msw orientation to the placement process august 19 th, 2010

MSW Orientation to the Placement Process

August 19th, 2010

MSW Advanced Standing Phase I Orientation

• Introduction to the School of Social Work • Placement Requirements• Placement Process• Things to Consider• Work Placements• International Placements• Cover Letters and Resumes• Interviews• Confirmation of Placements• Accommodations• Technical Support• Questions/Concluding Remarks

Introductions

• Sheryl Abraham – Assistant Field Education Coordinator– 416-736-2100 Ext 33354– sabraham@yorku.ca

Welcome to the School of Social Work

We are a School that strives to create a inclusive, respectful environment for our students.

We are honored to welcome students of many different and intersecting identities.

We are open to exploring alternative or non traditional placement opportunities for our students

We encourage you to be creative and proactive in your search

Mission Statement

The School of Social Work at York teaches from a critical social work perspective.

We focus on issues of social justice, marginalization and oppression

We focus on teaching students to understand social problems from this perspective and to address social problems as social justice issues.

We endeavour to educate students to be flexible practitioners who practice from multiple stances and work with people’s immediate distress and the social contexts involved in it.

As a result we do not have streams of practice within the program or within placements.

We encourage students to think about where to do their placement in terms of the social justice issues they wish to address and the skills they need to develop to do so effectively.

• 450 Hours• 3 full days/week, generally

Wed., Thur., Fri.• Begins after January 4th

2011• Ends May 2011

Placement Requirements

Placement Process

• Collaboration between field office and student is essential

• All placements must be confirmed by the Field Education Manager

Factors For Agencies/Field Office To Consider

• Agency’s Interest• Non-Profit Agency• Agency’s SW Philosophy• Learning Opportunities• Supervision• Educational Qualifications• Physical Space• Timelines of placement• Legal Requirements• Practicum, not an Internship

The placement process can take some time.

We work on your first two choices first.

We will try to get you at least 1 or 2 interviews.

If you are getting anxious, please feel free to e-mail us to set up an in-person or telephone meeting.

MSW Practicum Road Map

• Site Search• Advising Appointment• Selection of top 4 placement choices• Application submitted latest by:

September 11th, 2010.• Interview with Placement site

– Tell the field office before it happens.– Placement is still not guaranteed.

• Field Office follows up with the field instructor• Confirmation of Placement Package if

everything is okay• Beginning Placement Orientation

School and Student’s Obligations in Placement Process

Students are not guaranteed a placement simply because they have completed the academic portion of their degree. Students are expected to demonstrate readiness for practice in the process of securing a placement in addition to the fulfillment of the practicum hours.

• Complete core courses

• Know what skills you want out the placement and be able to express this

• Completing the on-line application

• Informing us of interviews before they happen

• Following up with agencies

• Being professional

School and Student’s Obligations in Placement Process

Agency Search

• Internet Sites

– 211Toronto: http://www.211toronto.ca/splash.jsp

• SW Database

• Advising Appointment

Choosing Possible Placement Sites

• Past work/volunteer social work experience

• Training• Social work issues/population• Skill development• Supervision/Learning style• Self-care practices• Work Placements

Work Placements

• Criteria to be met• Contact Field Education

Manager to discuss• Proposal to be submitted by

September 30th, 2010• Application for placement

must still be submitted by September 11th 2010.

• All proposals must be approved by Field Education Manager

International Placements

• Possibilities

• Pros and Cons

• Process

Cover Letter and Resume

• Work and Volunteer

• Education

• Introduce self

• What you have to offer

Cover Letter and Resume

• Save resume and cover letter under one document

• .doc or .rtf format• Save it with first and last name

as the title of the documentEx. “SMITH Marie Resume 2010”

• Try to keep resume to 2 pages• Spell check and have someone

else read it over

Interviews

• Professional Dress

• Discuss what you can offer

• Be clear about your learning goals and supervision

• Determine what you will do on a daily basis and which workers you will be working with

• Some sites will require a certain level of practice experience

Interview Workshop

September 20th, 2010

6-8 pm

Winters College 118

Police Checks and Requirements

• Police check in the Summer

• Potentially need license or access to a car

• Immunizations: Hep B, TB test, MMR and DTP

• Other requirements

Confirmation of Placement

• Confirmation package

• Enrollment

• Beginning Placement Orientation

• Faculty Liaison

Forms and Information

All available on the School web site at

http://www.yorku.ca/laps/sowk/practicum/

Accommodations

Please contact the

Counselling and Development Centre

(416) 736-5297

Room N110

Bennett Centre for Student Services

Technical Support

http://www.yorku.ca/computing/students/accounts/signupinstructions.html

YorkU Passport Instructions

• Type http://mymail.yorku.ca as website address (Netscape or Internet Explorer)

• Go to Options• Mail Management• York Mail Management Options• Edit Your Mail Forwarding Settings• In the blank field enter the email address

to which you want to forward your York account

• Click save options to save the changes.

