Social Work Field Directors: Foundations for Excellence

What are the best practices for designing, implementing, and maintaining an effective field education program? Professors Hunter, Moen, and Raskin, along with their contributing authors, present essential skills and knowledge supported by empirical research to shape field policies and curricula. The wealth of information covered makes it clear the effect field directors have on the practice community. This book sets standards for program quality and student competence and brings community practice perspectives back to social work programs. Social Work Field Directors: Foundations for Excellence provides an orientation to the subject and serves as a desk reference for new and experienced field directors charged with developing, executing, maintaining, and evaluating field education programs. This indispensable resource illustrates how to build an effective and efficient program and provide leadership that promotes sustainable changes to improve the quality of existing field programs.

Features: methods for developing programs that meet EPAS standards; case studies on sexual harassment, professional development, placing students, distance learning, gatekeeping, and more; coverage of the varying needs and goals of diverse social work field programs including BSW and MSW, rural and urban schools, and online programs; accompanying website with supplemental content including evaluations, forms, policies, sample syllabi, and PowerPoint orientations adaptable to individual programs: www(dot)socialworkfielddirectors(dot)com

Cindy A. Hunter (MSW, Howard University) is associate professor and director of field placement in the Department of Social Work at James Madison University. She is cochair of the BPD Field Committee and leads the Mid-Atlantic Field Consortium s Virginia satellite branch. Professor Hunter s publications and presentations on field education focus on the field seminar and generalist practice.

Julia K. Moen (MSW, University of Minnesota) is associate professor of social work at Bethel University. For twenty-three years she served as field director. She teaches courses in social work practice, social policy, and field seminar and maintains a clinical practice in the University Counseling Center. She is cochair of the BPD Field Committee and trains new field directors at the annual conference.

Miriam Raskin (EdD, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; MSW, University of Maryland) is professor emerita of social work at George Mason University and previously served as field director and department chair. She is a founding member of the BPD Field Committee and the Mid-Atlantic Field Consortium. Raskin has chaired accreditation site teams for CSWE and was selected as CSWE s first Senior Scholar. In 2012, she received the Habit of Excellence Award from George Mason University s College of Health and Human Services.