A Collection of Resources for New and Emerging Field Directors

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Feb 7, 2020 | 1 comment

Editor’s Note: The idea for this blog post came from the listserv of the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors.  With over a 1000 subscribers, this listserv gets a lot of action from social work educators, frequently asking for resources or best practices.  In January 2020, a discussion thread came up about resources for social workers who were new directors of field education. I reached out to Kristen Samuels, the Director of Field Education at the University of Phoenix, and who has written posts for this blog in the past.  She graciously agreed to pull together a list of her favorite resources for field education.

As I transitioned into being a Field Director a few years ago, I had a great deal of anxiety over performing the role well and meeting the expectations of what seemed like an endless list of stakeholders. Although I had experience across many roles in Social Work Field Education, including coordinator, liaison, field instructor, and field faculty, the role of Field Director came with a steep learning curve. I had so many questions about how to manage the complex and competing demands of the role (Buck, Bradley, Robb & Kirzner, 2012), and found comfort in a few particular resources. Below is a compilation of a few of the resources I found most helpful in easing my transition. If you are new to leading the Field Education component of a Social Work program, these are a few ideas on where to start learning more about the Field Director position beyond your immediate university setting. 

Training

One helpful resource was an online training series developed by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) called Managing a Field Education Program: A Training for New Field Directors. The training was developed by a group of industry leaders with helpful content about the primary roles and responsibilities of a Field Director. For the $150 registration fee, you receive: 

• access to a series of training videos presented by several long-standing Field Directors who offer their tips and expertise. The videos cover key topics such as gatekeeping, recruiting agency partners and field instructors, and the administrative components of the role.
• a discussion forum with peers who are new to the role, 
• a collection of handouts and sample documents from other institutions, including learning contracts, field manuals, field seminar assignments, student performance improvement plans, placement interview tips, etc.  
• links to helpful resources, 
• and a live one-hour webinar. 

It is estimated to take 4-6 hours to engage with all the content and complete the training. 

Networking

It is also important to become connected with some of the organizations and email listservs that are dedicated to Social Work Field Education. These are great ways to network with peers, ask questions, and share resources and best practices. 

The Field Directors Listserv has a robust and active community of field educators. To be added to the Field Directors electronic mailing list, directions are posted on the CSWE website. At the time of posting this blog, requests to join should be sent to Karen Chapman, Accreditation Specialist at: kchapman@cswe.org, but we recommend visiting the CSWE site to confirm the current email recipient. You do not have to be a member of CSWE to join the listserv, and it is free to join. 

The Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD) offers another helpful email listserv to network with a wider range of social work educators beyond field education, including BSW program directors, faculty, administrators, researchers, etc. You do not have to be a member of BPD to join, and there are no fees for participation. A thorough overview of how to subscribe, post, reply, and use the content for research purposes is available here. Colleagues from programs big and small will post questions or requests for information with the general expectation that they will compile answers and post them back to the listserv. 

This list is particularly helpful because it archives all posts made to the listserv since February 2004, which is a real treasure trove of incredible discussions, resources, and best practice tips over the years. If you have a burning question, I recommend starting here to see if it has been asked before, or if the discussion is new or should be revived again. Directions to access the archives are available here and requires login credentials which are free to obtain. 

The North American Network for Field Educators and Directors (NANFED) website can help connect you with a closer group of Field Educators through their consortia groups. These Field Consortia listservs are organized by common interests like geographic location or online/face to face program offerings. Membership fees are required to be a part of this organization, which are $35/year for an individual, or $100/year for an institution which covers all Field administrators within a program. Membership provides access to a repository of resources from peer institutions, organized by program, student, stakeholder, and policy and procedure levels.

Resources

I highly recommend reviewing the State of Field Education Survey for a comprehensive overview of Field Education across institutions. This resource was developed by CSWE following their 2015 national survey of Field Directors and is packed with information about the way programs organize Field Education, the various staffing models and resources used to support Field Education, and even a section on annual salary ranges for roles supporting Field Education! 

The book Social Work Field Directors (Hunter, Moen, & Raskin, 2016) is an invaluable tool as you establish your role as a Field Director. This text is a collection of scholarship from Field experts, who present their experience on how to develop, maintain, and evaluate Field Education programs. There are sections devoted to innovative Field models, training and support for Field instructors, legal and ethical issues in Field, and Safety and Risk Management, along with many other helpful tips and ideas. It also discusses ways to achieve compliance under the 2015 EPAS. The text is $55 and available through Oxford University Press at the link above, or through Amazon. 

