SUNY Plattsburgh Social Work Program Receives Reaffirmation of Accreditation

The SUNY Plattsburgh social work department has received high marks in its reaffirmation of accreditation process through the Council on Social Work Education.

Lynne Soine, social work department chair, and others have been working on the reaccreditation for two years through a self-study with more than 360 pages of documentation.

The program, which serves around 100 students annually, was established in 1994. This is the third time it has gone through the process with the council.

Soine said the standards have recently changed to a competency-based curriculum, which means the focus should be hands-on experience. 

The program meets the criteria by giving students internship opportunities in the community at agencies such as Behavior Health Services North, the Champlain Valley Family Center, Champlain Valley Physician’s Nursing Home and other regional service agencies.

In fact, the accrediting body found this to be one of the strengths in the social work curriculum.

With the new changes to social work accreditation, the criteria became more of a challenge to meet, according to Soine. However, the department passed with flying colors because it was able to make beneficial changes to the curriculum, diversity, assessment and planning.

The council found no concerns through its assessment.

“It is not typical for accreditation to go as smoothly as ours did,” Soine said.

The next review is not for another eight years.