to plan educational, political, environmental, regulatory, and organizational mechanisms that promote and support wellness conditions and activities for individuals, populations, or communities.  Social media and technology use, marketing methods, and visual and group communication strategies are explored as means to create and disseminate understandable public health information and data.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Analyze the perspectives and features of a public health communications campaign.
2. Apply basic marketing methods and psychology to public health communications.
3. Plan a comprehensive social media strategy to promote a public health initiative.
4. Incorporate public health statistical and scientific information into communications in a clear, relevant, and meaningful way to the intended audience.

MPH680 Field Experience Part I (1 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): program director permission
Students select a public health agency, nonprofit, or private institution in which to apply and integrate skills and knowledge gained in the program. At least 240 hours over the 4 credit experience must be completed on a field project arranged with the organization and meeting program guidelines, preferably at one site. A portfolio approach is used to assess student performance and demonstration of competencies.

Upon completion of the course students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Demonstration at least five program outcomes, three of which must be foundational, aligned with the field project.
2. Articulate an understanding of public health organizational and policy issues, administration, research, funding mechanisms, programming, and challenges faced by the organization.
3. Demonstrate leadership skills in the design, implementation, and/or evaluation of public health programs.

MPH681 Field Experience Part II (1 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): Pre/co-requisite: MPH680  
Students select a public health agency, nonprofit, or private institution in which to apply and integrate skills and knowledge gained in the program. At least 240 hours over the 4 credits must be completed on a field project arranged with the organization and meeting program guidelines, preferably at one site. A portfolio approach is used to assess student performance and demonstration of competencies.

Upon completion of the course students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Demonstration at least five program outcomes, three of which must be foundational, aligned with the field project.
2. Articulate an understanding of public health organizational and policy issues, administration, research, funding mechanisms, programming, and challenges faced by the organization.
3. Demonstrate leadership skills in the design, implementation, and/or evaluation of public health programs.

MPH682 Field Experience Part III (1 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): Pre/co-requisite: MPH681  
Students select a public health agency, nonprofit, or private institution in which to apply and integrate skills and knowledge gained in the program. At least 240 hours over the 4 credits must be completed on a field project arranged with the organization and meeting program guidelines, preferably at one site. A portfolio approach is used to assess student performance and demonstration of competencies.

Upon completion of the course students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Demonstration at least five program outcomes, three of which must be foundational, aligned with the field project.
2. Articulate an understanding of public health organizational and policy issues, administration, research, funding mechanisms, programming, and challenges faced by the organization.
3. Demonstrate leadership skills in the design, implementation, and/or evaluation of public health programs.

MPH683 Field Experience Part IV (1 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): Pre/co-requisite: MPH682  
Students select a public health agency, nonprofit, or private institution in which to apply and integrate skills and knowledge gained in the program. At least 240 hours over the 4 credits must be completed on a field project arranged with the organization and meeting program guidelines, preferably at one site. A portfolio approach is used to assess student performance and demonstration of competencies.

Upon completion of the course students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Demonstration at least five program outcomes, three of which must be foundational, aligned with the field project.
2. Articulate an understanding of public health organizational and policy issues, administration, research, funding mechanisms, programming, and challenges faced by the organization.
3. Demonstrate leadership skills in the design, implementation, and/or evaluation of public health programs.

MPH690 Integrative Learning Capstone (2 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): All MPH requirements; co-requisite MPH680 , MPH681 , MPH682 , MPH683 
This course provides the opportunity to demonstrate the development of an essential set of competencies expected for a masters-prepared student in public health. This capstone course culminates in the efforts of the MPH field experience courses, and students are required to develop grant proposals. Each student develops a poster presentation that summarizes the grant proposal, and the poster is of professional quality. Students should be prepared to describe their grant proposals orally to peers and professionals.

Upon completion of the course students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Pose a public health grant proposal idea.
2. Conduct a review of relevant literature.
3. Analyze public health data.
4. Make evidence-based recommendations to address identified issue.
5. Develop a grant proposal for a public health program using a given grant application template.
6. Design and present a poster presentation to peers and professionals.

MSW600 History and Philosophy of Social Work and Social Welfare (3 cr.)

In tracing their corresponding historical trajectories, this course examines the assumptions, values, and events that have shaped social welfare policy in the United States and the profession of social work. Social work values, principles, and ethics are grounded in the social, economic, political, and cultural contexts from which they evolved. Social welfare policy is examined within its historical context with particular attention given to the legacies of poverty, racism, sexism, and heterosexism.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Compare the distinctive attributes of contemporary social work professionals within the social work profession’s historical evolution and the societal context in which it continues to evolve. (G1c)
2. Identify and govern one’s own values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in congruence with the professional values and ethics of social work as outlined in the NASW Code of Ethics. (G2g)(G2e)
3. Evaluate how social work policies and functions at all practice levels serve to stimulate or impede advancement of human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice. (G3b)(G2f)
4. Identify inherent injustices, biases, and barriers in social work functions at all practice levels. (G3c)(G2e)(G2f)
5. Design and promote ethical responses to societal injustices by drawing on the profession’s rich legacy of fomenting social change. (G3c)
6. Examine the successes and failures of existing and developing social policies in protecting human rights and promoting the dignity and worth of all individuals. (G5a) (G2c)
7. Apply social work ethics, values, and its legacy of leadership in creating positive and progressive social change at all levels of society. (G5b)

MSW601 History and Philosophy of Social Work Advanced Standing Student Orientation (0 cr.)

This zero credit course briefly examines the assumptions, values, and events that have shaped the profession of social work.  Social workers must have a solid understanding of the unique approaches that set the profession apart from others. This self-paced orientation is designed to provide Advanced Standing students with a brief overview of the social work profession prior to enrollment in clinical social work classes.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Describe the distinctive attributes of contemporary social work professionals within the profession’s historical evolution and the societal context in which it continues to evolve.
2. Design and promote ethical responses to societal injustices by drawing on the profession’s rich legacy of fomenting social change.
3. Summarize and apply social work ethics, values, and its legacy of leadership in creating positive and progressive social change at all levels of society.

