The BA program is a professional preparation program rooted in the liberal arts. Students develop knowledge, values, and skills to work with people from diverse cultural, ethnic, and personal backgrounds. The program is fully accredited with the Council on Social Work Education.
Social work students have opportunities to work with local agencies through a highly individualized field experience program. Students find this helpful in building skills and obtaining jobs following graduation. The program emphasis is work with rural and indigenous communities.
Potential careers: services to children, families, and the elderly; rehabilitation; health care; community practice; youth work; corrections; employment services; substance abuse, mental health, and residential treatment.
Generalist Social Work Practice
Generalist social work practitioners work with individuals, families, groups, organizations, social policies, and communities in a variety of settings in pursuit of social and economic justice. Generalist practitioners view people and systems from a strengths perspective in order to recognize, support, and build upon the innate capabilities of all human beings. They engage, assess, broker services, advocate, counsel, educate, and organize with and on behalf of individuals, families, and collections of people. Generalist practitioners engage in community development, organizational development, and evaluation in order to ensure that services are useful, effective, and ethical.
Program Admission Requirements
Lower division GE courses required for the major can be taken at a community college and can be taken CR/NC. Program faculty can advise students on courses preparing them for their transfer to Humboldt’s Social Work program. For information and/or appointments, call 707-826-4448.
To be eligible to register for junior-level courses in the social work major, students must have completed, or be in the process of completing, all prerequisites. A cumulative 2.00 GPA and a 2.00 in all social work courses is necessary to be fully accepted to the program.
Students who meet the prerequisites need to submit a “Social Work Major Application Form” with a personal statement to the department. Applications to begin the fall sequence of courses are due no later than the last Friday in January for continuing students. Transfer applicants should follow the Office of Admissions schedule due to program impaction for transfers only. Applications received after this date may not be reviewed in time for placement in the appropriate major courses. Notification of acceptance will be made prior to the registration period for fall classes. Please note that all accepted students will be required to attend a two day on campus orientation the first week of fall semester.
Full acceptance into junior year coursework requires students to meet all of the admission standards and to submit the formal application. Provisional status may be granted to any student who does not meet requirements. Students who are given a provisional status must work out a plan with their faculty advisor that identifies those areas requiring improvement and how each area will be addressed in order to be accepted as a social work major.
A bachelor’s degree requires a total of 120 units. For a description of degree requirements to be fulfilled in addition to those listed below for the major, please see “Bachelor’s Degree Requirements ”.
Requirements for the Major (60 units)
The upper division general education area D requirement is met by the coursework within the Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Social Work.
Courses prepare students for professional generalist social work and are sequenced to best facilitate learning and acquisition of skills. Major coursework (300-level) always begins in fall.
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