Field Directors

Hello Field Directors,

As a small rural university, we are trying to navigate site visits for initial, midterm, and final evaluations.  Are we able to use Zoom technology for all of the site visits?  Are there parameters by CSWE as far as distance as to what can justify use of virtual conferencing? 

Thank you!

Mandy Lilly, MSW, CAPSW
Associate Professor/Field Director
University of Wisconsin-Superior

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Mandy Lilly
Associate Professor
UW-Superior
Superior WI
715-394-8080
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Hello,

I have been giving the field instructors a choice of a zoom site visit or an in person site visit and just about all of them prefer the zoom option. I am not sure if CSWE has restrictions concerning this and would also like to hear from others concerning this issue.

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Kathleen Siracusa
MSW Field Coordinator
Stockton University
Galloway NJ
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Hi Mandy,
We also give the option of zoom and in person for our campus based students and all of our distance students (BSW and MSW) do zoom site visits. Zoom works really well for us and is becoming the preferred method. My understanding is that CSWE does not have restrictions or requirements about what modality has to be used for what distance. 

Best
KAT

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Katharina Werner
Director of Field Education
University of Montana
Missoula MT
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We do many of our visits via zoom. This is also necessary for online students who live in other geographic areas. CSWE does not specify how this happens, they simply say that programs must have a process for engaging with field education settings, a process for monitoring student learning in placements, etc. They do not tell us how we go about doing this, just that we need to identify as programs what this process looks like. So if your program determines that you do this via zoom, that is fine as long as that is part of your program's process.

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Lindsey Rinehart
Field Education Director & Clinical Instructor
West Virginia University
Morgantown WV
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Original Message:
Sent: Jan 18, 2023 11:03
From: Katharina Werner
Subject: Site Visit Requirements

Hi Mandy,
We also give the option of zoom and in person for our campus based students and all of our distance students (BSW and MSW) do zoom site visits. Zoom works really well for us and is becoming the preferred method. My understanding is that CSWE does not have restrictions or requirements about what modality has to be used for what distance.

Best
KAT

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Katharina Werner
Director of Field Education
University of Montana
Missoula MT
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Hi Mandy,
We use zoom primarily for site visits, with some provisions.  If the site is new, we are more likely to visit it or if problems develop.  Otherwise, field instructors and sites have appreciated the zoom option as it makes the process more efficient.  
Tonya Slawinski, Ph.D
Director, Field Education
University of Pittsburgh,
School of Social Work

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Tonya Slawinski
Director, Office of Field Education
University of PIttsburgh, School of Social Work
Pittsburgh PA
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