MSW605 Generalist Practice I: Individuals and Families (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite MSW600 
This course provides the foundation for social work with individuals and families. Utilizing frameworks such as ecosystemic theory, cultural context, and a developmental lens, students learn basic concepts and methods for engagement, assessment, and intervention. Students also learn basic skills for evaluating interventions and reflecting on the social worker’s professional role and use of self in clinical relationships with individuals and families.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Identify reflective skills and facilitate self-assessment of values and core beliefs as relevant to engagement with individuals and families. (G1b)(G2e)
2. Develop a critical understanding of the potential impact of diverse developmental experiences (G2b)
3. Compare theories of clinical practice. (C2b)
4. Articulate basic tenets of clinical social work theoretical models as they apply to engagement with individuals and families. (G6b)
5. Practice basic social work methods and techniques for responsively and effectively engaging with both individuals and families across a diverse range of communities and contexts. (G6c)(G2c)

MSW607 Generalist Practice II: Groups and Large (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): MSW605  
This course provides the foundation for social work practice with groups, organizations, and communities as vehicles of change to promote individual and community well-being. Students learn the principles and processes of group work, group facilitation and leadership skills, and strategies to apply group work principles toward collaboratively identified outcomes. Utilizing frameworks such as ecosystemic theory and models of collective action, students critically reflect on the ethical use of self as an essential resource to engage and sustain participatory collaborative action within and among diverse constituencies.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Identify standards of the NASW Code of Ethics and relevant laws and regulations that promote or impinge upon participatory action. (G1a)
2. Examine how group facilitation and leadership skills are used to engage, support, and sustain varied forms of group work, including participatory collaborative action, among diverse stakeholders. (G1b)(G1g)(G2c)
3. Analyze the relationship between the profession’s commitment to democratic participation in group decision making and one’s developing professional social work identity. (G1c)(G1g)
4. Summarize information on the work of groups actively responding to specific economic, social, racial, and cultural factors that affect community well-being. (G3a)
5. Propose and comparatively evaluate strategies by which a group, organization, or community can advocate for policy or practice change to promote human rights and social justice. (G3b)(G2c)(G9c)
6. Produce clear, coherent, accurate, and inclusive oral and written communication about the processes and outcomes of group work for internal and external audiences. (G6d)(G9c)(G1F)
7. Demonstrate appreciative curiosity to understand how interpersonal dynamics and contextual factors may strengthen and potentially threaten group cohesion and efficacy. (G6e)(G2c)
8. Identify, collect, and present relevant information to support the work of groups, organizations, or communities in establishing priorities for action. (G7a, G7b)(G1g)
9. Articulate the unifying values, goals, and expectations of the members of a group, organization, or community to balance self-determination and interdependence in sociocultural context. (G7d, G7e)
10. Explain how the contribution of professional social work knowledge or experience can enhance capacities of group members or the group as a whole to achieve its goals. (G8a)(G8e)
11. Critique the range of strategies that may be required to negotiate, mediate, and advocate between group members and on behalf of a group’s articulated goals. (G8d)(G8e)
12. Articulate how informal and formal procedures and rules function to limit or enhance interdependence, inclusion, and self-determination within and between groups, organizations, or communities. (G8e)(G2f)
13. Appraise the role of self-advocacy groups in establishing, monitoring, and changing definitions of success embedded in practice, program, and policy outcomes. (C9a)(G9c)
14. Determine practice outcome evaluation methodologies that value the cultural strengths, expertise, and perspectives embedded in groups, organizations, and communities. (G9a)
15. Infer short- and long-term practice improvement goals that participatory action groups may adopt based on relevant practice or program evaluation findings. (G9d)(G9c)

MSW610 Human Behavior in the Social Environment I: Families, Groups, Organizations, and Society (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW600  
This course is the first of three courses exploring human development and behavior across the lifespan. Consistent with social work principles, human behavior and interactions are examined through person-in-environment and strengths-based perspectives.  In this foundational course, students acquire knowledge of multiple theories of human bio-psycho-social development as well as major conceptual frameworks for understanding human interactions within families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Summarize major theories of human behavior, including ecological, systems, psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, and lifespan developmental frameworks and the usefulness of each theory in building effective engagement with client populations. (G6b)
2. Analyze how privileged ideologies, theories, and social narratives contribute to implicit biases which, in turn, hamper engagement with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities across the broad spectrum of human diversity.  (G6b)(G2c)
3. Illustrate the strengths and limitations of each theory of human behavior in assessing the strengths and needs of clients and constituencies.  (G7c)(G2c)
4. Examine how the conceptualization of the relative strengths and needs of each client population is altered by the theoretical perspective through which it is viewed. (G7c)(G2c)
5. Analyze how each framework studied influences intervention strategies and tactics. (G8b)
6. Interpret how each theoretical framework of human behavior provides benchmarks for successful social work practices with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. (G9b)
7. Summarize the cumulative influence of theoretical conceptualization in social work practice, including early engagement with clients, assessing client strengths and needs, providing appropriate intervention, and evaluating effectiveness of those interventions.  (G9b)

