Curriculum Overview

The minimum requirement for the B.S.W. degree is completion of the General Education requirements, 36 credit hours of core social work courses, one credit hour in inter-professional education, prerequisite courses as specified in course descriptions and elective hours, six of which must be in social work, for a total of 120 credit hours. If a grade of "C" (2.0) or above is not achieved the first time a social work course is taken, the student may repeat the course only once. All social work majors are expected to abide by the NASW Code of Ethics. Additionally, all majors participate in social work student outcome assessment measures.

Academic Advising

The Social Work Academic Advising Guide is available online. You will need to provide a JMU EID and password to access the guide.

Courses

A complete listing of all core and elective courses is available in the Social Work department section of the official JMU Catalog

Degree Requirements

Number of credit hours by degree requirement category

Required Courses	Credit Hours
General Education courses 1	41
Social Work core courses	44
Social Work electives	6
Electives	29
Total:	120

¹The General Education program contains a set of requirements each student must fulfill. The number of credit hours necessary to fulfill these requirements may vary.

Supportive Area Requirements

In addition to the major courses listed below, there are a number of courses which support the social work major and are prerequisite for required courses. Many of these supportive area courses may also count as General Education requirements However, if students have selected other courses for their General Education requirements, they will still need to complete the courses below:

information in prerequisite courses for major required courses

Supportive Area Courses	Pre-requisite for:	Credit Hours
MATH 220	SOWK 305	3 credits
POSC 225 OR POSC 302	SOWK 335	3 or 4 credits
ANTH 195 (or another cultural diversity course)	SOWK 320	3 credits
SOCI 110 (or another basic sociology course)	SOWK 320	3 credits
PSYC 101	SOWK 320	3 credits
PSYC 160	SOWK 320	3 credits

Major Requirements

The minimum requirement for the B.S.W. degree is completion of the General Education requirements, 44 credit hours of core social work courses, prerequisite courses as specified in course descriptions and elective hours, six of which must be in social work, for a total of 120 credit hours. If a grade of "C" (2.0) or above is not achieved the first time a social work course is taken, the student may repeat the course only once. All social work majors are expected to abide by the NASW Code of Ethics. Additionally, all majors participate in social work student outcome assessment measures.

Information on required courses

Core Courses	Credit Hours
SOWK 287. Introduction to Social Work	3
SOWK 288. Human Rights	3
SOWK 305. Social Work Research Methods	3
SOWK 317. Skills Generalist Social Work	3
SOWK 320. Human Behavior in the Social Environment	3
SOWK 335. Social Policy	3
SOWK 465. Social Work Practice in Mezzo Systems	3
SOWK 466. Social Work Practice in Micro Systems	3
SOWK 467. Social Work Practice in Macro Systems	3
SOWK 481. Social Work Field Practicum I	6
SOWK 482. Social Work Field Practicum II	6
SOWK 493: Professional Forum I: Preparation for Field	1
SOWK 494. Professional Forum II: Transition to Professional Practice	3
SOWK Electives: Elective courses are offered on a rotating basis. See course descriptions in catalog.	6
IPE 415. Ethical Decision-Making in Healthcare: an Interprofessional Approach	1