Info for Practicum Learning & Community Partners
Support for New & Continuing Practicum Learning Partners
Practicum Learning at Rutgers School of Social Work is built on a network practicum learning agencies and dedicated professionals across the country. Students benefit from working with our practicum learning teams through hands-on experience and lessons in what it means to be a professional social worker. Agencies can benefit from having an extra, eager set of hands to help move their organizations goal forward.
Practicum Learning Agencies: Frequently Asked Questions
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- Agencies selected for practicum sites are drawn from a wide range of agencies and reflect the diverse settings where professional social workers are employed. The School requires that agencies have a clear definition of the social work role, and that the function be supported in the agency so that students will be able to acquire and strengthen their identification as social workers. There must be appropriate assignments and a qualified MSW with available time to supervise a student, along with a commitment to teaching the core competencies and practice behaviors outlined in the learning contract and evaluation.
- MSW Supervisor/Practicum Learning Instructor –Practicum Learning Instructors are required to have an MSW and two-years post graduate experience Practicum Learning Instructors will review and comment on students’ process recordings and are required to meet with students for 1 hour each week for supervision. Practicum Learning Instructors may be involved with the student on a daily basis, or students may also work with a task supervisor.
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Each student is assigned a Practicum Learning Liaison, who interacts with the student and the agency. The Practicum Learning Liaison will make at least one remote or in-person visit each semester to meet with the Practicum Learning Instructor and the Student.
- Regular contact will be provided between students, practicum learning instructors, and online program staff to ensure the practicum is proceeding well.
- You will also receive access to our Practicum Learning Instructor newsletter and webinars related to supervision topics.
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No, you do not need to be Seminar in Practicum Learning Instruction certified to begin the interview process. We do highly recommend the certification and will offer it to you once your intern begins placement.
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Interns can help with counseling sessions, completing intakes, case management, outreach, researching best-practices, creating curriculum, and more.
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Yes
Resources
Continuing Education
Rutgers School of Social Work's Office of Continuing Education is one of the largest University-based programs of its kind in the nation and serves professionals in New Jersey, New York and beyond. CE offers over 400 programs each year, as well as 12 certificate programs all lead by expert instructors.
Community Resources
As part of our mission, Rutgers School of Social Work provides resources for our global community of social work practitioners and allied professionals.
Community News
A survey of all employees in fall 2022 on workplace behaviors at Rutgers has prompted a series of recommendations and actions to make the university a better, more responsive, and more respectful place to work and learn. Led by Rutgers Professor Sarah McMahon and her research team at the Center for Research on Ending Violence at the School of Social Work, and sponsored by the Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Academic and Workplace Behaviors and Environment Survey (AWBES) has resulted in three key goals: to strengthen coordination of university prevention and response to harassment and incivility, increase and enhance resources and services, and promote a culture of respect.
On Wednesday, October 2, Rutgers School of Social Work had the privilege of hosting 10 social work leaders from South Korea who work in community social service agencies, including day care centers and facilities serving individuals with disabilities, older adults, and various populations in need such as children, youth, the elderly, and the deaf. Part of a larger trip to visit social work agencies and policymakers in the United States, the group requested to meet with the School of Social Work to gain insights from academic research.