Department of Social Work

The Social Work department at Binghamton University prepares students for generalist practice and will focus on understanding social work values, ethics and professional behavior. Utilizing a generalist lens, students will obtain the knowledge and skill to work with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. Students will explore historical oppression, structural inequality and work toward navigating complex systems.

Students will increase their awareness of social injustices and the impact that social injustice has on access to education, resources and services. Students will learn how to maximize empowerment of clients and communities to reduce clients’ and communities’ experiences of oppression and institutional violence.

Social Work Program Advancement Policy

Purpose

The faculty and staff of the Binghamton University Department of Social Work are responsible for creating an educational environment that fosters student growth, academic success and professional development. When students apply to the program, they sign an academic contract agreeing to advance their professional development and to have it assessed by social work faculty and staff throughout their time in the program. The Social Work Department Advancement Policy supports this responsibility by addressing criteria including academic, professional and ethical conduct (e.g., being respectful; displaying integrity and honesty; addressing concerns in a clear and constructive manner; responding to evaluation and criticism with appropriate self-reflection, and modification of behavior), to ensure that graduates of the program have the necessary professional conduct to effectively serve clients. When there are concerns about a student’s academic/professional conduct, the Social Work Department may institute the Advancement Policy as a way to address such behavior.

The nature of the social work profession demands that practitioners use sound professional judgment and exercise professional and ethical conduct in all aspects of their work. When there is evidence of unprofessional behavior (e.g., plagiarism, misuse of University property, verbally or physically abusive behavior, behavior that is counter to the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics or other unprofessional conduct), the Social Work Department has the right and responsibility to terminate the enrollment of the student. Alternatively, any student who, at any time in the program is determined by the Social Work Department faculty and administration to have engaged in unprofessional behavior, may be required to participate in the Social Work Advancement Process to assess and support their professional readiness for social work practice. Students will not be approved for graduation if they have unexecuted/unresolved concern(s) in relation to the Advancement Policy on file.

Process and Procedure

Students will advance automatically from semester to semester unless they are informed otherwise. Problems in academic/professional and/or ethical behavior may be identified at any point in the semester by faculty members (full-time and adjunct), field instructors or staff.

Any faculty members (full-time or adjunct), field instructors or staff who identify a concern regarding a student’s professional behavior will confer with the BSW program director to determine if the behavior can be handled inside of the class/field structure. If not, the involved party(ies) will put their concerns in writing and share them with the BSW program director, and/or the academic advisor and/or field director, and the student.

The BSW program director will meet with the student to construct a written plan that will be signed by the two of them with the goal being to resolve the professional and/or ethical deficiency. The plan shall state with specificity: (1) the concern(s); (2) the actions to be undertaken by the student; (3) how success with the plan will be determined; and (4) dates(s) by which the student must demonstrate the completion of, and compliance with, the plan.
If unable to reach consensus in the development of the plan, if the student does not agree that there is a concern, if the plan is not fulfilled and/or if concerns escalate, the written documents with evidence regarding the concerns will be brought to the Social Work Grievance Committee chair via email from the student’s advisor.
The Grievance Committee chair will notify the Grievance Committee within five business days of receipt of the email from the student’s professional advisor. The email should be posted as received by 5 p.m. on the fifth day. If the Grievance Committee chair is the person identifying the concern or is unavailable (such as may be the case over the summer session), the Social Work Department chair shall convene the Grievance Committee.
The chair of the Grievance Committee will convene the Grievance Committee within 10 business days from receipt of the email from the student’s professional advisor to review any documents submitted by the student and gathered and submitted by the professional advisor. The Grievance Committee chair will notify the student and the professional advisor of the meeting date. The student and BSW program director must submit any additional documents via email no later than five business days before the meeting date. The email should be posted as received by 5 p.m. on the fifth day.

The Grievance Committee will consider the concern(s) as explained by the professional advisor and person(s) identifying the concern(s) and the response of the student. The student may be accompanied at the meeting by an advocate who is permitted to communicate directly with the student, but who is not allowed to directly address the Grievance Committee.

At the culmination of the meeting, the Grievance Committee may choose to:

Dismiss the concern as not being substantiated or having no merit;
Place conditions on the student’s advancement in the program;
Recommend the student be suspended for a period of time or dismissed from the program.

If further questions need to be answered prior to making a final determination, the Grievance Committee has the right to question the student and/or others involved in putting forward the concern(s) after the meeting. The Grievance Committee shall notify the student and the professional advisor of their decision via email and certified mail within 20 working days of the Grievance Committee meeting. The email should be posted as received by 5 p.m. on the 20th day.

The Grievance Committee will consist of two faculty members (one of whom will serve as chair of the Grievance Committee), one professional staff member and one student representative. “Business days” refers to any day in which the University is in operation.

Appeal Process

If the student, the BSW program director, and/or individual(s) expressing the concern(s) is/are dissatisfied with the decision of the Grievance Committee or if the Grievance Committee is unable to reach consensus, the matter can be appealed to the Social Work Department chair. In the case of disagreement with the decision, the professional advisor, instructor-of-record or student must put in writing the reasons why they believe that the decision should be re-examined. The written document must be submitted to the Social Work Department chair via email within 10 business days of receiving notice of the decision from the Grievance Committee. The final decision regarding the student’s advancement rests with the Social Work Department chair. The Social Work Department chair shall notify the student and professional advisor of the decision via email and certified mail within 10 business days of receiving the written document from the party(ies) in disagreement with the Grievance Committee’s decision. The email should be posted as received by 5 p.m. on the 10th day.