Speaking of the 2015 EPAS, if you don’t already have a copy of the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, this resource should be your guiding light as you plan your work and work your plan. This document, particularly section 2.2 Signature Pedagogy: Field Education but also weaved throughout many sections of the standards, outlines the expectations your program must meet to remain in compliance with CSWE Accreditation standards. As Field Director and a leader in your program, you will be called upon to report the ways you support student achievement of CSWE competencies in Field Education, so become familiar with these standards! 

The Field Educator is another helpful resource to gain knowledge about Field Education practice and research. This a bi-annual online journal that publishes content on innovative field models, best practices, peer reviewed articles on theory and research, and interviews with leading Social Work educators. The Field Educator is open access, and it is free to subscribe to receive email notifications as new issues are released. This is a great place to share your research as you gain confidence in your position! 

Conferences 

Each year, a Pre-Conference Field Education Institute is presented at the CSWE Annual Program Meeting each year. This institute is designed for anyone interested in Field Education (deans, directors, faculty, coordinators, etc), and in previous years has featured breakout sessions on emerging issues and trends, innovative strategies, and assessing student competence. Attendance to this full-day event costs $150 for CSWE members, and $200 for non-members (This fee is separate from the full conference fees). CE credit is available for 4.5 contact hours. For the first time in 2019, the Field Education Institute was offered virtually, with a live stream of portions of the event available to remote attendees. The rate for attendance in this event was $100, and included the ability to post questions and engage in dialogue with attendees in person and online. The event was also archived for on-demand access. 

If your program is willing and able to send you to the full CSWE Annual Program Meeting (also known as APM), this is also a great way to connect with and learn from Social Work faculty, administrators, influencers, and students. The event brings together over 2,500 leaders from programs small, large, online and in-person, and offers presentations and workshops across 40 tracks. Registration for the conference is typically around $500, plus around $200 for annual CSWE dues. Depending on the location, which shifts annually, the total cost can be upwards of $3000 after airfare, hotel, transportation, and meals. To maximize the opportunity, many universities use the event to advertise job opportunities and interview candidates, which adds great value if you are actively searching for new opportunities or hiring new faculty or staff. 

Although I have not attended this one personally, I have only heard great things from colleagues about the annual BPD conference. This conference is designed for educators, students, and practitioners to promote excellence in undergraduate Social Work education. As it relates to Field Education, the 2020 conference is hosting two full-day pre-conference workshops for Field Directors, one for new Field Directors with 0-3 years experience, and one for experienced Field Directors. The workshop for new Field Directors will focus on foundations of the role and a few of the major  responsibilities like maintaining placement sites, orienting and training field instructors, evaluating student learning, and gatekeeping, among others. The workshop costs $85 and will earn 4 CE hours. This is separate from fees associated with the full conference, which has varying rates based on BPD membership, single day participation, or if you are an exhibitor. 

My personal favorite conference to attend has been the Social Work Distance Education (SWDE) conference, primarily because of my role at an online institution, but I also believe there is value for programs who are interested in developing or improving their distance education course offerings. SWDE is a 3-day event held in April each year and hosted in San Antonio, Texas. Workshops and presentations focus on the unique challenges Social Work educators face as we develop and implement coursework and Field Education from a distance. The cost of registration is $485, or $200 for students, and about $1800 when considering airfare, hotel, transportation and meals. 

If you are new to the Field Director role, I hope you’ll find this information valuable to your journey. Although there is much to learn and manage in Field Education, there are many resources available to support you in the endeavor, only a few of those are listed here. If you have any additional advice or recommendations, we would be grateful for you sharing your wisdom by offering a comment below! 

References:

Buck, P., Bradley, J., Robb, L. & Kirzner, R. (2012). Complex and competing demands in field education: A qualitative study of field directors’ experiences. The Field Educator, 2(2), Retrieved from: http://fieldeducator.simmons.edu/article/complex-and-competing-demands-infield-education/ 

How to cite this post: 

Samuels, K. (2020, February 7). A Collection of Resources for New and Emerging Field Directors [Blog Post]. Retrieved from Teaching & Learning in Social Work website: https://laureliversonhitchcock.org/2020/02/07/a-collection-of-resources-for-new-and-emerging-field-director/