The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) allows under its Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) for students to use their paid employment hours to count as field time if the student’s current employment responsibilities meet the nine Social Work Competencies for their selected concentration.
An employment-based field education option is available for students who would like to have a field placement at the agency where they are employed. To be eligible for this option:
- The student must have successfully completed the agency’s new hire probationary period by the start of field.
- The placement must meet the same criteria set for non-employment-based field sites.
- The agency must be willing to establish an affiliation agreement with SSW, if one does not already exist.
- The agency field instructor must meet all appropriate program requirements and qualifications. The OFE encourages students to identify a field instructor who is not their employment supervisor.
For an EB proposal to be approved, the agency and the student’s supervisor must agree to allow the student to use paid employment hours as field practicum time and/or agree to a schedule in which the student can complete field practicum time in addition to their paid employment. The plan for field education must be educationally focused, not centered solely on agency services and must meet the criteria applicable to all the school’s field education placements.
Interested students will need to complete an EB screening form when they submit their Field Practicum application. The EB screening form can be found under the Forms tab in Sonia (our online platform). After reviewing the screening form, a field education coordinator will notify the student if they are eligible to apply for the EB placement. The following additional forms will need to be completed for the EB request to meet final approval.