Dec 26, 2024

2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog This is not the most recent catalog version; be sure you are viewing the appropriate catalog year.

Social Work [BSW] - MiTransfer Pathway

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This major is built to facilitate the transferral of courses to Eastern Michigan University, from participating community colleges in Michigan. Faculty from across the state identified courses a student may take in the first and second year of the bachelor’s degree programs at all participating universities.

The MiTransfer Pathways courses in Social Work are:

Introduction to Psychology (PSY 101 ) Approved Courses	Introduction to Social Work (SWRK 120 ) Approved Courses
Introduction to Sociology (SOCL 105 ) Approved Courses	Human Biology (Not Required)

Faculty also identified Remaining Degree Requirements, which include courses that students can transfer from the community college. These courses are noted below.

Unless otherwise noted, only courses deemed equivalent by EMU faculty may satisfy major requirements. For a list of applicable courses, see “Approved Courses” links or Transfer Equivalencies. Please see “Critical Graduation Information” below for additional policies governing transfer credit. For additional degree options, please see Social Work [BSW] .

At its core, Social Work requires a passion for helping people and a commitment to social justice. Our graduates help people and communities tackle problems rooted in poverty, racism, ageism, violence, or illness. The U.S. Department of Labor has identified Social Work as one of the fastest growing professions. EMU Social Work students graduate with a Bachelor of Social Work degree. The EMU BSW program is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, making our graduates eligible to earn licensure and Advanced Standing in accredited MSW programs.

Learn

Building on a broad liberal arts foundation, BSW students learn about frameworks for understanding human behavior and development in a social systems context, and a strengths-based approach to positive change for individuals and groups. Students also learn about social policies and social change from social justice and empowerment perspectives. Appreciation of human diversity in all dimensions is a strong program theme.

Opportunities

Hands-on volunteer or paid experience in a human services context is an admissions requirement for the BSW program. Within the program, all BSW students are required to complete a field placement in an affiliated public or non-profit agency. All placements require 16 hours per week— 200 hours per semester for 400 hours total. Career opportunities for Social Workers are in varied settings such as child welfare, mental health, substance abuse, adoption, foster care, senior services, schools, rehabilitation, law enforcement, shelters and other services to the poor, neighborhood centers, and adolescent and youth services.

School Information

Social Work 323 Marshall, 734.487.1418

Janet Okabue-Reaves, PhD, Director

Advisor Information

College of Health and Human Services Advising Center | Make an Appointment, 214 Marshall, 734.487.0918

Student Eligibility

A student’s eligibility to graduate from this major is determined by the following.

Apply and be granted admission to Eastern Michigan University (emich.edu/admissions).
Apply and be granted admission to their major (See Program Admission for specific information).
A completed associate degree, certificate, or adequate coursework. Students eligible to follow an articulation agreement typically transfer 60 credit hours to EMU. Eligible students who transferred in less than 60 credit hours had unique circumstances and were granted permission to follow the articulation agreement, by the Director of Community College Relations (emich.edu/ccr).

Interested students should meet with their community college advisor for information on the articulation agreement before transferring to EMU. After transferring to EMU, a student must consult with the Community College Relations Office to confirm eligibility.

Program Admission

In addition to completing the University’s General Education requirements, social work students complete a series of seven specific liberal arts courses in a variety of related disciplines (listed below as Liberal Arts Requirements) in order to build a foundation for their social work studies. Social work intent students also complete four pre-major social work courses (listed below as Required Courses: Pre-Major) prior to being admitted to the Major.

Admission requirements are as follows:

Students must complete a Social Work Admissions application. These are distributed in SWRK 251 .
Students must earn a grade of C or higher in the following pre-major social work classes (again, listed below as Required Courses: Pre-Major):
- SWRK 120 Introduction to Social Work Services and Professional Roles (or satisfied by these approved courses) (Ideally, this course should be taken either concurrently with or prior to the other pre-major courses)
- SWRK 200 Human Diversity and Social Justice
- SWRK 222 Social Welfare Policies and Services
- SWRK 251 Self-Assessment For the Profession of Social Work (Ideally, this course should be taken concurrently with or after the other pre-major courses)
Students must complete a reflective essay in SWRK 251 . The essay is designed to assist students in assessing their own “goodness of fit” with the values and ethics of the School of Social Work and the social work profession.
Students must earn a cumulative GPA of 2.3 or higher at the time of admission into the BSW program.
Students must complete 40 hours of volunteer service, internship experience, or employment within a human service setting.

