Field Directors

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  • 1.  Rolling Practicum

    Posted Feb 14, 2024 14:47

    I'm 6 months into my role as a Practicum Director in an abolitionist-focused program.

    We are looking to change from a Spring practicum start to a rolling-basis practicum.

    For programs that currently accept students into practicum on a rolling basis, how does this work? What is your load as far as classes? What caps do you have on practicum seminars and/or supervisory groups, if you have them? How many other courses do you teach on top of practicum?

    Thank you,



    ------------------------------
    Desiree Israel
    MSW Practicum Director
    Alverno College
    Milwaukee WI
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  • 2.  RE: Rolling Practicum

    Posted Feb 15, 2024 12:07

    Hi Desiree:

    I've been doing rolling admissions since 2014.  A few things I learned, we limited BSW to four times yearly, 2X in Fall (Fall I and 2) and twice in Summer (Summer 1 and 2).  We are a tri-semester system, with 8 week sessions each trimester.  We do not place BSW student in the Spring trimester. We place our traditional MSW students in Fall 1 and Summer 1 only.  And we place Advanced Standing and 2nd year MSW during Fall 1, Spring 1 and Summer 1 only.  We negotiated this with the Dean and admissions because the rolling admissions had us stressed to the max every term trying to place students constantly. 

    Our MSW program has in excess of 1200 students and our BSW program has 500+ students so we are a large program.

    To your other questions: 

    Load for the director - I have full course load releases and no longer teach courses unless I volunteer.  The administrative side became too demanding and I negotiated with the dean to either be an administrator or a course instructor, but I couldn't do both well.  Luckily my Dean and Provost agreed.  I also no longer do placement activities, as the demands of overseeing the field division require all of my time and attention.

    Load for asst. field directors (who do all of the placement activities).  We go by students, so once a field director has reach their student load quota, they have met their teaching load.  Most teach 3-5 courses yearly.  If working on a special project, they are granted course releases.  Since they also assist in the administrative roles of placing students, our workload has been reduced from that of a didactic faculty.

    Seminar caps:

    BSW cap - for full time faculty is no more than 13

    MSW cap - for full time faculty is no more than 11

    All full-time faculty provide supplemental supervision (as needed) to students enrolled in their course.  Full time faculty can teach 2 overloads if they desire in field or a didactic course.  Most do not opt to do so.  We have 5 full time field faculty and 3 field staff members who provide us with support to get the work done. 

    Frankly, rolling admissions are great for the program and university.  However my field faculty are exhausted and often saturated with non-stop field responsibilities that never lull and that didactic faculty do not have on their plates.  There is a cost-benefit to rolling admission that is hard to find viable solutions for.  Great for student recruitment and retention.  Hard on field faculty who have a very different role as educators than didactic faculty.  Something to think about.  Talk with others who also do rolling admissions. I'm sure we will all sing the same song.  

    Hope this has been helpful.

    Sibyl



    ------------------------------
    Sibyl R. Beaulieu, DSW, MSW, LMSW
    Associate Professor
    and Director of Field Education
    SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES 
    The Social Work Department @ UMass Global
    T 951.413.2914 
    sbeaulie@umassglobal.edu 
    Pronouns:  She/Her/Hers
    Preferred address by students: 
    Dr. Beaulieu, Prof. Sibyl, Prof. Beaulieu
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Rolling Practicum

    Posted Feb 15, 2024 16:03

    Hi Sibyl,

    Thank you so much for responding and for all of this information. I will take all of this in consideration when I meet with our Program Director.



    ------------------------------
    Desiree Israel
    MSW Practicum Director
    Alverno College
    Milwaukee WI
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Rolling Practicum

    Posted Feb 16, 2024 12:04

    Hi Desiree,

    Here at the University of Montana we developed and implemented our new online MSW program a few years ago. Although we were somewhat pushed to consider rolling admissions for practicum, we researched various models and after talking to various field ed programs consciously decided AGAINST rolling admissions. As Sibyl highlighted in her post, we discussed the potential impact of rolling admissions on faculty capacity, engagement with students and agencies, and above all burn out and fatigue. We start all of our practicums across all programs in the fall and students are all on the same fall and spring timeline. This is hugely helpful because our timelines, processes, communications etc. all align and our field ed team gets a breather over the summer when we support incoming students with their placement process. I could not imagine doing it any other way and am thankful that our administration supported our decision.

    Best of luck with whatever path you choose!

    KAT



    ------------------------------
    Katharina Werner
    Director of Field Education
    University of Montana
    Missoula MT
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  • 5.  RE: Rolling Practicum

    Posted Feb 16, 2024 14:12

    Hi Kat,

    What semesters are students admitted into the actual program? 



    ------------------------------
    Shenita Williams
    Director of Field Education
    Virginia Commonwealth University
    Richmond, VA
    804-828-0708
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  • 6.  RE: Rolling Practicum

    Posted Feb 16, 2024 15:49

    BSW students start practicum fall only after meeting all pre-res. Students are admitted to our in person MSW campus and advanced standing program only in the fall and they start their practicum that same fall. Students are admitted on a rolling bases for our online program but do not start practicum until the fall each year and our course waterfall reflects that and is built out that way. For online MSW students admitted in the fall they start the fall of the following year, students admitted in the spring start the fall of the same year, students admitted in the summer start the fall of the following year. One single entry point across all programs. 


    The one concern that we discussed was students having to take a leave of absence or not able to finish practicum for some reason and how this means they have to wait until the following fall to pick up practicum again or start out their placement. That really has not been an issue for us at all. Out of 80+ students in our first online cohort only one had to push to the following fall because they did not identify a placement in time. The same was true for 170+ students entering first and second year practicum this past fall. We do have several LOA folks in our online program - some of them return and are successful in practicum and others never return to the program or classes because of a variety of reasons. We also communicate the practicum timeline and placement process starting in their program orientation and always work with students to offer additional support and brainstorm timelines, options etc. We have a clear problem solving process in place should students run into issues at their placement and be forced to consider a transition (which we discuss, consider, and often times support depending on circumstances, to ensure students can stay on track for practicum, other co-occurring classes, and graduation timeline). 


    Again, all in all, I think I can speak for our whole field ed team when I say that having one entry point a year has allowed us to streamline highly effective processes and procedures that apply to all students no matter if in person or online while also balancing the field ed team's capacity and efforts throughout the whole year. Happy to share more info as you figure out your model.
    Best
    KAT



    ------------------------------
    Katharina Werner
    Director of Field Education
    University of Montana
    Missoula MT
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  • 7.  RE: Rolling Practicum

    Posted Feb 17, 2024 09:10

    Good morning Desiree. We have BSW students who enter their internship every semester (fall/spring, spring/summer, summer/fall, and summer block). Our clinical MSW students always begin in fall and complete a three-semester internship. Our MSW foundation students enter their internships either fall/spring or spring/summer. We cap each of our seminar courses at 8 students (regardless of level). In my capacity as Field Director I have a complete 12-credit release to administer this program but I do routinely teach overload as we are a full program. I typically teach two courses per semester (though neither are seminar). Hope this is helpful. 



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    Dana Holcomb, DSW, LMSW-Clinical
    Associate Professor and Director of Field
    Ferris State University
    Big Rapids, MI 49307
    231-591-2763
    danaholcomb@ferris.edu
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