Department of Social Work

Program Goals

• To prepare undergraduate students with a broad knowledge base and range of skills for entry-level generalist practice that equips them to work with diverse client systems of various sizes and types.
• To provide students with curriculum and practicum content about the social contexts of social work practice, the changing nature of those contexts, the behavior of organizations and the dynamics of change.
• To prepare undergraduate students who are committed to social work values and ethics; to the principles of social and economic justice; and to serving all people regardless of age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.
• To provide students with a liberal arts and undergraduate social work education that prepares them for post-baccalaureate education and inspires lifelong learning.
• To promote the mission of Iona College by partnering with human service providers in the community to further the quality of life experiences and services provided to the citizens of Westchester county and its neighboring communities.
  

The Social Work Department of Iona College has identified the following program objectives as discrete elements that contribute to the achievement of its identified program goals.

1. To prepare graduates to use critical thinking skills within the context of professional social work practice and as an impetus for lifelong learning, including the pursuit of advanced higher education.
2. To prepare graduates to practice within the values and ethics of the social work profession and with a full appreciation for the positive value of diversity.
3. To prepare graduates to demonstrate the professional use of self in practice.
4. To prepare graduates to understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and to apply strategies of advocacy and social change that advance social and economic justice.
5. To prepare graduates with an understanding of the history of the social work profession and the institution of social welfare, including their contemporary structures and issues.
6. To prepare graduates to apply the knowledge and skills of generalist social work practice to systems of all sizes.
7. To prepare graduates to apply knowledge of bio-psychosocial variables that affect individual development and behavior, and use theoretical frameworks supported by empirical evidence to understand the interactions among individuals and between individuals and social systems (i.e., families, groups, organizations, and communities).
8. To prepare graduates to understand the impact of social policy on client systems, workers and agencies and to equip them with the skills for analyzing, formulating and influencing social policies.
9. To prepare graduates to evaluate research studies, apply research findings to practice, and, with appropriate supervision, evaluate their own practice interventions as well as those of other relevant systems.
10. To prepare graduates to utilize oral, written and technological skills in a variety of contexts (i.e. with different client populations, colleagues, and members of the community).
11. To prepare graduates to use supervision and consultation appropriate to generalist social work practice.
12. To prepare graduates to function within the structure of organizations and service delivery systems and, when appropriate, to seek organizational change.
13. To prepare graduates to practice without discrimination, and with respect, knowledge, and skill related to clients' age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation.
14. To create and cultivate meaningful opportunities to promote both the quality of life and services provided to the residents of Westchester County and its neighboring communities.
    

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