Coronavirus: Concerns Among Graduating Social Work Students
by Qua’Nasia L. Gibli
(Editor's Note: A statement from the Council on Social Work Education is expected on March 25, 2020, regarding field hours and other issues in response to COVID-19. Please check with your school to determine any changes in your field requirements.)
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activities, emotions, and decisions being made by colleges and universities across the country. With this new global pandemic known as COVID-19 or coronavirus, colleges and universities are being closed left and right, leaving students - especially graduating students - in a panic. Our senior year just became more stressful with new information being released daily. In order to graduate with a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree, there are a certain number of internship hours that need to be gained in conjunction with the social work courses. How is this going to affect field placement hours, graduation credits, and what about our classes? These are the questions my classmates and I were asking before we left right before spring break. Here is some of the information I was given from my school concerning classes and field placement hours.
Let me start with the biggest concerns of BSW students, which is the impact on field placement hours resulting from the closure of your school. Before spring break, my university was allowing students to continue to go to their field placements, as long as the agency was open. As a school social work intern, I was very concerned for the reason that most of the schools had already closed or were in the process of closing because of COVID-19. Then, within a week, BSW students received a new email stating that all field placements had been suspended and students needed to come up with an alternate learning plan. This alternate learning plan will replace our hours, and the assignments can be trainings from your agency, a documentary and essay, a TED talk, or even talking to clients via Zoom. I think this was the biggest challenge for my classmates and me, researching things to do that can help us reach our hours.
Some tips that I can offer are to stay in touch with your field supervisor who may be able to provide trainings by the agency, and to stay in touch with your classmates who can share resources. One of my classmates actually started a Google Drive for all of the senior BSW students at my university, where we have all been sharing ideas on activities. This has been really helpful. Knowing that we will continue to get our hours has been a relief, but there is still the matter of our courses.
Three days before my university spring break, students were told that our courses would be held online. The day after BSW students were notified about the suspension of field placements, students were then notified that all courses would be held online for the rest of the semester. Many of my professors have already posted the online schedule and a tutorial for the Zoom meeting platform, in which we will have class. This is going to be a big adjustment for students who have not taken online courses before and those students who detest online courses, but it is something that has to be done. With this announcement came the concern for our commencement ceremony, which I fear will be canceled. While my school has not officially canceled our commencement ceremony, some colleges and universities have already done so.
To my fellow BSW seniors, despite the many challenges and changes that are being thrown at us on a daily basis, we will persevere. Congratulations, class of 2020. We will make it through!
Qua'Nasia Gibli is a senior at Stockton University who will graduate in May 2020 with her BSW. She will then be attending Rutgers University to complete her master's degree in social work.