The Advanced Standing Online Bilingual Master of Social Work (MSW) is an innovative offering by the School of Social Work to ensure that communities have professional social workers who are linguistically competent and culturally aware of the nuances faced by individuals, families, groups, and communities when faced with receiving services. This unique program seeks to enhance the knowledge, values, and skills in order to work with vulnerable, disenfranchised individuals in society. The program is part of the Micro Specialization with a Migration Studies track and focuses on Latinx/e communities. Advanced Standing Students will complete a total of 23 credit hours to earn their MSW degree.

The courses are taught in both English and Spanish by faculty who are language proficient in Spanish. It is important that students are proficient in both languages for the coursework as well as the internship settings. Meaningful, application-oriented coursework and assignments will ensure that you are prepared to join the workforce with confidence and serve the people that need your support towards leading a sustained, fruitful, healthy life.

CURRICULUM

If you have earned a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), you can apply for the Advanced Standing program. Visit the MSW Advanced Standing Option page to see if you qualify. Our curriculum is a well-thought-out sequence of courses that prepares you to practice as a professional social worker in your community. The course content and training will also enable you to sit for the licensure exams in your respective states.

The academic curriculum of the Advanced Standing Bilingual MSW program is only 23 credit hours. This option allows BSW graduates to complete an MSW in just 4 consecutive semesters, including a Summer semester.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Specialized Courses
SOWK 632	Clinical Social Work with Older Adults	3
SOWK 680	Advanced Micro-Level Practice	3
SOWK 681	Advanced Mezzo & Macro Practice	3
SWII 632	Internship Instruction III & Simulated Experiences	0.5
SWII 632S	Integrative Seminar	1
SWII 633	Internship Instruction IV & Simulated Experiences	0.5
SOWK Elective Course		3
Micro Practice Specialization
Migration Studies Track
SOWK 730	Immigration Dynamics and U.S. Social Policy	3
SOWK 731	Social Work Practice with Refugees and Immigrants	3
SOWK 732	Migration, Social Justice, and Human Rights	3
Total Hours		23

Internship

Basic Information about Internships

Completion of the internship requirements in the indicated time is required for graduation.

Advanced Standing Program - One Internship Required 

• Specialized internship – 600 hours to be completed in 2 semesters

SPECIALIZED INTERNSHIP: DESCRIPTION

• The specialized internship offers students the opportunity to practice advanced clinical skills, including providing individual and group therapy services. Students are required to complete a total of 600 hours over the course of two consecutive semesters, requiring approximately 20-24 hours per week. Of the 600 hours, 50-70% of the hours should be focused on clinical work and in direct service to clients.
• Internship begins in the seventh semester of the program.
• The student receives weekly clinical supervision at their internship site.
• Students work with Latinx/ Migrant populations during internships.
• Students are required to be supervised during internships by a professional that has an MSW with two years post masters experience or Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Students should receive weekly supervision from the site supervisor.
• Internship schedules are determined together by the student and site and should be discussed during the interview process. Start dates, end dates, and number of hours worked per week should be discussed. Students should determine with the site a consistent schedule for the internship.

For additional information related to internship policies and requirements, please review the School of Social Work's Internship Manual available to view here: https://www.luc.edu/socialwork/student-support/internship/ 

Specialization & Track Option

This degree program is only compatible with the Micro Practice Specialization with Migration Studies Track.

Suggested Sequence of Courses

The below sequence of courses is meant to be used as a suggested path for completing coursework.  An individual student’s completion of requirements depends on course offerings in a given term as well as the start term for a major or graduate study.  Students should consult their advisor for assistance with course selection.

Plan of Study Grid

Year One
Spring		Hours
SOWK 680	Advanced Micro-Level Practice	3
SOWK 681	Advanced Mezzo & Macro Practice	3
	Hours	6
Summer
SOWK 730	Immigration Dynamics and U.S. Social Policy	3
SOWK 732	Migration, Social Justice, and Human Rights	3
	Hours	6
Year Two
Fall
SOWK 731	Social Work Practice with Refugees and Immigrants	3
SWII 632	Internship Instruction III & Simulated Experiences	0.5
SWII 632S	Integrative Seminar	1
	Hours	4.5
Spring
SOWK 621	Clinical Practice in Addiction	3
SOWK 632	Clinical Social Work with Older Adults	3
SWII 633	Internship Instruction IV & Simulated Experiences	0.5
	Hours	6.5
	Total Hours	23

Students must adhere to the course sequence.  Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA to remain in good academic standing.  A grade of "C" or higher is required to pass a course.  A "F" grade in any course will result in dismissal from the program.

¹

SWII 632/SWII 633 - 600 hours

²

SWII 632S Integrative Seminar - Meets eight (8) times

Graduate & Professional Standards and Regulations

Students in graduate and professional programs can find their Academic Policies in Graduate and Professional Academic Standards and Regulations under their school. Any additional University Policies supersede school policies.

