Field Directors

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  • 1.  return to field placement hours question

    Posted Aug 14, 2023 14:02

    Hi folks,

    I hope you've had a great summer and are gearing up for Fall.

    I have a quick question about students who are returning to field placement after an unsuccessful previous attempt.

    I have two SPMSW students, each of whom had their placement end unexpectedly about halfway through the academic year last year. They had accrued, respectively, about 215-220 hours each towards their required 450. They are each planning to return to field for the coming academic year, both in brand new placements.

    I have seen on this list, in passing, that students' field hours need to be completed all in one stint, no partials. Is this accurate?

    If so, is there any chance someone could point me in the direction of where in CSWE's accreditation literature this can be found? I'd like to have the primary source documentation to reference.

    Many thanks and best of luck with your transition to the new academic year,

    Jean 



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    Jean Sienkewicz (she/her/hers)
    Lecturer/Field Education Coordinator
    University of Vermont
    Burlington VT
    802-656-9657
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: return to field placement hours question

    Posted Aug 15, 2023 08:28

    This is something I would like to understand better myself. I can't find any legal language that states that students must complete the internship in one segment. Our internship extends over three semesters, so there have been multiple times where a student successfully completes one or more segments of field, pauses, and return to complete those hours. My understanding that as long as a student completes the required hours, this was permissible. 



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    Meg DeJong-Shier
    Field Director
    West Texas A&M University
    Canyon TX
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  • 3.  RE: return to field placement hours question

    Posted Aug 15, 2023 11:45

    Jean,

    For us, it all depends. We do have a concurrence policy whereby students must take Practicum with a Practice Course so corresponding assignments and the learning go hand in hand. With that said, we suggest, for the continuity of learning, that students complete their hours in one fell swoop but that doesn't always happen. Most times its a judgement call based on the number of hours the student has completed. For 215-220, we'd just continue them somewhere as opposed to starting all over. 

    Best, Warren



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    Warren Graham, LCSW, ACSW, CASAC
    Asst Dean of Practicum Education/Clinical Assoc Prof.
    SUNY Stony Brook University
    Stony Brook, NY
    631-444-3161
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  • 4.  RE: return to field placement hours question

    Posted Aug 16, 2023 09:01

    I would echo what Warren says here. A lot of this really comes down to program policies. CSWE does not say that placements need to be completed all at once in one location, there are some schools who intentionally break the placements up. We generally intend for student to complete their entire placements in one setting, and that is tied to their participation in a seminar course, but like you encountered, there are times that the placement is interrupted. We take these on a case by case basis, if there are reasons to suspect there were student issues that led to things being unsuccessful, we may choose to have them repeat the entire experience, but in other cases, if there were life circumstances or some other reasons the placement needed to be interrupted, we would just determine what the student needed to complete moving forward. This would typically involve either a new or revised learning contract, usually new assessments, etc. We outline this in our field education manual. I believe this is one of those areas, like many where CSWE tells us that we must have policies to determine how we ensure student meet their hour requirements and competencies but not so much dictating exactly how we do it.



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    Lindsey Rinehart
    Field Education Director & Clinical Instructor
    West Virginia University
    Morgantown WV
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: return to field placement hours question

    Posted Aug 17, 2023 08:01

    Good Morning Jean,

    This is what I have done in the past.I ask the following questions: 

    1. Was the student terminated from the placement due to some violation of ethics, policy, behavior, etc. (thus not mastering the competencies)? if so, I have complete the entire internship. 
    2. If the student was doing well (mastering the competencies) and had to leave due to unforeseen circumstances (health, life situations etc.), I give an "incomplete" (I) for the class they had to leave and allow them to complete the remainder of the hours at a new agency, as long as the new agency is in agreement before the student begins. 

    Bonnie Rinks 



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    Bonnie Rinks
    Director of Field Education
    University of Southern Indiana
    Evansville IN
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  • 6.  RE: return to field placement hours question

    Posted Aug 24, 2023 15:48

    Hi all,

    I just wanted to express my gratitude for your sharing your thoughts to my query about students returning to placement and hours. The way I have been looking at these situations and working through processes on the academic side of things are very much in line with your sentiments, which is so validating. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

    I'm grateful for this community to ask questions of and not have to always re-invent the wheel.

    Wishing you all a smooth transition into the new academic year.

    Jean



    ------------------------------
    Jean Sienkewicz (she/her/hers)
    Lecturer/Field Education Coordinator
    University of Vermont
    Burlington VT
    802-656-9657
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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