Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSWO 506 – Social Welfare Policy and Programs II (Spring 2020)

Credits - 3

Description

Policy II presents the opportunity for students to apply their knowledge and skills for advocacy practice, policy development, and policy evaluation either at the Federal, state, municipal, or community level. This examination also includes how social policies are funded and how they affect the lives of people, organizations, and communities. Professional Social Work ethics, which require social workers to engage in advocacy practice that promotes social justice, equity, and equality will be examined, as will the potential for the profession to be used as an agent of social control.

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. Practice social inclusion to enable people, populations, and communities to fully participate in society, enhance human bonds in the context of cultural diversity and ensure improved quality of life and equitable resource distribution. EPAS Competencies 2 & 3
2. Engage in culturally-informed relationship building, being respectful of the complexity and diversity of contexts and circumstances. EPAS Competencies 3 & 6
3. Utilize theories of human behavior, social systems and social inclusion when offering interventions with people and their environments. EPAS Competency 8
4. Promote ethical reflection, critical consciousness and shared decision-making based in social work values and with consideration of the broader contexts of the world in which we live. EPAS Competency 1
5. Balance the roles of helpers, activists, and advocates through collaboration with communities to build healthy and sustainable resources. EPAS Competencies 2, 5, & 6
6. Engage as critical consumers and producers of research as it relates to assessment, intervention and evaluation of clinical and community practices. EPAS Competencies 4, 7, 8 & 9
7. Practice person-centered and collaborative community partnerships across diverse settings. EPAS Competency 6

Course Objectives:

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

1. Identify major policies that form the foundation of social welfare and analyze the organizational, local, state, national and international issues in social welfare policy and social service delivery. This will also include the ability to determine how social welfare policies and social service delivery may differentially affect diverse groups. (Program Outcome #4) (As measured by the Policy Brief, Advocacy Website, Advocacy Map, Learning Log and Discussions).
2. Apply research findings and a policy analysis framework to policy practice development, presentation, and advocacy with systems of all sizes. (Program Outcome #6) (As evidenced by Discussions, Advocacy Website, Reflective Learning Log, Policy Brief, and Advocacy Map).
3. Assume social work roles and responsibilities in the policy process, including leadership, research, lobbying, campaigning, collaborating and community organizing with the goal of promoting and advocating for social and economic justice and inclusion through both organizational and social change. (Program Outcome #4) (As measured by the Advocacy Website, Editorial Assignment, Correspondence with Legislators, and Discussions).

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:

This course will use an array of readings from textbooks, journal articles, podcasts, Web-based materials, and videos 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.

Current Social Policy Issues Quizzes:

In addition to your regular participation in the weekly discussion forums, you are expected to read/listen/watch and be informed about current events related to social policy from various news sources (e.g., newspapers, radio, podcasts, magazines, etc.).

To encourage you to study current social policy issues each week, a “pop” quiz will be given to you four times during this term. Beginning with Week Two, you will have a Current Social Policy Issues Quiz and you won’t know until you open it if it requires a simple acknowledgment statement as to whether or not you followed current issues that week or an essay-style question in which you will provide a summary and critical analysis of the news accounts. This summary/analysis will be a substantive report on current events and policy issues and must include at least two sources of your information. The piece of writing does not have to be in APA format, but your news sources need to be cited. You will have 25 minutes to complete your short essay summary/critical analysis.

Discussions:

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. Grading and feedback methods are listed with each specific discussion assignment. Please refer to the Learning Modules and Discussion Boards for more information. Please refer to the Discussion Board Rubric for grading criteria.

Writing Assignments and Projects:

The course will engage students in a variety of learning activities to support the learning objectives. This course offers you an opportunity to engage in policy advocacy practice, an effort to change policies in legislative, agency and community settings whether by recommending the establishment of new policies, improving existing ones or challenging the policy initiatives of other people. You will accomplish by working in small task groups composed of other students who share a similar commitment to a specific social problem. Learning activities for each module include the following: reading assignments from the course texts, journal articles, newspapers, and web-based material; web-based films and a film on DVD; and weekly discussion opportunities relevant to each module’s content, regular correspondence with legislators and bill tracking.

Weekly Grading and Feedback: The course instructor will return assignments and other grading items (discussion boards, participation, etc.) to students within three days of the assignment due date. The course instructor will provide weekly feedback about participation and performance no later than four days after the learning module closes. Feedback can be via email, within the assignment itself, or using the Feedback column in the gradebook.

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 final grade
Reflection Journal and Summary	30 pts x 4 weeks = 120	12%
Whole Class Discussions	20 pts x 9 forums = 180	18%
Task Group Discussions	20 pts x 4 weeks (Weeks 3,4,5,7) + 40 pts x 2 weeks (Weeks 2 & 6) = 160	16%
Current Social Policy Issues Quizzes	20 pts x 7 weeks = 140	14%
Policy Advocacy Project: Community Presentation (Web Site Development)*	80	8%
Policy Advocacy Project: Editorial*	80	8%
Policy Advocacy Project: Advocacy Map	80	8%
Policy Advocacy Project: Policy Brief*	80	80%
Policy Advocacy Project: Correspondence With Legislators/Public*	80	8%
Total	1,000	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