Department website: https://academics.potomacstatecollege.edu/majors/two-year-programs/pre-social-work
Degree Offered
- Associate of Arts
Nature of the Program
The Pre-Social Work curriculum prepares students for transfer to the Division of Social Work at West Virginia University and can be adapted to the needs of those planning to transfer to other institutions. The Pre-Social Work student at WVU Potomac State College is automatically under the Social Work standards of the West Virginia University Division of Social Work. After two years at WVU Potomac State students can transfer to West Virginia University and apply to the professional social work major. The WVU Division of Social Work is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.
Career Opportunities
Completing a BSW degree allows for immediate access to employment opportunities. A wide variety of employment settings are available for professional social workers, including foster care, adoption, probation and parole, public assistance, day care services, school social services, services to veterans, social services in a medical or mental hospital, drug and alcohol programs, recreational services such as Boy Scouts, YWCA, rehabilitation centers, state and local government agencies, nursing homes, research, social action, and fundraising.
Faculty
Chair
- Cassandra Pritts - M.A. History (Duquesne University)
Year @ PSC (2011)
Assistant professor
- Molly Alvaro - M.A. Counseling (Marshall University)
Year @ PSC (2020)
Admissions
Students are admitted directly into the Pre-Social Work major. During their fourth semester, students apply to be admitted to the professional level of the Social Work major.
Benchmark Expectations
Pre-Social Work majors must maintain a 2.00 GPA in their major courses; students must complete all required SOWK courses—in their proper sequence—with grades of C- or higher. If a course is repeated, all attempts will be included in the calculation of the GPA. Students who are unable to meet the performance standards for social work courses are permitted to repeat a course once. Students who are unsuccessful in the second attempt will be counseled out of the program.
Admission to the professional Social Work major at WVU
In order for social work majors at WVU, its branch campuses (including Potomac State), or 2+2 program students to attain professional social work status, they must meet the B.S.W. program’s admission criteria, complete a formal application for admission, and have their application approved by the School of Social Work B.S.W. Admission Committee. The process is competitive, and students are selectively admitted to the advanced level of the program for their final two years of education, which includes the upper-division courses in social work.
General Education Foundations
Please use this link to view a list of courses that meet each GEF requirement.
NOTE: Some major requirements will fulfill specific GEF requirements. Please see the curriculum requirements listed below for details on which GEFs you will need to select.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations | ||
| F1 - Composition & Rhetoric | 3-6 | |
| Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research | ||
or ENGL 103 | Accelerated Academic Writing | |
| F2A/F2B - Science & Technology | 4-6 | |
| F3 - Math & Quantitative Reasoning | 3-4 | |
| F4 - Society & Connections | 3 | |
| F5 - Human Inquiry & the Past | 3 | |
| F6 - The Arts & Creativity | 3 | |
| F7 - Global Studies & Diversity | 3 | |
| F8 - Focus (may be satisfied by completion of a minor, double major, or dual degree) | 9 | |
| Total Hours | 31-37 | |
Please note that not all of the GEF courses are offered at all campuses. Students should consult with their advisor or academic department regarding the GEF course offerings available at their campus.
Curriculum Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| GEF Elective Requirements (2, 6 and 8) | 12 | |
| WVUE 191 | First Year Seminar | 1 |
| ENGL 101 & ENGL 102 | Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research (GEF 1) | 6 |
| The following courses require a minimum GPA of 2.0: | ||
| MATH 121 | Intro Concepts Of Mathematics | 3 |
| or STAT 111 | Understanding Statistics | |
| POLS 220 | State and Local Government (GEF 4) | 3 |
| PSYC 101 | Introduction to Psychology | 3 |
| SOC 101 | Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
| SOC 221 | Families and Society (GEF 8) | 3 |
| SOWK 147 | Human Diversity (GEF 7 - minimum grade of C-) | 3 |
| SOWK 151 | Introduction to Social Work (GEF 5 - minimum grade of C-) | 3 |
| PSYC 200-level Elective | 3 | |
| SOC or ANTH or CRIM 200-level Elective | 3 | |
| Minority Content Course (Select one of the following): | 3 | |
| African American Literature | ||
| African American Literature | ||
| Images of Women in Literature | ||
| Topics in Appalachian Studies | ||
| West Virginia | ||
| Sex Roles and Behavior | ||
| Introduction: Native American Studies | ||
| Adulthood and Aging | ||
| Race and Ethnic Relations | ||
| Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies | ||
| Elective | 11 | |
| Total Hours | 60 | |
- *
Students who continue at WVU-Morgantown must maintain 2.0 cumulative GPA and complete 50 hours of verified Human Service Activity (paid or volunteer) by January of sophomore year.
Suggested Plan of Study
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ENGL 101 (GEF 1) | 3 | ENGL 102 (GEF 1) | 3 |
| MATH 121 or STAT 111 (GEF 3) | 3 | SOC 101 | 3 |
| SOWK 151 (GEF 5) | 3 | SOWK 147 (GEF 7) | 3 |
| WVUE 191 | 1 | GEF 2 | 3 |
| GEF 6 | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 2 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| POLS 220 (GEF 4) | 3 | SOC 221 (GEF 8) | 3 |
| PSYC 101 | 3 | PSYC 200-level Elective | 3 |
| SOC, ANTH or CRIM 200-level Elective | 3 | Minority Content Course | 3 |
| GEF 2 | 3 | GEF 8 | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total credit hours: 60 | |||
Major Learning Outcomes
Pre-Social Work
Upon successful completion of the A.A. degree, Pre-Social Work majors will be able to:
- Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly.
- Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice.
- Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments.
- Engage diversity and difference in practice.
- Advance human rights and social and economic justice.
- Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research.
- Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.
- Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services.