ASU offers new degree in social work

A new degree, a bachelor of arts in social work, is being offered at ASU to meet the growing demand for social workers in the Augusta area. Research has shown that the demand for qualified professionals in the field will increase more than 25 percent before 2006.

Approved by the Board of Regents at their November meeting, the degree program will emphasize an undergraduate level of professional qualification that wasn’t available at ASU, says Dr. Holly Carter, an assistant professor of sociology. Previously, social work was only offered as a minor program of study to accompany a bachelor of arts degree in sociology.

Students will complete the same standard core curriculum as other undergraduates, and in meeting the requirements for social work, will take courses in social research; sociology of death, grief, and caring; gerontology; and intervention methods. Students will also be required to complete 400 hours of field placement work, giving them real work experience in their chosen profession.

“The degree is important to Augusta,” says Dr. Carter, who, along with acting department chair Dr. Kimberly Davies, spearheaded the effort for the new degree. “The community is so diverse. There is a large medical community here, but there is also, unfortunately, a large population that lives in poverty and some who are homeless. With this program, Augusta State will produce professionals who are equipped to help deal with those issues.”

The new degree will also allow ASU graduates to qualify for jobs in higher positions and to perform their work at higher levels of quality and effectiveness.

The success of the new degree program comes after more than 15 years of consideration by ASU faculty and a year of focused planning and proposals to the Board of Regents. The new degree program will begin in the spring semester.

For more information, contact Dr. Carter in ASU’s Department of Sociology at 737-1735.

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