MSW612 Human Behavior in the Social Environment II: Culture, Economics, and Social Justice (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): MSW610 
Human Behavior in the Social Environment II investigates the impact of culture, race, economics, privilege, and discrimination on – and on the perception of – human development, behavior, and interactions within society. This investigation utilizes previously introduced developmental theories and conceptual frameworks and presents new theories and models designed to embrace human diversity and promote social justice.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Articulate a fundamental understanding of the strengths, challenges, and lived experiences of individuals marginalized in society (due to culture, race, ability, age, economics, gender, sexuality, religion, privilege, etc.). (G2a)
2. Examine the privileged narratives and ideologies in society and how those narratives and ideologies can foster implicit bias within all levels of social work practice.  (G2b)(G2e)(G2f)
3. Identify current and historical patterns of socially-sanctioned bias and injustice embedded with social structures, social policies, and systems of social welfare and control.  (G2b)(G2f)
4. Explore personal judgments, attitudes, beliefs, or biases that might hinder or prevent effective social work practice across the breadth of human diversity.   (G2g)(G2c)(G2e)
5. Articulate a context-dependent understanding of the risks, benefits, obstacles, and biases inherent in engaging with individuals, families, and groups of people within client populations marginalized by culture, status, privilege, non-conforming/non-dominant ideologies, behaviors, or characteristics. (G6b)(G2c)
6. Assess the impact of positional and cultural power and privilege in building trust and engagement within marginalized communities.  (G6b)
7. Identify the underlying context of assumptions, ideologies, history, and values in which each theoretical framework of human behavior developed. (G7c)
8. Evaluate the suitability of each theoretical framework to assess the strengths and needs of individuals, families, and groups of people whose assumptions, ideologies, history, and values differ from the framework’s foundational assumptions, ideologies, history, and values. (G7c)(G2c)
9. Illustrate, using both historical and current examples, how the function of assessing client needs can be co-opted as a tool for social control, social conformity, and the perpetuation of structures of privilege. (G7c)
10. Explore the ideological assumptions, judgments, and values underlying the intervention strategies associated with each theoretical framework.  (G8b)
11. Analyze the suitability and limitations of intervention strategies to effectively serve client populations across the breadth of human experience and diversity. (G8b)(G9c)
12. Compare and contrast the significance of socially normative benchmarks for successful social work practice with the ideologies, assumptions, beliefs, and values of the client population served. (G9b)
13. Examine social work practices developed within the socio-cultural context of specific marginalized populations. (G9b)
14. Analyze the positive and negative impact of individual social work practices and policies on the communal health and functioning of marginalized client groups. (G9b)(G2c)

MSW614 Psychopathology (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): MSW612  or Advanced Setting
This course builds upon the foundation of HBSE I and II and introduces a biopsychosocial framework for typical, atypical, and pathological development throughout the lifespan. The concepts of mental health, mental illness, and diagnosis are explored using theory and historical and current contextual factors. This course also focuses on clinical assessment, case formulation, and diagnostic processes utilizing criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and other relevant tools.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Identify ethical standards, best practices, and decision-making models relevant to the provision of mental health assessment and diagnosis. (G1a)
2. Demonstrate professional social work writing standards for case formulations, diagnostic assessments, and treatment plans using a collaborative, strengths-based, and developmentally informed perspective.  (G1e) (G6d)
3. Culturally contextualize the constructs of mental health symptoms,  and examine the role of historical trauma, inequity,  and other factors in the privileging of certain social norms of behavior. (C2b)(G2c)
4. Develop a critical understanding of the impact and power of the social worker’s role in mental health diagnosis, including client access to services, stigma, and other negative consequences of diagnosis. (G6a)
5. Identify strategies for promoting client self-determination throughout  the diagnostic and treatment planning process. (G6a)
6. Demonstrate formulation of individual and systemic intervention goals which honor client self-determination, are culturally responsive, and integrate client strengths, preferences, and needs. (G7d)
7. Demonstrate proficiency in the DSM-5 diagnostic categories, diagnoses, and criteria while also discussing relevant historical, cultural, social, and contextual factors in the a) establishment and utilization of the DSM-5 as a clinical instrument and b) medical model of mental health diagnosis. (C7a)
8. Within the context of diagnosis and treatment planning, identify effective interventions for individuals, including advocacy for client needs within broader systemic contexts. (G8b)
9. Apply a client-centered, culturally responsive framework to evaluate goals, objectives, and interventions in mental health treatment planning. (G9b)(G2c)(G9c)

MSW620 Social Work Research (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): MSW600 
The profession of social work is built upon practice informed research and research informed practice. This class provides the student with an understanding of how to design a research project, both single subject and larger subject, from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Students understand how to read research on best-practice, using their knowledge of research to critically analyze the research and apply it to their practice. They also learn how to bring practice knowledge into social work research.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Evaluate the value and impact of questions posed in published research for the practice community and clients. (G4a)(G4d)
2. Develop research questions that recognize and distinguish between pathology and various social conditions, such as poverty, social inequality, person and environment language. (G4a)(G2f)
3. Examine the complementary relationship between qualitative and quantitative research findings about social work assessment, intervention, or other practice questions. (G4b)
4. Articulate procedures to ethically and systematically generate data during in vivo social work assessment and intervention processes. (G4d)(G9c)
5. Reflect on the importance of personal agency in professional development generally and in guiding practice-related research inquiry specifically.  (C4a)
6. Scale research design for self-directed practice inquiry and improvement. (G4c; C4e)

MSW625 Social Policy (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): MSW600 
Through a human rights lens, this course introduces major social welfare policies and programs as they affect universal access to human dignity and well-being in a pluralistic society. Students learn about the synergistic relationship between policy development and micro-, mezzo-, and macro-level social work practice. Students also learn common approaches to formulate, analyze, and evaluate policy options in collaboration with constituents and colleagues.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Analyze the tensions and ethical dilemmas inherent in professional practice around policies or programs that perpetuate or respond imperfectly to the historic effects of oppression, discrimination, and trauma. (G1a)(G2f)
2. Differentiate between evidence about the general effectiveness of a policy and evidence about effectiveness of the policy in a specific cultural context. (G5a)
3. Organize information from individuals, organizations, or groups to describe how proposed policies or policy changes may differentially affect social, economic, and environmental conditions for diverse community members.  (C5a)(G2f)
4. Use policy proposals and related evidence to predict impact on client and constituency well-being at the local level. (C5b)
5. Use policy proposals and related evidence to predict impact on access to and delivery of social services at the local level. (G5b)
6. Select advocacy strategies that maximize capacities for self-determination and self-advocacy and promote accountability to policy-affected clients and constituencies. (G5c)
7. Map complementary pathways from social work practice research to specific policy changes, and from specific policies to practice adaptations. (G5d)
8. Examine how a false dichotomy between social work practice and policy making related to social, economic, and environmental issues has contributed to or perpetuated the historic effects of oppression, discrimination, and trauma. (G5d)(G2f)

