Mission
The Program’s mission embraces not only the Institution and the School’s mission; it is consistent with the purpose of the social work profession to promote human and community well-being. The program is also guided by a person and environment construct, a global perspective, respect for human diversity, and knowledge based on scientific inquiry, social work’s purpose is actualized through its quest for social and economic justice, the prevention of conditions that limit human rights, the elimination of poverty, and the enhancement of the quality of life for all persons. Both the School and the BSW Program seek to increase the work force of generalist social workers engaging in accountability, empirically based practice, knowledge building and sharing of their own practice wisdom.
Vision
The Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work Baccalaureate Program will prepare generalist social work practitioners with the appropriate practice and research skills, enabling effective responses to societal and economic issues faced by diverse populations.
The Baccalaureate Social Work Program has four goals, which reflect the stated mission of the Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work and Clark Atlanta University, and are consistent with the purposes, values and ethics of the social work profession. The BSW program goals build on and integrate a liberal arts foundation. The goals listed below reflect content from the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards core competencies for baccalaureate social work degree programs.
Program Goals
The Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work Baccalaureate Social Work Program has four goals, which reflect the stated mission of the Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work BSW Program at Clark Atlanta University. The goals embrace each other and specific generalist knowledge and skills that students are expected to synthesize and apply in practice. Thus, the goals of the BSW Program are designed to:
Goal 1: Prepare students for generalist practice with diverse groups without discrimination and with respect, knowledge of age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, sex, religious, sexual orientation and the relationships between human behavior and the social environment across the lifespan which incorporates the Afrocentric Perspective and the values and ethics of the social work profession.
Goal 2: Prepare students as social work generalists who link social research and social service practice by applying research findings to practice, and by evaluating their own practice.
Goal 3: Prepare students for generalist social work practice with systems of all sizes.
Goal 4: Prepare students for lifelong learning and critical thinking through an educational process that combines a liberal arts foundation with professional social work education and prepares them for graduate education in social work.
