A Glimpse Inside Our Social Work Program with Dr. Melissa Bell
Did you know that March marks National Social Workers Month? It’s a month-long acknowledgement of the important contributions that social workers make across so many fields of care every day. March 16th also marks National Social Workers Day, and in celebration, we asked Chatham’s Social Work Program Director and Field Placement Coordinator, Dr. Melissa Bell to take us through some of the highlights of our Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program, including our Forensic Social Work and Environmental Social Work Certificates, competitive field placements, post-graduate job opportunities, and more!
What would you say the primary learning goals are for Chatham’s social work program?
Social Work Program Director & Field Placement Coordinator, Dr. Melissa Bell
Melissa Bell: We are nationally accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and are thus competency-based in our education goals. From that perspective, I can quote the overall goal of the profession according to CSWE: “The purpose of the social work profession is to promote human and community well-being. Guided by a person-in-environment framework, a global perspective, respect for human diversity, and knowledge based on scientific inquiry, the purpose of social work is actualized through its quest for social and economic justice, the prevention of conditions that limit human rights, the elimination of poverty, and the enhancement of the quality of life for all persons, locally and globally.”
That being said, Chatham takes a personal approach to student education. Because we are a small program, we work with students to identify their interests and ensure that their educational experience meets or exceeds social work competencies to prepare them for graduate school or professional practice. That personal approach is evident in the field placement component of our program. Field placement is considered the “signature pedagogy” of social work. Our students complete a 12-credit, 500-hour field placement throughout their senior year. That field placement, along with social work coursework, is accepted at hundreds of universities across the country for advanced standing in Masters of Social Work programs. BSW graduates from Chatham can thus complete an MSW in about one year.
Is there a particular course in the social work curriculum that you’d like to highlight?
MB: I would like to highlight our certificates. We offer two certificates which can be earned by any student, including non-majors. Our Forensic Social Work certificate is the older of the two. There is an overlap between social work and criminology. Many of the careers in criminology are within the social work profession so we created this certificate out of that recognition. We also have an Environmental Social Work certificate, which is quite new. Environmental justice is an integral part of social work competencies. Our certificate is a joint venture with the incredible faculty at the Falk School of Sustainability and is a unique opportunity for any Chatham student. I encourage all students at Chatham to consider these certificates.
As the program director, what aspects of the program are you most proud of?
MB: I am most proud of our students. The past two years have been difficult for many around the world, students included. Chatham BSW students have been resilient and able to continue to complete field placements at agencies in the Pittsburgh region. While many of these field placement opportunities looked different than in the past, they still afforded students the ability to learn through individual, family, and community interaction. Students are often excited and nervous about field placement. Time and time again, they competently provide vital services to the community while applying skills and knowledge that will be invaluable after graduation. Most of our BSW students are offered positions at their field placements after graduation. That did not change during the pandemic. There are many Chatham BSW graduates working in the Pittsburgh area at agencies that are directly connected to their field placements. I am proud of the work that our students do while at Chatham and in their professional lives after they graduate.
“The social work program has prepared me for any career that I want to pursue. It has given me a foundation in understanding and interacting with people. The program has shaped my own values and ethics, along with my commitment to social justice and advocacy work.”
Can you name some of the places that alumni have gone on to work at after receiving a BSW from Chatham?
MB: Social workers are involved in just about every aspect of society. From individual and family level clinical interactions to government leadership, social workers are at the table. We have former students who work mostly with individuals at places such as Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, and the Veteran’s Administration, to working in the offices of legislators. One of our graduates worked as Constituent Services Manager at Representative Dan Frankel's office directly after graduation. We also have graduates who take leadership positions within the non-profit world—the executive director of Cancer Bridges is a Chatham BSW graduate. We have a fair number of social work graduates who are in private practice as individual and family therapists. One of our current adjunct professors is a Chatham BSW graduate that is currently in private practice. A social work degree is an unusually versatile degree that allows graduates to move across different areas of practice throughout their career.
Anything else you’d like to highlight?
MB: Yes, one of the issues we tend to face in social work is that students are not aware of the opportunities in the profession until they are late juniors or seniors. I myself fall into that category. Every semester, our faculty are approached by students who would like to earn an MSW, become aware that an MSW can be completed in one year if they have advanced standing as a BSW graduate from an accredited program, and would like to change their major. It is almost always too late by that point. This is one of the reasons I wanted to mention advanced standing early in this interview. BSW graduates can literally attend hundreds of programs across the country, “transfer” their Chatham social work courses and field placement as a package, and complete an MSW in about a year. Plus, the Chatham BSW program prepares them to be successful in MSW programs. Many of our students have graduated from MSW programs across the country, from University of Southern California to New York University to online programs. BSW students are also able to double major so that they can have a broad academic experience while at Chatham and enter an MSW program with advanced standing.
If a student is interested in studying social work at Chatham, how would you recommend they learn more?
MB: I welcome any student interested in social work as a major, minor, or in one of our certificates to reach out to any of our social work faculty, including myself. We also have information on our Chatham webpage and more general information about social work in the student questions page at the Council on Social Work Education website.
Thanks to Dr. Melissa Bell and to all the social workers and social work educators who work to take care of our communities every day!