MSW645 Generalist Field Experience I with Seminar (200 hours) (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW605  
Students in the generalist curriculum serve and learn for a total of 400 hours in an assigned supervised professional practice setting to acquire a broad understanding of the field of social work, to recognize and use generalist principles and concepts, and to assess and then select intervention methods to meet individual, group, family, and community needs. The concurrent Integrative Field Seminar uses an appreciative inquiry approach to focus on generalist social work practice, emphasizing issues of diversity, ethics, social advocacy, social change, and social, economic, and environmental justice. The seminar integrates theory and evidence-based practice knowledge with students’ first-hand application of knowledge and skills as they encounter social work roles, values, and ethics in the field.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Adapt oral and written communication to meet client capacities for language, literacy, and speech. (G1d, G1e)
2. Demonstrate initiative to acquire from clients, colleagues, and community partners an appreciative working knowledge of the history and culture of the host agency and of the clients and communities it serves. (G2a, G2d)
3. Identify the influence of factors related to social, economic, and environmental justice, including the agency’s intervention strategies, in bio-psycho-social-spiritual and ecological case analyses. (G3a, G3b)
4. Generate a meaningful research question about social work practice situated within a problem statement and a summary of relevant research frameworks relevant to the host agency and its constituencies. (G4c)
5. Recommend advocacy opportunities based on a systematic scan [or SWOT analysis] of active policy issues at the organization, community, state, and federal levels that could affect the host agency and its constituencies. (G5b, G5c)
6. Demonstrate the dispositions of acceptance, curiosity, empathy, optimism, and positive regard consistently in verbal and nonverbal communication with diverse client systems. (G6b,G6c, G6e)
7. Constructively engage client systems in gathering information, interpreting facts or patterns, and making decisions about services and service providers in relation to identified needs or goals. (G7a,G7c, G7d, G7e)
8. Exhibit empathy and persistence to establish and sustain trust during the assessment process. (G7a,G7c, G7d, G7e)
9. Model tolerance for ambiguity in the process of change and intervention. (G8b,G8c, G8d; C8b)
10. Commit to intervention tasks and roles that fully span, and respect the limits of, (the scope of practice that corresponds to) the placement role in the host agency.(G8b,G8c, G8d; C8b)
11. Recognize and critique the influence of mezzo and macro level forces on the institutionalization of definitions and measures of therapeutic outcomes. (G9d; C9a)
12. Advocate for adoption of definitions and measures of therapeutic outcomes of unique value in specific sociocultural contexts. (G9d; C9a)

MSW647 Generalist Field Experience II with Seminar (200 hours) (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): MSW645  

Co-requisite(s): MSW607 
Students in the generalist curriculum serve and learn for a total of 400 hours in an assigned supervised professional practice setting to acquire a broad understanding of the field of social work, to recognize and use generalist principles and concepts, and to assess and then select intervention methods to meet individual, group, family, and community needs. The concurrent Integrative Field Seminar uses an appreciative inquiry approach to focus on generalist social work practice, emphasizing issues of diversity, ethics, social advocacy, social change, and social, economic, and environmental justice. The seminar integrates theory and evidence-based practice knowledge with students’ first-hand application of knowledge and skills as they encounter social work roles, values, and ethics in the field.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Adapt oral and written communication to meet client capacities for language, literacy, and speech. (G1d, G1e)
2. Demonstrate initiative to acquire from clients, colleagues, and community partners an appreciative working knowledge of the history and culture of the host agency and of the clients and communities it serves. (G2a, G2d)
3. Identify the influence of factors related to social, economic, and environmental justice, including the agency’s intervention strategies, in bio-psycho-social-spiritual and ecological case analyses. (G3a, G3b)
4. Generate a meaningful research question about social work practice situated within a problem statement and a summary of relevant research frameworks relevant to the host agency and its constituencies. (G4c)
5. Recommend advocacy opportunities based on a systematic scan [or SWOT analysis] of active policy issues at the organization, community, state, and federal levels that could affect the host agency and its constituencies. (G5b, G5c)
6. Demonstrate the dispositions of acceptance, curiosity, empathy, optimism, and positive regard consistently in verbal and nonverbal communication with diverse client systems. (G6b,G6c, G6e)
7. Constructively engage client systems in gathering information, interpreting facts or patterns, and making decisions about services and service providers in relation to identified needs or goals. (G7a,G7c, G7d, G7e)
8. Exhibit empathy and persistence to establish and sustain trust during the assessment process. (G7a,G7c, G7d, G7e)
9. Model tolerance for ambiguity in the process of change and intervention. (G8b,G8c, G8d; C8b)
10. Commit to intervention tasks and roles that fully span, and respect the limits of, (the scope of practice that corresponds to) the placement role in the host agency.(G8b,G8c, G8d; C8b)
11. Recognize and critique the influence of mezzo and macro level forces on the institutionalization of definitions and measures of therapeutic outcomes. (G9d; C9a)
12. Advocate for adoption of definitions and measures of therapeutic outcomes of unique value in specific sociocultural contexts. (G9d; C9a)

MSW649 Generalist Field Experience I and II with Seminar Block Placement (400 hours) (6 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW605  and MSW607  
Permission to enroll from Field Education Director

