Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSWO 505 Social Policy and Advocacy – Spring A 2025

Credits - 3

Description

Social Policy and Advocacy examines social welfare policy and practice with a primary focus on the role professional social work plays in the development, implementation, and evaluation of social welfare policy as well as the impact social welfare policy has on the social work profession. This course provides a historical overview of social welfare policy and social work as a profession. Course content includes identification of the values and ideologies that have informed the evolution of social work and public social welfare policy—including, but not limited to, how systemic oppression and social justice emerge in social welfare policy and community settings. This course includes a semester-long project in which students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge of policy analysis and advocacy strategies.

 

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

School of Social Work Program Outcomes:

Graduates of the UNE SSWO will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and leadership in the following:

1. Demonstrates ethical and professional behavior.
2. Advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
3. Engage in anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) in practice.
4. Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
5. Engage in policy practice.
6. Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
7. Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
8. Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
9. Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Course Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Identify the outline of the historical themes and ideologies that have impacted diverse populations and shaped social policy development. (EPAS 1 & 3)
2. Describe how social, political, and economic factors have defined social and economic classes in the United States, and how this impacts diverse populations. (EPAS 1 & 5) 
3. Identify social policy at the local, state, and federal level that affects well-being, service delivery, and access to social services. (EPAS 5) 
4. Assess how social policy and economic policies affect the delivery of and access to social services. (EPAS 4 & 5) 
5. Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights, social justice, and anti-racism. (EPAS 2, 5 & 7)

Assignments

A variety of learning activities are designed to support the course objectives, facilitate different learning styles, and build a community of learners. Learning activities for each module include the following:

Readings and Multimedia

Description: This course will use an array of readings from textbooks, journal articles, other web-based materials, and video lectures to present the important concepts in the various modules. The readings and multimedia provide the foundation and background for discussion opportunities and assignments relevant to each module’s content.

Discussions

Description: An important learning method in this course is student participation and interaction in the discussion threads within each module. Students are expected to participate actively and in a respectful manner.

All discussions will be evaluated using the Discussion Rubric.

Grading and Feedback Method: Grading and feedback methods are listed with each specific discussion assignment. Please refer to the Learning Modules and Discussion Area for more information.

Assignments, Projects, and Assessments

Students will engage in a term-long Policy Advocacy Strategy Assignment. Small-group discussions in weeks 1-6 are designed to walk students through the policy advocacy planning process; the small-group activities and peer feedback will directly prepare students to craft their final project, the Final Policy Advocacy Strategy Assignment (Week 7). For their Final Policy Advocacy Strategy assignments, students can choose to create one of the following types of strategies: an op-ed, correspondence with legislators, public testimony, or a policy brief. During the last week of the course, students will present their final assignments to the class. Final presentations include students discussing the following: 1) the decisions they made along the way when choosing and crafting their advocacy strategies (e.g., why they chose the strategy type, target audience, information, and tactics that they did), 2) their reflections of their project outcomes and processes (e.g., what worked well, what could be improved, and what they learned about themselves and policy advocacy), and 3) ideas they have for applying their learnings to their future social work practice.

Due Dates: Due dates for all learning activities are provided in the course schedule and the course.

Grading Policy

The School of Social Work uses the following grading system for all courses with the exception of field education courses. Students are expected to maintain a “B” (3.0) average over the course of their study. Students with less than a GPA of 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. Students must have an overall GPA of 3.0 in order to receive their Master’s Degree.

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assignments	Point Value	Percentage of Grade
Acknowledgement of Academic Engagement	1 points	1%
Understanding Your "Policy Advocacy Strategy Project"	5 points	5%
Whole Class Discussions @ 4 pts each	20 points	20%
Small Group Discussions @ 6 pts each	36 points	36%
Partner Teach Back Activity @ 4 pts each	8 points	8%
Policy Advocacy Strategy	20 points	20%
Final Advocacy Strategy Presentation Discussion	10 points	10%
Total	100 points	100%

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00