• Send an e-mail to your YorkU e-mail and make sure it goes to your other account

Forwarding YorkU Emails

Changing Your Personal Information

Open Internet BrowserOn Address Line Type: http://www.yorku.ca

Click on “Current Students Faculty & Staff”

Changing Your Personal Information

Click on “Current Students”

Changing Your Personal Information

Click on “My Student Records”

Changing Your Personal Information

Click on the information you need to change such as address and contact information, emergency contact information, etc.

Changing Your Personal Information

Log in to Passport York and make the necessary changes

Social Work Social Work Practicum/Field Practicum/Field

Placement Database Placement Database InstructionsInstructions

Open Internet BrowserOn Address Line Type: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/sowk

Registering on the Databasevia Website

Click on “Database Sign In”

Registering on the Databasevia Website

You will be directed to the SOWK Online Application Page.

Registering on the Databasevia Website

Select “Students”

This will bring you to the SOWK Online Application –Students Page.

• Click on “Register new account” for 1st time users

•If you were a previous BSW student and are now an MSW student, you will have to register again as an MSW student only once.

OR enter your student ID & password (if you have already registered)NOTE: this is different than your Passport York Account Log-in

• Select MSW or BSW Student (if you have already registered)

•Click Submit

Registering on the Databasevia Website

Registering on the Databasevia Website

Registering on the Database via Website - Agency Search

Once you log-in, you will be directed to your Student Profile screen. Click on “Agency Search” at the top right to research

possible placement sites.

Registering on the Databasevia Website - Agency Search

Registering on the Database via Website - Agency Search

When your Agency Search is complete, continue by Clicking on Placement Request to begin the application process.

The Agency Search page allows you to search agencies by Name, Address, and City. Click on Placement Search to see all the agencies in the database

Registering on the Databasevia Website - Agency Search

• There is no list of available agencies for each term• The database is a list of agencies we have used in

the past but may or may not be available, depends on many factors.

• Take a look at the posted links/websites to get an idea of what the place is about

• The search engine is very precise. Be sure to be exact in your spelling

• Check out:– http://www.211toronto.ca/splash.jsp– Other city’s social services search engines

• Research on the student’s part is key in the placement process

Registering on the Databasevia Website - Researching Tips

Registering on the Database via Website – Placement Request

Be sure to fill out the appropriate program and the Term you are applying for. Provide the number of FULL days per week you will be in placement.

Provide emergency contact information and Employment Information. Other personal information will be automatically generated by the database. If any of the personal

information is incorrect, please be sure to update it on the main York system.

Type notes, 1-2 lines max.

or it will cut you off

Registering on the Database via Website – Placement Request

Please ensure that you choose 4 distinctly different agencies (i.e., do not choose more than one location

of the same agency as

separate choices). If Agency does

not exist, click on Other Agency and

complete requested

information.

Attach Resume and Cover letter in one document. You MUST submit your resume and cover letter at the time of your application. Click SUBMIT.

SUBMIT

Registering on the Database via Website – Placement Request

• Please do not contact agencies we have connections with, please check in with us if you are unsure if we have a connection with an agency.

• Please contact agencies we do not have connections with and keep the Field Office informed.

• This generally makes it a smoother process for agencies and students

• Please do not contact Hospitals on your own (hospital’s preference).

• All placements must be confirmed by the Field Office

Registering on the Database via Website – Placement Request

• Do you take un-paid placement students?• Do you have a social worker with a social work degree

on site (MSW).• If not, do you have someone interested in taking a

student on at this time? If so, what is their educational background?

• How long have they been at the agency?• What are the learning opportunities at this agency?• May I have the potential field instructor’s contact

information (phone number and ext. and e-mail address)?

• Put this information on your application if you are interested in them and they’ve met these requirements up above. The Field Office can follow-up from there.

• Please bear in mind the placement may still not meet our other requirements or other factors may be involved

Questions You Can Ask Agencies We Don’t Have Connections With

• Please ensure that you have all documentation completed, for example resume and cover letter (.doc or .rtf format), before submitting your application. No editing privileges are permitted, therefore if you have omitted any details to your application, you will have to start over and complete it again.

• The application will log you out after 20 minutes of inactivity• Please write on the application an alternative e-mail address

if you do not use your YorkU e-mail account.• Please note that the “SUBMIT” button will disappear from the

on-line database application once the deadline date has passed.

• Please e-mail the field office any changes to the application after you have submitted it.

• We work on securing your first or second choice first• Please do not put hospitals, school boards and CAS as your

third or fourth choice.

Registering on the Databasevia Website – Other Information

QUESTIONS/CLOSING REMARKS

Thank you for coming

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns

Questions/Closing Remarks