 
Students in the generalist curriculum serve and learn for a total of 400 hours in an assigned supervised professional practice setting to acquire a broad understanding of the field of social work, to recognize and use generalist principles and concepts, and to assess and then select intervention methods to meet individual, group, family, and community needs. The concurrent Integrative Field Seminar uses an appreciative inquiry approach to focus on generalist social work practice, emphasizing issues of diversity, ethics, social advocacy, social change, and social, economic, and environmental justice. The seminar integrates theory and evidence-based practice knowledge with students’ first-hand application of knowledge and skills as they encounter social work roles, values, and ethics in the field.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Adapt oral and written communication to meet client capacities for language, literacy, and speech. (G1d, G1e)
2. Demonstrate initiative to acquire from clients, colleagues, and community partners an appreciative working knowledge of the history and culture of the host agency and of the clients and communities it serves. (G2a, G2d)
3. Identify the influence of factors related to social, economic, and environmental justice, including the agency’s intervention strategies, in bio-psycho-social-spiritual and ecological case analyses. (G3a, G3b)
4. Generate a meaningful research question about social work practice situated within a problem statement and a summary of relevant research frameworks relevant to the host agency and its constituencies. (G4c)
5. Recommend advocacy opportunities based on a systematic scan [or SWOT analysis] of active policy issues at the organization, community, state, and federal levels that could affect the host agency and its constituencies. (G5b, G5c)
6. Demonstrate the dispositions of acceptance, curiosity, empathy, optimism, and positive regard consistently in verbal and nonverbal communication with diverse client systems. (G6b,G6c, G6e)
7. Constructively engage client systems in gathering information, interpreting facts or patterns, and making decisions about services and service providers in relation to identified needs or goals. (G7a,G7c, G7d, G7e)
8. Exhibit empathy and persistence to establish and sustain trust during the assessment process. (G7a,G7c, G7d, G7e)
9. Model tolerance for ambiguity in the process of change and intervention. (G8b,G8c, G8d; C8b)
10. Commit to intervention tasks and roles that fully span, and respect the limits of, (the scope of practice that corresponds to) the placement role in the host agency.(G8b,G8c, G8d; C8b)
11. Recognize and critique the influence of mezzo and macro level forces on the institutionalization of definitions and measures of therapeutic outcomes. (G9d; C9a)
12. Advocate for adoption of definitions and measures of therapeutic outcomes of unique value in specific sociocultural contexts. (G9d; C9a)

MSW650 Clinical Methods I with Individuals (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): Advanced Standing or MSW647 
Clinical Methods I prepares social work clinicians to execute the essential clinical tasks of engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation competently and effectively in practice with individuals. Students learn fundamental psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and post-modern approaches to each of these clinical tasks. Throughout the course, a multicultural lens is applied to identify implicit biases or inherent theoretical assumptions that might impact the responsiveness and effectiveness of each approach across a broad cultural spectrum. Through the use of self-reflection, a strengths-based perspective, and social work professional values, students learn to select and apply clinical approaches that best match the each client’s needs and context.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Compare and contrast the strengths and limitations of theoretical frameworks and practice methods in terms of their responsiveness to each individual client’s cultural context and values. (C2b; C4c)
2. Deepen understanding of effective, culturally-responsive, and theory-informed relational skills to engage individual clients in the co-creation of a therapeutic change alliance. (C1e; C6a, C6b, C6c)
3. Using the three central theoretical frameworks presented, create strengths-based and client-empowering clinical assessments and diagnostic formulations of behavior, concerns, and mental illness within individual clients. (C7a, C7b, C7c)
4. Identify basic intervention techniques for therapeutic work with individual clients within psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and postmodern theories that are relevant to a range of presenting clinical concerns. (C7e; C8a; C9c)

MSW652 Clinical Methods II with Families, Groups, and Large Systems (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): MSW650  
Clinical Methods II equips social work clinicians to execute the essential clinical tasks of engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation competently and effectively in practice with families and client groups. Clinical methods from psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and postmodern approaches are examined through a multicultural lens to identify implicit biases or inherent theoretical assumptions that might impact their responsiveness and effectiveness across a broad cultural spectrum. Through the use of self-reflection, a strengths-based perspective, and social work professional values, clinicians learn to select and apply clinical approaches that best match the client populations’ needs and context.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Compare and contrast the strengths and limitations of various practice methods in terms of their responsiveness to cultural needs and values. (C2b)
2. Locate shared outcomes and values as points for joining in a therapeutic alliance with the client group or family. (G6c)
3. Locate corporate strengths and shared values of the client group or family. (G6e)
4. Identify individual strengths of group members and the roles each play within the family or group system.  (G6e)
5. Select assessment methodology within a framework responsive to the client group’s needs by maintaining a strengths-based, culturally-responsive, systems perspective. (G7b)
6. Analyze how diagnostic and clinical formulations of individual pathology are most effectively utilized in understanding individuals within a group or family. (C7a)
7. Select treatment interventions that position each member of the group or family as a co-owner of the client system’s strengths, values, and goals. (G8a)
8. Engage all members of the client system in the evaluation process of the interventions used, allowing individuals to assess the clinical work through a lens comprised of personal and corporate values, cultural considerations, and mutually agreed-upon outcomes. (G9b)

MSW655 Ethical Social Work Practice (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW645  or Advanced Standing
This course provides an in-depth examination of the history and current guiding statements on values and ethics in the social work profession.  Students grapple with ethical issues commonly encountered in indirect and direct social work practice, using an intersectional approach and the Code of Ethics - NASW as the common frame of reference. Intersections to be explored include personal and professional value systems; value conflicts and ethical dilemmas; ethical standards, workplace or program policies, and the law; frameworks for ethical decision making; the ethical imperative of self-care; and the roles of supervision and communities of practice as resources for development, support, and guidance in the development of practice wisdom.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Articulate a personal ethical worldview and evaluate its consonance with the ethical standards of the profession and other ethical decision-making references, such as the law and social welfare program policies. (C1a, C1b, C1c, C1d, C1e, C1f)
2. Generate informed consent protocols that appropriately address the dual purposes of participation in social work intervention, practice research, and program evaluation. (C4a, C4d, C4e)
3. Demonstrate an ethic of engaged pluralism to unite constituencies who identify a common need but who seek solutions oriented to diverse religious or ethical worldviews. (C5a)
4. Identify opportunities to involve client systems in interpreting the ethical dimensions of their situations, and to balance safety and self-determination in resolving ethical dilemmas. (C6c; C7c, C7d; C8a)
5. Apply ethical decision-making frameworks to discuss how a recent court decision, or a proposed law or policy change, either poses or resolves a challenge to ethical social work practice. (C9a)
6. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of provider self-regulation and self-care in  attuned and ethically sound clinical social work practice (C1b)