Program Requirements

Grade Point Requirements

Once admitted into the BSW Program, a BSW major student must maintain a 2.3 overall GPA. If the GPA falls below a 2.3, the student must meet with a BSW Program academic advisor to develop a plan to raise the GPA to the required 2.3 minimum.

A student who fails to achieve the 2.3 minimum by the time he or she is to start field placement will be placed on BSW Program academic probation. Students who are on academic probation cannot start field placement. The student then has two additional semesters to raise the GPA to the 2.3 minimum. Failure to raise the GPA by the end of two semesters will result in dismissal from the BSW Program.

Individual Course Grade Requirements

A BSW major must achieve a minimum grade of “C” in all required social work (SWRK) courses to remain in and graduate from the BSW Program. A student who receives a grade in a required social work course below a “C” can repeat that course one time only. A student can repeat no more than two different courses in which he/she has failed to achieve a “C” grade. A student who receives a grade below a “C” in a social work course he/she is repeating will be dismissed from the BSW Program.

A student who receives a grade below a “C” in a second social work course will be placed on BSW Program academic probation. A student will be dismissed from the BSW Program if she or he receives a grade below a “C” in a third social work course. A student may be dismissed from the BSW Program without having ever been on academic probation. This would be the case if the student earned three grades of C- or lower during the same semester, or if the student received a C- or lower in the same course twice.

These individual course grade requirements apply to SWRK 488L4 and SWRK 489L4 as to all other SWRK courses.

Note | If a student’s grade deficiency stems from extenuating circumstances, the Student Services Coordinator and BSW Program Director may assist the student with a late or retroactive course withdrawal.

General Education Requirements

The MiTransfer Pathways builds on the Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA). The MTA allows transfer students to select designated courses to complete a minimum of 30 credit hours fulfilling MTA distribution requirements. Students following MiTransfer Pathway agreements should complete the MTA in accordance with the sending institutions’ course designations and consider whether or not any recommended MiTransfer Pathways major-specific courses will “double count” to fulfill MTA distribution requirements in planning their transfer. Be aware that “double count” policies differ from institution to institution. More information about the MTA is available at www.mitransfer.org.

The MTA Mathematics distribution area allows students to complete one of three math pathways. The Social Work MiTransfer Pathways faculty recommended that students complete a course in the Statistics pathways.

Students who do not have “MTA Satisfied” on their community college transcript, will be required to satisfy EMU’s general education requirements as applied to transfer students. For specific General Education requirements, click here or print a General Education Worksheet .

Liberal Arts Requirements: 24-26 hours

Required Courses: 18-20 hours

ANTH 135 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology [GEGA or GEKS] 3 hrs
or satisfied by these approved courses
PLSC 112 American Government [GEKS] 3 hrs
or satisfied by these approved courses
PSY 101 General Psychology Lecture [GEKN] 3 hrs
or satisfied by these approved courses
or PSY 101 and PSY 103 (lecture and lab) 4 hrs
PSY 360 Introduction to Clinical Psychology 3 hrs
or satisfied by these approved courses
SOCL 105 Introductory Sociology [GEKS] 3 hrs
or satisfied by these approved courses
SWRK 261 Aging to Infancy: A Life Course Retrospective 3 hrs
or DTC 261 Aging to Infancy: A Life Course Retrospective  3 hrs

or EDPS 225 Life Span Human Growth and Development  4 hrs

or satisfied by these approved courses

or IHHS 260 Aging to Infancy: A Life Course Retrospective  3 hrs

or NURS 261 Aging to Infancy: A Life Course Retrospective  3 hrs

Restricted Elective Courses: 6 hours

Students are required to take six credits in cross-cultural related courses. Completion of any two General Education-Perspectives on a Diverse World courses (with the exception of ANTH 135 ) will meet this requirement. Other courses not approved for Perspectives on Diversity may also count towards this requirement with departmental permission.

