Undergraduate Program Mission

Firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition and informed by the person-in-environment and global perspectives, the Undergraduate Social Work Program at SUNY Brockport, State University of New York, is committed to the promotion of human rights, social, economic, and environmental justice, and the elimination of poverty and oppression. Through teaching, service, and scholarship, we strive to prepare competent, self-aware, ethical generalist social workers for evidence-based practice with diverse populations, advocating for the well-being of all people in our shared global community.

Undergraduate Program Goals

In order to operationalize its mission, the faculty assigned to the Undergraduate Social Work will:

  1. Create a challenging educational environment that engages students in active learning and facilitates the acquisition of professional social work knowledge, values, and skills.
  2. Provide a rich array of community engagement opportunities that allow students to connect with their community in the promotion of justice.
  3. Encourage students to engage in ongoing critical self-reflection resulting in an understanding of both their place in the global community and their responsibility to the well-being of that global community.
  4. Educate competent generalist level social workers prepared for employment and graduate study.

The faculty members define generalist social work as follows:

Generalist social work practice refers to the knowledge base, professional values, and practice skills needed for the social work practitioner to intervene, using a multi-level approach to assessment and intervention. It involves working in partnership with the client system to frame problems in a manner that assists the client system to meet goals. It seeks to identify and strengthen the maximum potential in individuals, groups, organizations, and communities and is committed to understanding and respecting the unique context of the client system and responding to issues of human diversity. The generalist social worker is able to use the framework and ethical guidelines of the NASW and IFSW codes of ethics with client systems and to promote social and economic justice. The generalist practitioner is able to use critical thinking and research informed practice to identify and intervene in a manner that strengthens the client system.

Accreditation Information

The Undergraduate Social Work Program has been continually accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) since our inception in 1971.

Contact

350 New Campus Drive
Brockport, NY, 14420-2952
(585) 395-2324
socwork@brockport.edu