MSW660 Social Work with Children and Adolescents (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650 
This elective course explores normative developmental concerns, mental health, and emotional and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents. Emphasis is placed on the impact of multisystemic issues such as trauma, poverty, and bias on children’s wellbeing and functioning.   Students are also introduced to several models for intervention with children and adolescents, including play therapy, child-centered family therapy, and group work.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Learn implications of the diversity of children’s developmental experiences on micro, mezzo, and macro levels, and apply a developmental lens to case formulation. (G2b; C2a)
2. Build self-awareness of and critically reflect on internalized and culturally reinforced assumptions and values regarding parenting, family structure, and the meaning of child behavior. (G2f; C2c)
3. Gain proficiency in assessment of child and adolescent-specific mental health symptoms and diagnoses, and awareness of contextual factors such as bias and systemic disparities which influence the impact of mental health diagnosis within these populations. (C7a; C7f)
4. Acquire knowledge of engagement and intervention strategies with children, adolescents, and their families which are culturally-responsive, empowering of families, and appropriate for a range of developmental differences and client preferences. (C6b; C7d; C7e; C8a)
5. Reflect on the particular skills and competencies necessary for social work with children and adolescents by integrating theory, recent research, and best practice standards. (C8b; C8c; C9c)
6. Analyze legislative, administrative, or organizational initiatives or policy changes that may affect children’s access to timely, affordable, high-quality interventions. (G3c; G5b; C5b)

MSW661 Clinical Practice with Addictions (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650 
This course explores the impact of substance use disorders and addictive behaviors on the behavioral and mental health of individuals, families, and groups. Students gain a historical perspective on trends, attitudes, criminalization, and treatment of individuals struggling with addiction. Special emphasis is given to the impact of systemic poverty, racism, and oppression in understanding the prevalence and maintenance of addiction within specific marginalized communities. At an individual level, students gain insight into the correlation between the experience of trauma and the development of addiction.  Recovery models – both harm-reduction and abstinence-based – include a broad range of interventions, such as psychological, behavioral, pharmacological, spiritual, and self-help programs.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Identify the presence of unjust biases related to discrimination and oppression in existing clinical models and interventions and work toward eliminating such injustices on all levels of social work practice. (G2f)
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the roles oppression, discrimination, trauma, and injustice play in the development of addictive behaviors and utilize these insights in selecting appropriate interventions and treatment targets. (C3a)
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the strengths and limitations of evidence-based practices relative to cultural responsiveness and oppression. (G4e) (G4b)
4. Exhibit social work values of human dignity and respect by advocating for clients who experience injustice or discrimination in participating in societal structures, the judicial system, and accessing appropriate mental and physical health services. (C5a; C5d)
5. Identify potential impact of policy on clients facing addiction and advocate for those who lack the opportunity to advocate for themselves. (C5c)
6. Exhibit an awareness of the impact of positional power on the therapeutic alliance when working with involuntary clients by maximizing opportunities for client self-determination. (G6e)
7. Articulate an understanding of the neuroscience of addiction, including the ways that negative early childhood experiences and developmental traumas contribute to an individual’s susceptibility to addictive behavior. (C7a; C7f; C8c)
8. Identify the neuropathways impacted by addictive substances and behaviors along with effective coping strategies proven to interrupt addictive patterns within these pathways. (C7e; C8c)
9. Demonstrate the necessity of collaboration between professionals and shareholders involved in a client’s continuum of care in order to provide effective treatment. (C8d; G1e)

MSW662 Clinical Practice with Trauma (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650 
This advanced elective course explores the impact of trauma on individuals, families, and groups. Students develop an understanding of the impact of trauma on an individual’s development of self. Students differentiate between the needs of an individual experiencing acute trauma from those experiencing distress rooted in a trauma history and select appropriate interventions based on these needs. Special attention is given to the impact early childhood trauma has on healthy attachment and the ramifications of attachment on selecting appropriate interventions.  By utilizing a rudimentary understanding of neuroscience, students gain insight into the function of memory, dissociation, somatization of trauma, and the treatment modalities best suited for clinical work with clients based on their individual presentation and personal strengths. This course also explores how trauma victims are impacted by the cultural and societal values of their environments.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Recognize the presence of transference/counter-transference dynamics that frequently arise in clinical work with trauma and practice critical examination of the use of self within clinical interventions. (G2e) 
2. Respond effectively to the systemic and historical trauma of oppression, discrimination, injustice, and poverty, choosing interventions tailored to a client’s comprehensive experience of trauma. (C3b)
3. Utilize assessment skills that identify the broad range of symptoms and psychological sequelae related to traumatic experiences. (C7a)
4. Select intervention strategies that privilege matching a client’s current capacity to manage safety and tolerate distress. (C8a)
5. Through use of self-awareness and clinical consultation, identify trauma-related issues existing outside the clinician’s scope of practice and make appropriate referrals as necessary. (C8b)
6. Articulate the differences among acute trauma, developmental trauma, single event trauma, and complex trauma in clinical assessment and intervention. (C3a; C7a; C7e; C7f; C8a)

