The Indispensable Faculty Liaison within the Signature Pedagogy: The Integrated Field/Classroom Model (IFCM) as an Example

An examination of the social work literature on the topic of the liaison role in field education reveals some discussion with regard to role, function and impact (Bennett & Coe, 1992; Ligon & Ward, 2005; Liley, 2006; Raskin, Wayne, & Bogo, 2008; Wayne, Bogo, & Raskin, 2010). The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) first designated the term 'liaison' in their documents (CSWE, 1967), indicating that programs should assign particular faculty members with explicit field responsibilities to "provide liaison between agency supervisors and faculty and have ultimate responsibility for evaluating and grading the students' learning experiences" (p. 15). According to Globerman and Bogo (2003), the incorporation of competency-based instruction in field settings has been affected significantly by the:decreased funding for welfare and human services, downsizing and restructuring in health services, increased privatization, and the proliferation of managed care. Social workers are expected to increase productivity and accountability in their practices while handling their own anxieties about their professional careers. (p. 66)This article intends to encourage a needed dialogue about the critical component of the liaison role serving as the bridge between agency field placements and classroom instruction even in the face of limited resources and funding challenges.In a time when schools of social work are struggling with funding issues and allocation of resources, some programs have relegated the liaison role to persons other than faculty, which became permissible following the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) of 2001 (CSWE, 2001). Although field education was proclaimed the signature pedagogy of social work education by CSWE (2008) EPAS, most schools have not reallocated resources to add increased funds to this arena (Wayne, Bogo, & Raskin, 2006). Over the past several years, some schools have responded to the economic challenges by decreasing the expectations of the liaison role, no longer expecting multiple on-site visits with students during each semester or exploring the use of technology to replace traditional methods of liaising (Danis, Woody, & Black, 2013). Others have responded by hiring adjunct, part-time, contract, and/or semi-retired social workers to provide liaison services to students in placements, and these professionals may or may not have additional involvement with the university such as committee assignments, etc. A review of the websites of the 2014 top ten schools of social work (U.S. News & World Report, 2012) indicates a diverse spectrum of field education models. Some schools such as Columbia University School of Social Work (n.d.), Case Western Reserve University (n.d.), and Boston College School of Social Work (2015), refer to personnel providing field liaison services as advisors. Other schools, such as The University of Chicago (2015), have staff members, labeled as consultants, fulfilling various liaison responsibilities and partnering with particular faculty members. Within these programs, the frequency and occurrence of field liaison visits varies significantly from program to program. The liaison function appears to be assigned sometimes to a faculty member, sometimes to a staff member, and sometimes to adjunct or contract social workers. There is increasing evidence that the traditional role of the faculty field liaison has changed at many schools.As the traditional liaison model continues to shift, and in some cases diminish, this changing landscape for students' field education creates concern. Although limited research exists regarding the liaison role, what is available clearly states that field instructors are most satisfied when liaisons are readily accessible and when there are frequent contacts between the field instructor and the liaison (Bennett & Coe, 1998). More recently, in an article comparing face-to-face (F2F) liaison visits with electronic liaison contacts, Danis et al. …