MSW PROGRAM SPECIALIZED MICRO LEARNING OUTCOMES 

Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

Social workers have an obligation to conduct themselves ethically and to engage in ethical decision-making. Social workers are knowledgeable about the value base of the profession, its ethical standards, and relevant law. Social workers recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to guide practice; make ethical decisions by applying standards of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and, as applicable, of the International Federation of Social Workers/International Association of Schools of Social Work Ethics in Social Work, Statement of Principles. Social workers tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical conflicts and apply strategies of ethical reasoning to arrive at principled decisions. Advanced practitioners in clinical social work are knowledgeable about ethical issues, legal parameters, and shifting societal mores that affect the therapeutic relationship.

1. Demonstrate professional use of self as a social worker, reflecting knowledge of personal professional strengths, limitations, challenges, and cooperatively resolving interpersonal conflicts.  
2. Demonstrate ethical use of advanced modalities in practice and any related technological applications. 
3. Demonstrate capacity to fulfill ethical obligation for advocating for social justice for clients, specifically anti-oppressive practice. 
4. Be able to recognize and manage ethical violations and resolve conflicting ethical obligations.  

Competency 2: Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice

Social workers understand how diversity characterizes and shapes the human experience and is critical to the formation of identity. The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersectionality of multiple factors including age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, political ideology, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. Social workers appreciate that, as a consequence of difference, a person’s life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege, power, and acclaim. Social workers recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or create or enhance privilege and power; gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse groups; recognize and communicate their understanding of the importance of difference in shaping life experiences; and view themselves as learners and engage those with whom they work as informants. Advanced practitioners are knowledgeable about many forms of diversity and difference and how these influence the therapeutic relationship and clients’ presenting issues. Advanced practitioners are knowledgeable about the ways in which various dimensions of diversity affect (a) explanations of illness, (b) help-seeking behaviors, and (c) healing practices (Cal-SWEC, 2006). Advanced practitioners are cultural beings and understand how clinical practice choices can be culture-bound.

1. Demonstrate understanding of discrimination patterns in society and how macro, mezzo and micro-level oppression impacts micro-level social work practice with regard to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, age and any other social categories in which oppression occurs. 
2. Demonstrate understanding of the impact of intersectionalities of marginalized identities and associated oppressions and plans practice accordingly. ​
3. Consistently uses self-reflexivity to examine and manage one’s own biases based on oppressive patterns in society. 

Competency 3: Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice

Upon completion of a learned understanding of advanced human rights, social, economic and environmental struggles of people, advanced micro practice social work students are able to identify their own roles in advocating for change. Identifying ways in which they can respect the dignity of others, honor social justice, and demonstrate ideals based on evidence-based practice research, students are able to present their critical thinking skills for individuals in the micro field of social work practice.

1. Understands the human rights perspective as a way to integrate systemic change into micro-level practice, including global economic, ecological, human rights, and migratory patterns as they impact client systems. 
2. Ability to articulate human rights violations the client and client’s system are experiencing, including environmental and economic issues that endanger the health of the client system. 
3. Demonstrates the ability to formulate how the practice is advancing the client and client system’s human rights. 

Competency 4: Engage In Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice

Students at the advanced level of micro practice are able to evaluate diverse clinical models and evaluate applicable research methodologies in order to make the best determination of applicability to particular client needs.  Practice-informed research includes qualitative and quantitative ways of understanding what constitutes effective practice, considering the positionality of the clinician researcher and the social/political/historical context of the research.

1. Demonstrate understanding of and be able to contribute to the evaluation of social research regarding advanced practice. 
2. Be able to critically evaluate and select potential practice models relevant for the clients’ systems.  

Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice 

Social workers understand that human rights and social justice, as well as social welfare and services, are mediated by policy and its implementation at the federal, state, and local levels. Social workers understand the history and current structures of social policies and services, the role of policy in service delivery, and the role of practice in policy development. Social workers understand their role in policy development and implementation within their practice settings at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels and they actively engage in policy practice to effect change within those settings. Social workers recognize and understand the historical, social, cultural, economic, organizational, environmental, and global influences that affect social policy. They are also knowledgeable about policy formulation, analysis, implementation, and evaluation. Social workers:  

1. Communicate to stakeholders and policymakers the implications of policies and policy change in the lives of clients.  
2. Conduct and design a plan of organizational analysis and change, working with relevant constituencies, to evaluate interventions that impact clients and communities utilizing best practice models reflecting social work values, ethics, and the mission of the organization.  
3. Collect, maintain, interpret, and analyze data from both internal and external organizational environments, the community of stakeholders and diverse client groups to identify and prioritize social problems.  
4. Recognize how oppression and social injustice affects client groups, organizations and communities and being proactive in intervening for human rights and justice.  
5. Understand strategies and techniques for advocating at local, state, and federal levels in policy development.  

Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

At the specialized level social workers build on their generalist understanding of engagement by practicing with a variety of cases involving individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities both in the classroom and in the field. Social workers critically analyze their knowledge of human relationships within a social/political/historical context applying an ecological perspective to advance practice effectiveness.

As they deepen their grasp of how their personal experiences and affective reactions impact their ability to effectively engage with diverse clients and constituencies, they are able to apply their skills in relationship-building and inter-professional collaboration to facilitate engagement with clients, constituencies, and other professionals as appropriate. This includes taking into consideration the effects of the macro environment, such as issues around migration and its impact on client systems at the micro levels.

1. Implements and describes the use of reflective listening tools when needed to engage and empower members of families, and groups.  
2. Applies culturally appropriate resources available to assist with problem solving. 
3. Recognizes and describes self-reflective competency in identifying bias, countertransference, and potential microaggressions when engaging diverse client systems. 

Competency 7: Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Once social workers understand that assessment is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice within a diverse and antiracist framework, they can use their relational skills to select and apply theories of human behavior taking into consideration the social/political environment. In addition, they can critically evaluate and apply this knowledge to facilitate assessment of needs with clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers relate methods of assessment with diverse clients and constituencies to advance practice effectiveness. Social workers integrate the larger practice context in the assessment process such as migration and other factors and include interprofessional collaboration as relevant. Social workers are self-aware and can articulate the ways in which their personal experiences and affective reactions may influence their assessment and decision-making, including social dimensions of privilege. Social workers at the specialized level also:

1. Collect and organize data to support their professional decision-making as well as demonstrate critical thinking to interpret information from clients and constituencies. 
2. Illustrate knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the analysis of assessment data from clients and constituencies understanding the lack of political neutrality in their work.  
3. Exemplify a process in which mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives are generated based on the critical assessment of strengths, needs, and challenges within clients and constituencies in their social environment; and  
4. Convey a deeper understanding of how to select appropriate intervention strategies informed by assessment, research knowledge, and values and preferences of clients and constituencies through the exercise of antiracist practice principles. 

Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Social workers understand they have a plethora of treatment models from which to choose in tailoring interventions to be maximally effective with clients. Remaining up to date about the multiple forms of available evidence concerning the effectiveness of these models for client systems, social workers choose models that are most suited to advance the client’s self-determination and to empower the client in relation to larger social systems that often are oppressive. Social workers co-formulate intervention goals with clients, ensuring those are revised as the client accomplishes one goal and seeks to move on to the next. Social workers consider how the client responds to different ways social workers use themselves (active expressions empathy v. quiet listening, degrees of self-disclosure and reticence for instance) and examine how the client responds so as to offer the client a relationship that fosters engagement and client progress.  Social workers attend to the powerful meaning the relationship can have for the client, understand dynamics of transference, relate using cultural humility so as to learn from clients about cultures different than the social worker’s, refrain from words or actions that can hurt the client, and carry out treatment respectfully to advance the client’s dignity and resilience.

1. Self-reflective understanding of the professional use of self in interventions with diverse types of client systems in order to understand and challenge oppressive social forces as well as to avoid perpetuating racist biases, microaggressions, and disempowerment of clients.  
2. Using supervision and consultation appropriate to developing skills for advanced and interdisciplinary practice.   
3. Demonstrating an ability to intervene collaboratively and collectively with clients in choice of treatment plans and their implementation. 

Competency 9: Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Social workers understand that evaluation of practice is an ongoing activity. Social workers plan ahead for evaluating the treatment by reflectively articulating choice of intervention theory and model, formulating intervention goals that are amenable to evaluation, and planning how to keep notes that foster reflection about client progress. Social workers understand evaluation is participatory -- it occurs with clients in various ways both spontaneous and planned -- and so the social worker pays attention to client’s opinions about whether and how the intervention is helpful. Social workers make use of a diversity of models for evaluating treatment, such as participatory consumer evaluation interviews with groups, organizations, and communities; process notes with individual clients, families, and groups; engaging communities and smaller systems in reflecting on those relationship processes that bring about desired changes. Social workers understand that interventions can unintentionally include discriminations (microaggressions) and continually evaluate their practice with an eye to remedying and avoiding those discriminations.   

1. Demonstrate understanding of the logic and method of single case evaluation of practice from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives. 
2. Competently demonstrate case evaluation, including identifying problems and their resolution, the fulfillment of goals co-identified with client, and managing systemic problems that impinge on client well-being. 
3. Demonstrates competence in incorporating client feedback processes in planning and carrying out the intervention plan.