MSW663 U.S. Poverty: Perspectives and Interventions (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650 
This advanced elective course exposes social work students to the social, cultural, political, and spiritual implications of poverty, with special emphasis on families, neighborhoods, and communities characterized by persistent and resistant poverty. Students examine the major philosophical, conceptual, and theoretical frameworks used to define, measure, and interpret poverty in the context of increasing income inequality. Students explore historic trends in and the current scope of poverty across various demographic groups, and how social institutions such as the child welfare system, criminal justice and legal systems, the family, faith communities, health and mental health systems, schools, and workplaces can be resources for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of poverty and its adverse effects on individual, family, and community well-being.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Propose constructive responses to ethical issues and professional dilemmas commonly faced in social work practice with or on behalf of low-income constituents. (G1a)
2. Engage constituents in the use of formal and informal data to develop multidimensional (economic, political, and social systems) models of the causes of poverty at the community level. (C2c; G8a)
3. Compare and contrast the relative merits of policies and programs directed at poverty reduction. (G3a)
4. Articulate the significance of poverty as a social work practice issue. (C3a)
5. Demonstrate empathic appreciation of the stigma, discrimination, insecurity, and social exclusion often associated with identifying as, or being labeled as, poor. (C3a)
6. Analyze organization or community climate for inclusion to identify opportunities to reduce explicit and implicit marginalization and to increase implicit and explicit inclusion of community members living in poverty. (C3a)
7. Differentiate between poverty as a socioeconomic situation and the research-indicated adverse effects on biological, cognitive, emotional, psychological, and social functioning commonly associated with poverty. (C5a, C5b)
8. Facilitate client and constituent self-directed engagement in community action related to social welfare policies, programs, and services aimed at poverty reduction. (G5b, G5c, G5d)
9. Engage with funding mechanisms and processes related to federal and state income support and health care programs to identify and challenge embedded stereotypes about and the material vulnerability of individuals, families, and communities characterized as poor. (G5b, G5c, G5d)
10. Compare and contrast competing and complementary frameworks used to name, measure, and interpret the significance of poverty in relation to definitions of wellness, intra- and interpersonal functioning, and therapeutic outcomes. (G6e)

MSW670 Supervision and Management (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW605  or Advanced Standing
Social work practice is enhanced and deepened by rigorous clinical supervision. In this course, students learn how to use the supervisory relationship to assist clinical social workers in fully engaging their practice, reflecting on their clinical choices, and challenging their personal biases. Quality supervision occurs when supervisors also consider their role as manager and their role in promoting the client’s and agencies’ needs. Clinical supervision occurs within the context of this environment, taking the influence of the agency and influences from outside of the agency in their supervisory work.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Identify and analyze ethical dilemmas from the perspective of a supervisor and assist supervisees in responding to those dilemmas. (C1c)
2. Analyze supervisees’ use of self, including power differentials and personal biases (C1a, C1d, C1e; C2b)
3. Apply the process of supervision to the supervisory relationship  
4. Create relationship and shared meaning. (C6a)
5. Assess supervisees’ practice. (C1b)
6. Provide critical feedback. (C1b)
7. Challenge supervisees’ thinking and approach to clients. (C7e)
8. Evaluate and provide feedback on work. (C8b, C9a, C9c)
9. Apply basics management skills - budgets, program creation, and implementation to social service settings (C5b, C5c, C5e)
10. Analyze organizations, their structure, and culture and the influence on supervisory and management relationships.

MSW680 Clinical Field Experience I (300 hours) (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650 
The purpose of this course is to address and process issues and experiences from the students’ field placement experiences. Students develop critical reflections of their placement sites and also of their developing skills and identities as social workers. The course integrates past and current program curriculum content, including theoretical perspectives and relevant policy concerns. Students engage in case consultation addressing both clinical and systems issues encountered during placement.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Apply ethical decision-making frameworks, including the NASW Code of Ethics, to both case-based and systemic issues in their field placement setting. (C1d)
2. Use facilitated peer consultation and instruction to apply reflection and analysis to field placement experiences to build self awareness of biases, values, strengths, and areas of growth. (C1a, C1f; C2c)
3. Integrate observations and experiences with theories and social policy coursework content to conduct thoughtful assessments of field placement sites’ social work practices regarding advancing the human rights and advocating for equity and justice for the populations they serve. (C3a, C3c; C5a)
4. Integrate case material and facilitated peer consultation with theoretical frameworks and reflection on use of self to identify impactful and culturally responsive client engagement and intervention strategies. (C6b, C6c; C7a; C8a, C8c)
5. Integrate curriculum content regarding program evaluation with field placement experiences to create critical analysis of site program processes and outcomes. (C9a, C9c)

MSW681 Clinical Field Experience II (300 hours) (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): MSW680 
The purpose of this course is to address and process issues and experiences from the students’ field placement experiences. Students develop critical reflections of their placement sites and also of their developing skills and identities as social workers. The course integrates past and current program curriculum content, including theoretical perspectives and relevant policy concerns. Students engage in case consultation addressing both clinical and systems issues encountered during placement.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Apply ethical decision-making frameworks, including the NASW Code of Ethics, to both case-based and systemic issues in their field placement setting. (C1d)
2. Use facilitated peer consultation and instruction to apply reflection and analysis to field placement experiences to build self awareness of biases, values, strengths, and areas of growth. (C1a, C1f; C2c)
3. Integrate observations and experiences with theories and social policy coursework content to conduct thoughtful assessments of field placement sites’ social work practices regarding advancing the human rights and advocating for equity and justice for the populations they serve. (C3a, C3c; C5a)
4. Integrate case material and facilitated peer consultation with theoretical frameworks and reflection on use of self to identify impactful and culturally responsive client engagement and intervention strategies. (C6b, C6c; C7a; C8a, C8c)
5. Integrate curriculum content regarding program evaluation with field placement experiences to create critical analysis of site program processes and outcomes. (C9a, C9c)

MSW684 Clinical Field Experience I and II Block Placement (600 hours) (6 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650  and MSW652  
Permission from Field Education Director

