Social Work Program receives national accreditation, accolades

OU's social work faculty are proud to have earned accreditation.

Oakland University has received another feather in its cap of quality academic offerings. The Social Work program is now officially accredited through the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

The four-year process came to a successful conclusion this fall, with the announcement. Growing out of a social work concentration within the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the program has become a full-blown major leading to a Bachelor’s of Social Work degree.

“This recognition really establishes us as a program with the full support of the university and opens up new avenues of growth,” said Lisa Dalton, Ph.D., director of the Social Work Program.

“The accreditation process has a direct impact on our students, who are required to graduate from an accredited program in order to get their individual licenses,” she continued.

The CSWE administers an extensive and layered process that includes self-studies, site visits and reviews by the Commission on Accreditation over a period of four years.

With the completion of this comprehensive process, administrators are looking forward to attracting new students to the program and increasing Oakland’s reputation for quality academics. The program’s accreditation will also improve the academic futures of its current students.

“An accredited BSW degree is required for employment, social work licensure, and for acceptance into advanced standing or accelerated Master’s of Social Work programs. Students graduating from an accredited program are considered more marketable in terms of employment and graduate school,” said Maria DeVoogd-Beam, OU’s director of Field Education and Student Support Services.

Yet the department does not intend to sit on its laurels. Dr. Dalton hopes to expand the social work faculty and anticipates an increase in student enrollment. Currently, plans are in the works to establish a BSW program at the Anton Frankel Center in Mt. Clemens.

For more information about OU’s social work program, view the website at oakland.edu/sw.