Mission Statement
The Social Work Department at MSU Denver is committed to educating and training BSSW social work professionals in generalist social work practice so that they may provide direct and indirect services to minority and majority clients. The focus of the department is on problems that often affect oppressed minorities representing people of color (African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian American) and other diverse populations (women and children, gender and sexual minorities, the developmentally delayed and the aging). The department is committed to helping those individuals in need and working toward leadership in the social, economic and political context that often fosters painful and socially unjust human conditions.
The needs of metropolitan Denver and other areas warrant a generalist perspective in which students are able to identify the destructive impact of negative interactions between individuals and systems in their environment. Such interactions often have detrimental effects upon the social functioning of individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities and larger systems. Through professional foundation courses and electives, students acquire skills, knowledge, values and ethics required for beginning Social Work practice. Clients are seen as partners in the process of working toward mutually agreed upon goals rooted in generalist practice. Using problem-solving methods aimed at individual and group empowerment, the impact of historic and current negative valuations of diverse, populations at risk may slowly be mitigated.
Accreditation
The Social Work Major is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. The Social Work Major received initial accreditation in February 1997 and was reaccredited in 2008 for another eight years.
Advanced Standing in Graduate School
Students who graduate with a B.S. in S.W. from an accredited undergraduate social work department may apply for advanced standing (where available) in social work graduate programs (M.S.W.).