Major Requirements: 57 hours

Required Courses: Pre-Major: 10 hours

SWRK 120 Introduction to Social Work Services and Professional Roles 3 hrs
or satisfied by these approved courses
SWRK 200 Human Diversity and Social Justice 3 hrs
SWRK 222 Social Welfare Policies and Services 3 hrs
SWRK 251 Self-Assessment For the Profession of Social Work 1 hr

Required Course: Major: 44 hours

Social Work Elective: 3 hours

Any SWKE course or courses totaling three credit hours.

Minor Requirement:

This major does not require a minor.

Program Total:

Students must earn a minimum total of 120 credits at the 100-level or above. If sufficient credits hours are not transferred in, additional EMU credits must be completed to reach the minimum of 120 credit hours required to graduate.

Critical Graduation Information

Each undergraduate student will be responsible for fulfilling the requirements (or their equivalents) of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration at a college or university or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.

In the event an undergraduate student does not complete the degree requirements within seven years of the date of their original registration at a college or university, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their major/minor in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.

Minimum requirements for all bachelor’s degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University

Some majors and minors require more than the minimum in one or more of the areas below; students are urged to consult this catalog for the requirements of their particular programs.

Earn a minimum total of 120 credit hours at the 100-level and above.
- Courses numbered below 100 are not counted toward this degree requirement.
- At most, eight credit hours of physical education (PEGN) activity courses are counted toward this requirement.
Meet the requirements of the General Education program (see information below), including completing a Writing Intensive (GEWI) course in the student’s major.
Earn a minimum of 60 credits from a four-year college or university; courses taken at community colleges cannot be used to meet this requirement (Some formal program-to-program articulation agreements modify this requirement. See specific agreements for details).
Earn a minimum of 30 credits from courses taken at EMU.
Complete 10 of the last 30 hours for the degree from courses taken at EMU.
Have a minimum of 30 unique credit hours in their major and 20 unique credit hours in their minor for a total of at least 50 unique credit hours between them. Some majors that require 50 or more hours themselves do not require a minor. A double major automatically satisfies the need for a minor unless one of the two majors requires a specific minor. Students should check the requirements of the selected major in the undergraduate catalog to see if a minor is required.
Earn no more than 60 credit hours in one subject area (prefix). Credits over the 60 maximum will not be counted toward the minimum of 120 credits required for a bachelor’s degree.
Earn the minimum number of credits in 300-level and above courses in each major and minor as specified below - these credits must be earned in distinct courses; that is, no course can be used to fulfill this requirement in more than one major or minor.
- Earn a minimum of 6 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each minor
- Earn a minimum of 9 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that requires a minor.
- Earn a minimum of 15 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that does not require a minor
Transfer credit will be awarded for courses taken at colleges and universities that are accredited by one of the recognized regional accrediting bodies only if the courses are college-level (equated to 100-level or above at EMU) and the student earned a “C” (or 2.0 on a 4 point scale) or better. Transfer credit may be awarded on a case-by-case basis for college-level courses in which a “C” (2.0) or better was earned at institutions outside the U.S. or at non-accredited U.S. institutions; individual departments/schools conduct the internal review of such courses within EMU, and additional documentation may be required. Please note: EMU awards only credit for transferred courses; grades are not used to calculate an EMU GPA.
Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in courses taken at EMU to graduate. In addition, a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 must be reached in each major and minor. Only courses a student takes at EMU and those applied to their major or minor are used to calculate their major and minor cumulative GPAs. (Note: some programs may require a higher GPA - check with your program advisor.)

General Education Requirements - EMU’s General Education Program requires students to choose from a menu of approved courses in several different areas; do not assume that other courses in the same department or similar names will fulfill these requirements. A detailed description of General Education requirements is available in the General Education section of the catalog.

Students who transferred to EMU may have modified general education requirements based on Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) or articulation agreements; consult your academic advisor for additional information.