Global Opportunities

UMB and the School of Social Work share a strong and growing focus on global educational experiences. The SSW offers courses that include international travel and an international field placement program. We are excited that student travel will has resumed.

Learn more about UMB interprofessional courses and funding opportunities through the Center for Global Engagement.

Each year, the SSW typically offers one or more specialized courses that include campus classes and short-term travel to another  country. Recent courses have focused on social justice, health research, and comparative social work practice with concomitant travel to India and Israel.

UMB’s SSW has one of the very few global field placements. the International Field Placement Program (IFPP) was established in 2007 in partnership with Rajagiri College of Social Sciences in Kochi, Kerala, India. Each year a group of UMSSW students spends five months in residence at RCSS. They complete their entire Advanced field placement and take two classes in Rajagiri’s MSW program. While the classroom classes are in English, our students are fully engaged with the multiple cultures of India. Their field placements are in a variety of local agencies, working in programs including women’s empowerment, intimate partner violence, school social work, HIV services, psychiatric care, and community development.

The IFPP also has a second partnership with the University of Greenwich, in Greater London, UK. Both sites offer an immersive experience for our students; they live on our partnering campuses and have many opportunities to learn about how social work practice differs in other countries, while maintaining the same core values and principles.

There’s no requirement for prior international experience for IFPP participation, though the program is selective; it’s important that IFPP students are open, flexible, and mature. Many IFPP alumni have worked or are working in other countries, while the majority practice social work in the US. IFPP alumni frequently note the value of their experiences in the program.