Field Qualifications, Roles and Responsibilities

The School of Social Work at Western Michigan University has identified field participant qualifications and responsibilities.

Field office staff qualifications and role responsibilities

• Our graduate assistants with experience in social work education broadly, and field education specifically, who are responsible for organizing and facilitating field education for students, field instructors, field organizations, and faculty in the School of Social Work.
• Field graduate assistant at @email or (269) 387-3206

Field coordinator qualifications and role responsibilities

• Field coordinators are social work faculty with extensive experience in social work practice and field who manage the field education components of the School of Social Work curriculum at the various campuses.
• Vicki Poleni, Field Coordinator

BSW field instructor qualifications and role responsibilities

• BSW or MSW with two years post-degree experience
• Provide field instruction supervision at least one hour per week
• Work to develop, and then evaluate student learning contract
• If primary field instructor has a different educational background, then the secondary field instructor with a BSW or MSW must provide an hour of supervision at least every two weeks.

MSW field instructor qualifications and role responsibilities

• MSW with two years post-degree experience
• Provide field instruction supervision at least one hour per week
• Works with you to develop, and then evaluate student learning contract
• If primary field instructor has a different educational background, then the secondary field instructor with an MSW must provide an hour of social work specific supervision at least every 2 weeks, in addition to the primary field instructor 1 hour of supervision every week.

Faculty liaison qualifications and role responsibilities

• Faculty liaisons are part-time or full-time faculty in the School of Social Work who have experience and expertise in practice at a foundational, advanced micro or advanced macro level.
• Teach field education courses and provide summative evaluations, or grades, to students in those courses
• Liaison between the student, field instructor and School of Social Work while in the field, including providing at least 3 field visits during the placement and engaging in troubleshooting as needed to facilitate student success in field