Agency Assessment of Student Eligibility
The ability to obtain an approved field placement through an interactive interview process with our approved agency partners is also required for placement into field education.
In the instance that a student has been forwarded for three successive field placement interviews and has not been accepted, the assigned Field Consultant faculty member will collect and analyze related agency feedback, will review the eligibility criteria for field education, will review identified competencies applicable to the student, and will directly discuss behavioral feedback and concerns with the student. In some cases, students may be coached to success on how to present themselves more effectively.
When student acceptability, readiness, or suitability factors are determined to be primary reasons for the student to be found unacceptable by multiple agencies, those factors are shared directly with the student in an interactive process. Whenever possible, we will provide the student with suggested pathways to address the concerns agencies appear to have about their acceptability and readiness for field placement. In some cases, students may be asked to address life concerns. In other cases, students may not be accepted for placement due to the recent nature or severity of their criminal history and may be advised to withdraw from the program until more time has passed to meet agency eligibility requirements.
Failure to succeed at obtaining an agency-based placement for whatever reason may be viewed as evidence of unsuitability for the degree or profession at the current time. Students unable to ascertain a field placement for themselves after three interviews may be assigned an unsatisfactory grade in field education. They may also be placed on academic probation and are at risk for eventual dismissal if the concerns cannot be resolved within a semester.
Resolution Processes for Eligibility Determination
When concerns arise about a student’s eligibility for field placement, every attempt is made at informal resolution. This usually involves direct discussion with the student about areas where they need to demonstrate improvement to meet the relevant eligibility criteria. In most cases, particularly when the student is amenable and responsive to feedback, concerns can be resolved at an informal level.
When attempts at informal resolution are unsuccessful, the cognizant Field Consultant faculty member will typically convene a case conference with the student, and the Chair of Field Education or Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, as needed, to review the criteria for eligibility for field education and discuss the concerns together. Students, faculty and staff may also seek additional consultation from other campus partners and student support units.
Several possible determinations may be made based on these consultations and the case conference meeting:
- The concerns have been resolved before or during the formal meeting. In this case, the student shall be eligible for either agency interview and/or admission to field education and will be monitored accordingly.
- Although concerns remain, they are not serious enough to prevent placement. In this case, the Field Consultant may discuss the concerns with the student and the intended agency field instructor, identify any field practice competencies that may be impacted, and require these concerns to be addressed in the student’s learning agreement. The Field Consultant will also closely monitor the placement, and arrange an early visit to review student progress.
- Concerns are sufficient that the student is deemed ineligible for placement into field education for up to an entire semester. When a student has been deemed ineligible for field education, they are typically provided with a recommended pathway to address the concerns, which may include participation in an informal tutorial or formal independent study, outside evaluation or intervention from a qualified professional, outside training or educational event, or other relevant assessment or remedy. Students are eligible for reassessment no later than one semester from the time they are determined to be ineligible for field education, although eligibility remains subject to the previously stated criteria and is never guaranteed.
Following this meeting, the student will be notified in writing by the Chair of Field Education or Associate Dean about the status of their eligibility for field education and any related restrictions, mandates, recommendations, rights, privileges, or next steps.
Students who are unable to be placed into field practicum are usually not allowed to participate in the concurrent field seminar.
Students ineligible for field practicum may not represent themselves to community agencies as being eligible for Berkeley Social Welfare-affiliated social work internships. If they should assume volunteer or paid positions during this period, they must explicitly disclose that these are not affiliated with the Berkeley MSW field program, and are never retroactively given academic credit for them.
A student who has been determined to be ineligible for field education may also be subject to a letter of warning, or a recommendation to the Graduate Dean for placement on formal academic probation. If ineligibility for field placement persists for more than one semester, the student may be subject to recommendation for dismissal from the MSW program for failure to make satisfactory academic progress.
Berkeley Social Welfare students are afforded the opportunity to resolve complaints regarding field placement eligibility determinations under the Student Grievance and Appeal Procedures outlined in the MSW Student Handbook.