 
The purpose of this course is to address and process issues and experiences from the students’ field placement experiences. Students develop critical reflections of their placement sites and also of their developing skills and identities as social workers. The course integrates past and current program curriculum content, including theoretical perspectives and relevant policy concerns. Students engage in case consultation, addressing both clinical and systems issues encountered during placement.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Apply ethical decision-making frameworks, including the NASW Code of Ethics, to both case-based and systemic issues in their field placement setting. (C1d)
2. Use facilitated peer consultation and instruction to apply reflection and analysis to field placement experiences to build self awareness of biases, values, strengths, and areas of growth. (C1a, C1f; C2c)
3. Integrate observations and experiences with theories and social policy coursework content to conduct thoughtful assessments of field placement sites’ social work practices regarding advancing the human rights and advocating for equity and justice for the populations they serve. (C3a, C3c; C5a)
4. Integrate case material and facilitated peer consultation with theoretical frameworks and reflection on use of self to identify impactful and culturally responsive client engagement and intervention strategies. (C6b, C6c; C7a; C8a, C8c)
5. Integrate curriculum content regarding program evaluation with field placement experiences to create critical analysis of site program processes and outcomes. (C9a, C9c)

MSW690 Capstone (3 cr.)

Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW681 
This course provides a foundation for self-directed, integrative professional development in social work. Students use the Capstone Project Implementation Protocol to develop a self-assessment portfolio; identify short-term professional development goals supported by the scholarly practice literature; identify one specific advanced direct or indirect practice development goal to be attained through a cycle of systematic action and assessment activities; and present the results of the professional development cycle to the supervising mentor or other appropriate audience within the professional learning community. The individualized practice development goal is grounded in previous course work and practice experience. Systematic learning cycle activities may include interviews with subject matter experts, participation in conferences or workshops, and production of annotated bibliographies, for example.[1]

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Demonstrate the capacity to establish and pursue a realistic and meaningful plan of professional development. (G1b)
2. Develop and execute an approved learning experience cycle that deepens or extends the student’s mastery of knowledge, skill, or attitude essential to advanced social work practice. (G4a, G4b; C4a; C8b)
3. Incorporate research skills and the professional community to develop a bibliography of appropriate resources from published and expert practitioner sources. (G4d; C4a; C9b)
4. Situate one’s mastery of practice knowledge, skills, or attitudes as contributions to the social work profession. (G4d; C4a; C9b)

EDSE539 Scientifically-Based Reading Instruction for Elementary Teachers (3 cr.)

EDSE600 Orientation (0 cr.)

EDSE607 Literacy Development and Interventions (3 cr.)

EDSE631 Foundations of Special Education (3 cr.)

EDSE632 Survey of Learners with Exceptionalities (3 cr.)

EDSE633 Reading, Language Arts, and Children’s Literature Methods (4 cr.)

EDSE634 Assistive Technology, Instruction, & Interventions (3 cr.)

EDSE635 Behavior Theories (3 cr.)

EDSE636 Assessment and Evaluation of Learners with Exceptionalities (3 cr.)

EDSE637 The IEP Process (3 cr.)

EDSE638 Transition and Collaboration (3 cr.)

EDSE639 Social Emotional Learning and Well-Being (3 cr.)

EDSE641 Characteristics: Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (3 cr.)

EDSE642 Strategies and Assessment: Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (3 cr.)

EDSE646 Assessment and Application: Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (3 cr.)

EDSE647 Introduction to Behavioral Theories: Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (3 cr.)

EDSE648 Applied Behavioral Interventions: Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (3 cr.)

EDSE651 Characteristics: Learning Disabilities (3 cr.)

EDSE652 Strategies and Assessment: Learning Disabilities (3 cr.)

EDSE656 Assessment and Application: Learning Disabilities (3 cr.)

EDSE657 Advanced Instruction and Methods: Learning Disabilities (3 cr.)

EDSE658 Adolescence to Post-Secondary: Learning Disabilities (3 cr.)

EDSE661 Characteristics: Autism Spectrum Disorder (3 cr.)

EDSE662 Strategies and Assessment: Autism Spectrum Disorder (3 cr.)

EDSE663 Assessment and Application: Autism Spectrum Disorder (3 cr.)

EDSE667 Introduction to Behavioral Theories: Autism Spectrum Disorder (3 cr.)

EDSE668 Applied Behavioral Interventions: Autism Spectrum Disorder (3 cr.)

EDSE681 EBD/LD Practicum 1 (1 cr.)

EDSE682 EBD/LD Practicum 2 (1 cr.)

EDSE683 EBD/LD Practicum 3 (1 cr.)

EDSE684 ASD Practicum 1 (1 cr.)

EDSE685 ASD Practicum 2 (1 cr.)

EDSE686 ASD Practicum 3 (1 cr.)

EDSE688 Clinical Field Experience (0 cr.)

EDSE689 Field Experience for Practicing Educators (6 cr.)

EDSE690 Professional Capstone/Portfolio (2 cr.)

EDSE691 ASD/EBD/LD Practicum 1 (1 cr.)

EDSE692 ASD/EBD/LD Practicum 2 (1 cr.)

EDSE693 ASD/EBD/LD Practicum 3 (1 cr.)

EDSE698 Research Methods (3 cr.)

EDSE699 Action Research (3 cr.)

EDUC500 Orientation Session (0 cr.)

EDUC510 Educational Measurement and Assessment: K-8 (2 cr.)

EDUC511 Educational Measurement and Assessment: 5-12 (2 cr.)

EDUC515 Foundations of Education (2 cr.)

EDUC517 Learning, Development, and Exceptionality (3 cr.)

EDUC520 Reading, Language Arts, and Children’s Literature Methods: K-8 (4 cr.)

EDUC521 Science Methods: K-8 (2 cr.)

EDUC522 Mathematics Methods: K-8 (2 cr.)

EDUC523 Artistic Expression Methods: K-8 (2 cr.)