Bachelor of Social Work student Amber Arnaqulluk was featured on a Facebook post by Calista Education and Culture Inc. Way to go, Amber!
Bachelor of Social Work Program
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Bachelor of Social Work Program
The Bachelor in Social Work (BSW) program prepares students for professional social work practice. The mission of the UAA BSW program is to prepare generalist social workers who enhance human well-being, engage in decolonizing and anti-oppressive practice, and promote social, economic, and environmental justice for all Alaskans.
Successfully offering social work education since 1978, the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) UAA program provides structure, support, instruction, and advising to prepare you for an entry-level professional social work career or graduate school opportunities. Social work is a profession committed to assisting individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their quality of life through the improvement of social problems, equitable distribution of social resources, and client empowerment. The UAA BSW program prepares graduates for beginning professional social work practice, building on a broad-based liberal arts education accomplished through the completion of General Education and major degree requirements. Our student-centered faculty engage students in carefully planned experiences to achieve the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for beginning professional practice, which take place in the classroom, laboratory, volunteer experience, small seminars, and selected field work practicum placements. We also offer a minor in Social Welfare Studies.
Within an overall emphasis on consumer-centered planned change, the BSW degree program at UAA is guided by the following principles:
- Social work practice is based on the intentional use of knowledge in collaborative planned change efforts with human systems and social problems.
- Social workers recognize human diversity as a strength and anti-oppression and social justice as a responsibility.
- Social work practice is based on:
- professional values and ethics;
- professional relationships;
- reciprocal role performance; and
- a strengths perspective.
BSW alumni work with people across the lifespan in a wide variety of service delivery systems, including:
- child and adult behavioral health
- child welfare
- gerontology
- medical social work
- juvenile justice
- criminal justice
- military and veterans
- disability services
- policy advocacy
- organizational leadership
- tribal social services
Why choose Bachelor of Social Work at UAA?
About 90% of UAA School of Social Work alumni are either employed or accepted into a Master of Social Work program by the time they graduate.
The UAA Bachelor of Social Work program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and prepares you for positions leading to advancement and leadership roles in many areas and settings.
Our faculty have experience and expertise across multiple areas of practice, including behavioral health, child welfare, disabilities, criminal justice, veterans, schools, health care, homelessness, food insecurity, community development, senior services, organizational leadership, and more!
Get involved with groups and activities that match your professional and personal interests, such as the Social Work Student Coalition, the National Association of Social Workers, or the Epsilon Chi chapter of Phi Alpha.
Program Information
The UAA Catalog is the official source of all degree and certificate programs at the university. Catalog entries for each program include details such as learning outcomes, application timeline and requirements, course sequencing, and program requirements.
Catalog: Bachelor of Social Work
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Message from the Program Director
On behalf of the other social work faculty, I want to express how excited we all are in your interest in social work. We teach because we are passionate about education and hope that our enthusiasm translates to the classroom. Even if you are not sure you have an interest in social work, we encourage you to take one of our introductory courses to find out. And if you do choose to major in a different field, our social work program still offers a variety of thought-provoking courses (with easy to satisfy prerequisites) that might be helpful to your chosen degree or that you may just want to take because you are interested in the topic. Whatever your interest in social work, we are here and happy to help.
— Kathi Trawver, Ph.D, LMSW
Contact Us
(907) 786-6900
uaa_socialwork@alaska.edu
Physical Address
UAA School of Social Work
UAA Professional Studies Building
2533 Providence Dr, Suite 234
Anchorage, AK 99508
Mailing Address
UAA School of Social Work
3211 Providence Dr, PSB 234
Anchorage, AK 99508
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