As noted in the College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA) by-laws, in order to pursue and be granted an appeal beyond the Social Work Department chair, with the dean of CCPA, there must be submitted a “written claim of abrogation of due process and/or new information.” In such cases as an appeal goes to the dean, and as cited from the CCPA by-laws, “there will be no further recourse after the dean’s decision.”

Social Work Program Grade Appeal Process and Procedure

To appeal a final course grade, the student must put in writing the reasons why they believe that the grade should be changed, citing perceived unfairness in the grading process. The student must submit this written appeal via email to the instructor-of-record for the course (field/non-field) within 10 business days of receiving notice of the grade from the instructor-of-record or registrar, whichever is first. The email should be posted as received by 5 p.m. on the 10th day.
Upon receipt of the written appeal, the instructor-of-record will consider the student’s appeal and respond to the student in writing via email within 20 business days with a final decision. The email should be posted as received by 5 p.m. on the 20th day.
If the student is not satisfied with the instructor-of-record’s decision, the student must put in writing the reasons why s/he still believes that the grade should be changed and attach a copy of the original appeal document that was written to the instructor-of-record and the instructor’s response to this appeal. These documents must be forwarded via email to the chair of the Grievance Committee within 10 business days from the date that the student received written notification from the instructor-of- record’s decision. The email should be posted as received by 5 p.m. on the 10th day. If the Grievance Committee chair is the instructor-of-record, then the appeal goes to the department chair.
The Grievance Committee chair (or department chair if the Grievance Committee chair is the instructor-of-record) will notify the Grievance Committee of the appeal and will schedule a meeting within 20 business days for the committee to review the documents submitted by the student and instructor-of-record. If further questions need to be answered prior to making a final determination, the committee has the right to question the student, instructor-of-record or other relevant individuals in writing or by phone. When necessary, the committee has the right to request more written material. The Grievance Committee shall notify the student and the instructor-of-record of the committee’s decision via email and certified mail within 20 business days of the Grievance Committee meeting. The email should be posted as received by 5 p.m. on the 20th day.
If either the student or instructor-of-record is dissatisfied with the decision of the Grievance Committee, they may appeal the decision to the department chair. If the instructor-of-record is the department chair, then the final decision rests with the Grievance Committee, providing that the committee’s decision is unanimous. The student must put in writing the reason why they still believes the grade should be changed and attach all original documents from the original appeal to the instructor-of-record, the instructor’s written response to the original appeal, all documents submitted to the Grievance Committee, the letter of notification regarding the Grievance Committee’s decision and any other relevant documents. These will be emailed to the Social Work Department chair within 10 business days of written notification of the Grievance Committee’s decision. The email should be posted as received by 5 p.m. on the 10h day. The final decision regarding the student’s grade appeal rests with the Social Work Department chair.
If the instructor-of-record is the department chair and the Grievance Committee’s decision is not unanimous, then the dean of the College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA) will review the written record and make the final determination.
As noted in the College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA) by-laws, in order to pursue and be granted an appeal with the dean of CCPA, there must be a submitted “written claim of abrogation of due process and/or new information.” In such cases as an appeal goes to the dean, and as cited from the CCPA by-laws, “there will be no further recourse after the dean’s decision.”

“Business days” refers to any day in which the University is in operation. The Grievance Committee will consist of two faculty (one of who will serve as chair of the Grievance Committee), one professional staff and one student representative.

Withdrawal

It is the policy of the Department of Social Work that students who are considering withdrawal from the program meet their academic advisor and/or BSW program director to discuss the challenges they are facing and explore options that may help support their continuation in the program. The academic advisor and/or BSW program director can offer guidance regarding the process of officially withdrawing from the program or from classes. The student must inform all faculty from whom they are currently receiving instruction (i.e., for the courses in which the student is currently enrolled) or make a plan to inform faculty with the assistance of the academic advisor and/or BSW program director.

For more information on the University’s withdrawal policies, see theAcademic Policies and Procedures for All Students .

Social Work Contract

Students accepted and enrolled into the BSW major agree to abide by the following contract: I agree to the following contract:

Social workers serve a wide variety of client systems that could include the poor, victims, as well as perpetrators of abuse, people with different sexual orientations, those with racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, people of all ages, persons from diverse religious, spiritual and cultural backgrounds and many other aspects of human diversity. Social work services should be provided without prejudice and/or imposition of the worker’s values on clients.

I have read and understand the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and agree to adhere to the standards therein.
I have read the Binghamton University Department of Social Work Performance Standards for Admission, Matriculation and Graduation, and agree to adhere to the standards therein.
I will continue my professional development through regular self-assessment of my academic and personal aptitude and performance.
I will continue my professional development, taking seriously faculty assessments of my academic and professional aptitude and performance. This includes discussion with faculty about their observations underlying their evaluations and the steps I might take when improvement is warranted.
I understand and agree that the faculty and staff may share with other faculty, staff and administrators, field instructors and other staff at field agencies, information about student situations in connection with professional development and academic concerns arising in the social work program. Faculty and staff will make every effort to keep confidential any student information that the faculty or staff member feels is not necessary to discuss concerning the student, in connection with professional development and academic concerns. As appropriate, faculty and staff will discuss with students the scope of the information being shared.
I will become familiar with all course and program requirements and accept responsibility for taking all required courses in the correct sequence.
I understand that although I am admitted to the BSW program, if my professional development is deemed unsatisfactory by the social work faculty, the BSW program has the right and responsibility to request reassessment of my suitability for the program. The social work faculty, in turn, will provide academic instruction and professional advising to assist with the learning and professional development process.