Practicum - MSW
The practicum is an integral part of the school’s total educational program and provides each student with the opportunity to apply concepts, principles, and theories learned in the classroom to practice. The major focus in the practicum is on the student’s acquisition of practice knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes in working with diverse client systems within a service setting.
Practicum is guided by curriculum goals and objectives. The practicum is further individualized by the student and the practicum instructor through the completion of a learning agreement approved by the practicum office. Students are expected to demonstrate a sense of responsibility, good judgment, responsiveness to the supervision of their work, and to demonstrate sensitivity and good interpersonal skills in professional interactions. Substandard performance in any of these areas is considered grounds for probation, suspension, or dismissal from the practicum.
The first year of practicum is considered to be a generalist approach to social work and is integrated with the student’s foundation practice courses. For second year students, practicum is integrated with their field of practice and is coordinated with the student’s concentration courses.
Practicum is available only to classified students admitted to the MSW degree program. Students are required to complete four semesters of practicum (SW 690 and SW 691 in the Foundation Year and SW 790 and SW 791 in the Concentration Year) totaling a minimum of 900 clock hours. All foundation classroom course work must be completed prior to or concurrently with the foundation practicum courses. It is strongly recommended that SW 606 and SW 690, and SW 607 and SW 691 be taken concurrently. SW 690 and SW 691 cannot be taken prior to SW 606 and SW 607 respectively. Concentration classroom course work must be completed prior to or concurrently with the concentration practicum courses. If students elect to participate in a practicum after completing their respective foundation or concentration classroom courses, a block practicum is an option. Block practicum consists of 450 clock hours over 14 weeks. No practicum clock hour credits or waivers are given for prior paid or volunteer social work practice experience.
Students are assigned to their practicum by the practicum office. More experienced students are placed in sites commensurate with their prior education and experience. All students are required to participate in a practicum orientation program, which precedes involvement in the practicum setting. The practicum orientation program conducted at the school is held at the beginning of each semester. Students attendance at the practicum orientation program is counted toward the student's 225 clock hours of foundation practicum.
First-year students attend practicum 16 hours per week for a minimum of 225 clock hours a semester and earn 3 credits per semester. Second-year students have the option, pending approval by the practicum office, of increasing their practicum hours beyond the minimum 3 credit hours (225 clock hours) per semester requirement.
For 4 credits, the second-year student may do practicum for 20 hours per week for 15 weeks for a total of 300 hours per semester or 5 credits for 25 hours per week for 15 weeks for a total of 375 hours per semester.
Practicum courses are available to first- and second-year students during the fall, spring, and summer terms. The opportunity for students to take block practicum off island—on the Mainland or internationally—will be considered on an individual basis but will only be allowed for students who have completed their relevant first- and/or second-year course work. Students must contact the practicum office about other requirements for practicum site certification for settings not on the island of their graduate program. University of Hawai?i at Manoa holidays, rather than agency holidays, will be observed in the practicum. This includes the allotted weeks designated for vacation over the Christmas/New Year recess and the one-week spring recess. Students participating in practicum cannot be defended or indemnified by the State of Hawai`i or the University of Hawai`i at Manoa in the event of any legal action. Consequently, the school requires that students purchase professional liability insurance through the School of Social Work.
Student’s Agreement with the School of Social Work
All students, prior to entering the practicum, shall agree to the following:
- Will follow the administrative policies, standards and practices of the practicum agency.
- Will conform to the policies, standards and practices established by the School while enrolled in the MSW Program.
- Will obtain written approval of the practicum agency and the practicum office before publishing any material(s) relating to the practicum agency or the MSW program.
- Will be an active participant in the learning process; an “adult learner.”
- Will be responsible for submitting the original learning agreement and evaluation to the Practicum Office.
- Will provide the School with a written evaluation of her practicum agency and Practicum Instructor using the student evaluation forms at the end of the practicum year.
Professional Ethics
A student’s failure to adhere to the expected standards for professional, ethical conduct will be considered grounds for termination of the practicum and a failing grade in the practicum course.
It is understood that students will adhere to the expected standards for professional, ethical conduct and to the agency’s policies and procedures as long as these are not in conflict with the NASW Code of Ethics. A salient issue for students during the practicum is that of confidentiality of case records and recordings.
Under no circumstances will students remove client information, interview recordings (written, audio tape or videotape), evaluation summaries, etc., from the agency without the explicit permission of the Practicum Instructor.
Go to Practicum MSW Forms
