Marion Bogo is Professor and was Acting Dean, Associate Dean, Practicum Coordinator, and inaugural Sandra Rotman Chair in Social Work at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. Click here for her full bio.
Martha Fuller and Lynetta Mathis, Directors of Field Education, attended the annual CSWE Summit on Field Education in October 2014, during which the keynote address was given by Marion Bogo, Professor of Social Work at the University of Toronto, and a prolific writer in field education. Below are the five critical points Marion shared for a successful practicum:
A strong presence of an agency team that welcomes and supports the student in their practicum.
An active, collaborative relationship between the school and the agency.
Students are provided with many opportunities to observe and debrief with experienced practitioners (practicum supervisor and other seasoned staff); essential to review what student observes and to discuss often.
Students are provided multiple opportunities to actually practice (micro & macro), with lots of variety of tasks; it takes 10,000 hours of practice to gain mastery of a skill and to assimilate learning.
It is essential that the supervisor be actively engaged in the student’s education, and knows exactly what the student is doing through a variety of methods (direct observation, written reports, etc.) and through numerous opportunities to discover the student’s work, and to not rely only on what the student reports.
Practicum Faculty nominated for Faculty Favorite Awards
Both Sharon Sanders and Carl Enoch were recently nominated by students as a ‘Faculty Favorite’ at the University of Louisville. Both have been practicum faculty since the late ‘90’s. They will be formally showcased in February at an event for all University educators.
Sharon was recently hired as a full-time faculty member with the Kent School of Social Work, primarily teaching practice courses and practicum courses.
Carl teaches in both the BSW and the MSSW programs at the Kent School. He primarily teaches the policy, practice and practicum courses, including the new online courses.
Shelia Cundiff hired as Coordinator for Field Education
Shelia Cundiff was recently hired by the Kent School of Social Work as a Coordinator for Field Education and assists our graduate students across the country and around the globe in arranging their practicum placements.
After 17 years with the U.S. Army, where she received numerous medals including the Meritorious Service Medal, and after suffering a knee injury while in Desert Storm, Shelia entered civilian life. She worked with Seven Counties Services – Jefferson Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center for the next 15 years. She earned her MSW from Spalding University where she received the Outstanding Social Work Student Award and later was recognized as the Field Supervisor of the Year. Shelia also earned LCSW and CADC credentials and now provides supervision to others earning those credentials as well. For the past two years, Shelia has taught part-time at the Kent School in the practicum sequence and also instructs the seminar class for students specializing in alcohol and drug counseling. Welcome Shelia!
Phoenix Health Center: Common Assessment Team
Chris Hurley, Rachel White and Cory Moneymaker.
According to Andy Patterson, MSW, Ph.D., Healthcare for the Homeless Director, Family Health Centers, Inc. – Phoenix Health Center, the United States Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) recently mandated that every community develop a "common assessment" process in which every homeless individual has to be assessed in the same way to determine their vulnerability and need for housing.
“The Phoenix Health Center is Louisville's only Health Care for the Homeless program, and this process has completely changed how Permanent Supportive Housing programs accept clients, as all referrals must now come through the Common Assessment team. Our agency was selected to administer this program and it has been running since April 2014,” Dr. Patterson said.
Kent practicum students Rachel White, Chris Hurley, and Cory Moneymaker are a part of the Common Assessment Team.
According to Rachel, the common assessment helps to identify individuals who have the most need in the community, through the assessment questions. The VI-SPDAT filters individuals who would benefit from permanent supportive housing and case management services by assessing for substance abuse, mental health, and physical illness and chronic homelessness.
“The biggest benefit of working on the team is beginning to understand the underlying causes of homelessness; that homelessness is usually caused by a number of different things both personal and structural. It's important to understand the barriers that individuals face in obtaining and sustaining permanent housing,” Rachel said.
Cory says the largest benefit to working on the team has been the ability to work in the field.
“We spend very little time in an office and most of our work is out in camps, or in shelters. Getting to work with clients on their turf has helped me to get comfortable with the people I want to spend a career helping,” he said. “I have been able to provide services to people by doing everything from sitting in a homeless campsite and talking to them, to helping someone navigate finding a warm meal and bed. This practicum has easily been my most rewarding experience at Kent School thus far.”
For Chris, working on the team has given him a well-rounded understanding of different systems and services.
“I also have had the benefit of working with an excellent advising staff that continues to support me in many facets of my life. I know a lot of students that do not have this same opportunity, so I am grateful for it,” Chris said.
