The social work program is committed to: 

• preparing students for entry-level professional social work practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities within the context of a liberal arts education
• helping students develop a special appreciation for the needs and strengths of women and the knowledge and skills of professional practice that supports and encourages women
• preparing students for practice with racially and ethnically diverse populations, people in poverty and people at special risk in our society

Intrinsic to the mission of the social work program, is the ultimate goal of social and economic justice.

Program Goals

The goals of the social work program are to:

• prepare students for entry-level generalist social work practice including engagement, assessment, intervention and evaluation with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities

• prepare students to practice social work with respect for diversity and difference

• enable students to understand and advance human rights and social, economic and environmental justice

• prepare students to understand frameworks of ethical decision making and how to apply principles of critical thinking in practice, research and policy arenas

• prepare students to engage in practice informed research, research informed practice and policy practice

Program Outcomes and Assessment

Mount Mary’s social work program has adopted the 10 core competencies established by the Council on Social Work Education as the program’s objectives. These competencies are outcome performance indicators for social workers with a bachelor’s degree per social work core competencies.  

The social work program measures how well it is achieving the program’s goals through continuous outcome assessment. The annual outcome assessment analyzes data from exit surveys completed by graduating seniors, seniors’ portfolios, final senior year fieldwork evaluations completed by field instructors and specific course assignment scores with recent outcome assessment reports. See the Outcome Assessment.