Social Work Program
Learn how to make a difference through our social work program, which is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.
Social Work = Social Justice + Community Engagement + Personal Well-being
Do you wish you could major in social justice? Do you look at the world around you and say, "I want to make a difference"? Are you looking for a future that allows you to help others while also having job security and a decent salary?
If so, consider a career in social work!
I think the most important thing this program has taught me is acceptance and learning to work with people I normally wouldn't. Although there is no class that teaches either of these concepts, the experience of the entire program does teach it.
V.P., Class of 2018
Social Work May Not Be What You Think It Is...
Professional Social Workers:
- Counsel adolescents in adventure‑based and wilderness programs
- Help children and adolescents succeed in school
- Assist victims of domestic violence
- Help those using and abusing addictive substances, like alcohol and drugs
- Create programs and policies that advance human rights and meet human needs
- Promote social change and social justice
- Earn salaries equal to those of teachers
The social work program at SUNY Plattsburgh is designed so you can:
- Develop your appreciation of human diversity
- Learn to work with people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds
- Explore international aspects of human well‑being
- Become part of a friendly, active student community and student association that hosts social, cultural, educational, and service activities
- Prepare for employment or graduate school
This program has encouraged personal/professional growth and confidence/humility. Our internships teach us to be confident in our practice...
V.P., Class of 2018
Mission & Goals
Mission Statement
The mission of the social work program at SUNY Plattsburgh is to prepare competent and effective generalist social work professional practitioners, whose knowledge base includes the profession’s history, purposes, and philosophy, and whose values include service, social justice, dignity and worth of each human being, self-determination, integrity, importance of human relationships, competence, human rights, and scientific inquiry. This program prepares social work practitioners who are grounded in an empowerment orientation to practice, and to the promotion of tangible hope in work with communities, organizations, groups, families, and individuals, towards the goal of advancing social and economic justice for all populations served in professional practice.
Program Goals
1. To prepare competent and effective generalist professional practitioners committed
to promoting human rights, reducing social injustice, and creating social, political,
and economic conditions conducive to human well-being.
2. To prepare competent and effective generalist professional practitioners who rely
on knowledge, values, and skills that foster hope through empowerment and advocacy
approaches in practice with organizations, communities, groups, families, and individuals,
especially those who are oppressed and devalued.
3. To prepare competent and effective generalist practitioners who embrace diversity,
and use cross-cultural, and cross-national knowledge, values, and skills in practice
with individuals, families, groups, communities and organizations.
4. To prepare competent and effective generalist professionals whose commitment to
the profession includes responsibility for ongoing education, leadership development,
and contributions to the profession’s knowledge base.