The foundation field practicum provides students with the opportunity to apply foundation knowledge, skills, values, and ethics to practice. It is considered the cornerstone of social work education. Field practicum experiences provide students with a bridge between classroom learning and practice realities. It offers students the opportunity to integrate and assimilate knowledge and theory with experience and to build the foundation for one's professional identity. During the course of the program, each student has two field placements in separate agency locations for a total of 12 units of academic credit.
All students attend a twelve hour orientation before beginning their first field placement.
The first year is a foundation placement. The advanced placement is in an agency consistent with a student's concentration. Foundation placements provide students with a foundation in social work practice skills using a generalist-integrative practice model. Students have opportunities to learn to work with all size systems in a variety of assignments. The advanced practicum is designed to offer learning experiences relevant to a student's advanced concentration.