Field Connections Resource Center
Careers & Continuing Education Current Kent School practicum supervisors receive a $15 discount on any continuing education programs offered by the school. When signing up, our system will prompt you for your supervisory role at time of registration. For CEU workshop offerings check out our webpage.
Job Postings Kent School seeks to support our community agencies by helping to advertise available employment that may be of interest to social work students and graduates. Jobs are posted for 60 days at no cost to the agency. To post an open position at your agency, contact Martha Fuller at martha.a.fuller@louisville.edu with the full job description, including the name of the organization and location, whether full or part-time, eligibility requirements and contact information for applicants to submit their materials.
NASW’s Social Work Career Center The social work career center is a website where social workers can search national jobs listings and find professional development and career resources. http://careers.socialworkers.org/
Free Online Field Education Resource The Field Educator is an online journal produced by the Simmons School of Social Work and is a free resource available to all. The journal is published twice annually - spring and fall. According to the website, the journal “promotes knowledge exchange among the social work field education community.” Information is available for students, agency supervisors and faculty.
Social Work Licensure The Kentucky Board of Social Work website provides updated information on all licenses, KRS and KAR, forms, continuing education, license renewal and verification. Physical address:
Kentucky Board of Social Work
44 Fountain Place
Frankfort, KY 40601
For licensure information outside Kentucky, the following link provides detailed information about Social work licensure requirements in all 50 states, social work professional organizations, and social work articles: http://www.socialworklicensure.org/
The Practicum Education Fund is an endowed fund that allows us to provide our supervisors with ongoing training and sponsorships to attend national conferences. By investing in the professional learning of practicum supervisors, we ensure successful learning experiences for our students.
We invite you to make a donation in honor of your practicum supervisor and the impact they had on your social work career. Feel free to include a small testament with your donation and we will honor that supervisor during our 2015 spring conference.
Make checks payable to the University of Louisville Foundation and include Practicum Education Fund, #G1564 in the memo section. Mail to: Betty Sallengs, Development Director, Kent School of Social Work, Oppenheimer Hall, Louisville, KY 40292
Evidence-based Research Practice for MSSW students
As a reminder, all MSSW students are expected to take Advanced Research Practice during their advanced year. During this year, the students complete an Evidence Based Practice (EBP) project to become knowledgeable about the best available practices that are of interest to their practicum agency’s future vision and continued success. Thus, the student and agency have the ability to use the knowledge gained to enhance the quality of service within the agency. This project requires the student to:
Gather and evaluate numerous sources of evidence related to a best practice inquiry question co-developed by the student and the agency. The sources of evidence will include: a) the agencies’ policies, procedures and standards of practice related to the selected intervention or practice model of interest (FALL), b) best available literature (FALL) and c) interviews with key stakeholders, practitioners and consumers (SPRING).
Present a synthesis of the evidence to the agency (SPRING).
Facilitate a brief strategy planning session using the evidence presented (SPRING).
Utilize the evidence of the best practice inquiry question in some form (SPRING).
Evaluate the impact of the project (SPRING)
Document the evidence presented, the strategic plan created, efforts to implement the strategic plan by the agency and any evaluation data via a Publisher newsletter (SPRING).
For more information, or for clarification, contact the Field Education Office.
Mark your calendars for the Field Forum!
Join other Kent School practicum supervisors and faculty at the next Field Forum to share ideas and concerns about supervising students. Lunch is bring your own brown bag.
Friday, February 20, 2015 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Hosted by Giselle Danger Mercaderes JCPS Homeless Education Program Dawson Orman Education Center 900 South Floyd Street Louisville, KY 40202
Important dates to remember!
January 20 Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday, University Holiday;
Feb. 19 - Mar. 5 Spring Mid-Term Evaluations Due
February 20 Field Forum
Mar. 10 – 16 University Spring Break
April 14 BSW Capstone Project Poster Presentation
April 21 Final Day of Spring Semester
May 9 University of Louisville Commencement
May 15 18th Annual Spring Conference, Dawn Hobdy, MSW, Director of the Ethics and Professional Review, NASW, Washington, DC will present on ‘Social Work Ethics and Technology’ 8:00am-1:30pm, free CEU’s for active practicum supervisors; meets licensure requirements for ethics training.
August 24 First day of Fall Semester/Practicum begins
Field Education Program
MSSW Field Education Program
Martha A. Fuller, MSSW, CSW, ACSW
Director of Field Education
502-852-3933 martha.a.fuller@louisville.edu
The University of Louisville is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate against persons on the basis of race, age, religion, sex, disability, color, sexual orientation, national origin or veteran status.
