Managing a Field Education Program: A Training for New Field Directors

Field education is the signature social work pedagogy, and field directors play a critical role in ensuring that social work students develop the competencies to be successful practitioners. At the same time, field directors face complex and often competing demands that can be difficult to navigate without support. 

This training addresses all of the main responsibilities of a new field director, including gatekeeping, working with field sites, working with students and field instructors, and integrating field and classroom curriculum. All content is available on-demand and can be completed at your convenience. Participants can also network with one another through a discussion forum and quarterly live webinars.

After participating in this training, new field directors will be able to:

  1. Develop inclusive policies and procedures for the various aspects of their field program (recruiting field sites and instructors, placing students, evaluation) that incorporate the 2015 EPAS standards
  2. Identify strategies for integrating field education and other learning opportunities such as coursework
  3. Identify administrative processes that are commonly a responsibility of a field director or field department

Who should participate? Field directors with less than two years of experience

Total training time: 4-6 hours

Estella Williamson, LCSW-R

Assistant Dean and Director of Field Education, University of Albany SUNY

Estella Williamson serves the School of Social Welfare as assistant dean and director of the Field Education Program. Williamson assists students in learning to develop, apply and integrate learned theoretical skills in social work practice settings. A licensed clinical social worker, Williamson's past experience in social work leadership involved managing programs in child welfare, outpatient mental health and addictions, prenatal services and HIV clinical and preventive care. Her management of clinical programming included the development and implementation of services; program monitoring and evaluation; and the procurement and management of State and Federal grants. She has served as a field instructor, adjunct instructor and speaker on social work practice and theory.

Elizabeth (Betsy) Voshel, LMSW

Associate Clinical Professor of Social Work and Director of Field Instruction, University of Michigan

Elizabeth (Betsy) Harbeck Voshel, LMSW, ACSW earned her MSW in social work from Western Michigan University in 1978, her BA in Sociology/Psychology in 1973 from Alma College and received a Post-Master’s teaching certificate from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. She joined the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan as a clinical assistant professor in 2004 and was promoted to clinical associate professor in 2009. Previously, she was the Coordinator of the Field Education Program at the School of Social Work at Western Michigan University, and she was employed as a social worker at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs prior to that for 22 years where she won a national award for the development of an intensive case management program. She has been involved in NASW at the state and national levels since 1978 and was named Region II Social Worker of the Year in 2003. She served on the MI Chapter Ethics Committee of NASW for 24 years, and also on the NASW MI Chapter Board of Directors. Betsy created and developed a student peer facilitator teaching model for the U-M School's Foundation Field Seminar, and co-led the development and teaching effort in the School's e-Portfolio seminar. She has presented nationally and internationally focusing on developing signature field instruction curriculum, portfolio development, safety training for social workers, and countless workshops on social work ethics. She’s written several proposals that have been funded, and is the co-author of a Social Work textbook and several articles.

Traci Lilley, MSW, LCSW

Associate Director & Director of Field Education, Louisiana State University

Traci Lilley received her BSW in 1990 from Louisiana College in Pineville, LA and her MSW in 1995 from Louisiana State University. She began her career at LSU in 1996 as Assistant Director of Field Education. She was promoted to Director of Field Education in 2002, and has served as Assistant Dean of Field Education from 2005-2012.  Her role changed to Associate Director of the School and Director of Field Internships in August 2012 when the School became a part of the College of Human Services and Education.  Ms. Lilley has been recognized by students, colleagues and community partners through the years as Louisiana Social Worker of the Year, LSU Outstanding Staff Award and Outstanding Teacher of the Year.  Ms. Lilley is a frequent guest lecturer locally and nationally on a wide range of social work topics with special focus on ethics, gatekeeping and social work retention. Prior to her tenure at LSU, Ms. Lilley worked in the area of mental health and family services. Her continued areas of practice are mental health issues, family issues, parenting education, and advanced social work supervision.

Darrin E. Wright, PhD, LMSW, MAC

Assistant Professor and Director of Field Education, Clark Atlanta University

Dr. Wright is an Assistant Professor and Director of Field Education, at Clark Atlanta University- Whitney M. Young, Jr., School of Social Work. Dr. Wright has served in his current position as Director of Field Education for the past 10 years. He is responsible for coordinating all aspects of Field Instruction including planning, coordination of agency/student placements, evaluation of the field agencies, and recruiting and training agency field instructors. Dr. Wright has over a decade of community-based social work practice in the area of community-based mental health and addictions practice with individuals, families and groups. He holds a B.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Manhattan, NY, and Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University, Manhattan, N.Y., and a PhD in Social Work Policy, Planning and Administration from Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA. Dr. Wright’s area of expertise and interest are: community based integrated behavioral healthcare practice, field practicum development and pedagogy, international social work practice, and workforce development initiatives for individuals with varying disabilities.

Anwar Najor-Durack, PhD, MSW

Assistant Professor, Clinical and Director of Field Education

Dr. Najor-Durack has worked closely with various faculty in the School of Social Work to develop programs to better prepare social work students for professional practice. She served as the principle investigator of the Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education grant that helps to prepare M.S.W. students for work with older adults.In addition to her work in the School, Dr. Najor-Durack is the current Chair of the Michigan Board of Social Work. In her work with the Board, she reviews allegations to determine need for investigations and has served as conferee on substantiated cases. As a former member of the Boards Disciplinary Sub-Committee, she has deliberated and voted on many cases for final disposition. Dr. Najor-Durack oversees the placement of all B.S.W. and M.S.W. students at the School. In addition to working with students to arrange and oversee field placements, she works closely with agency partners to cultivate strong relationships/affiliations that advance student preparation for professional practice.

Cindy Hunter, MSW

Associate Professor and Director of Field Placement

Cindy Hunter, MSW, is Director of Field Placement at James Madison University. She is a  member of CSWE’s Council on Field Education and the Baccalaureate Program Director’s Field Committee. She currently chairs the Mid-Atlantic field consortium and is co-author with Julia Moen and Miriam Raskin of Social Work Field Directors: Foundations for Excellence (2016), Oxford University Press.

CSWE would like to thank the CSWE Council on Field Education, the Baccalaureate Program Directors (BPD) Field Education Committee, the North American Network of Field Educators and Directors (NANFED), and our speakers for their contributions to this training, particularly:

Janet Bradley, Director, Field Education Content Chair, West Chester University Department of Social Work

Rebecca Brigham, Assistant Dean of Field Education and Clinical Associate Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work

Ann Petrila, Professor of the Practice of Social Work and Assistant Dean for Field Education, University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work

Riva Zeff, Field Director and Clinical Professor, Seattle University, Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and Social Work

Cyndy Hunter, Associate Professor and Director of Field Placement, James Madison University Department of Social Work

Traci Lilley, Associate Director and Director of Field Education, Louisiana State University School of Social Work 

Anwar Najor-Durack, Assistant Professor, Clinical and Director of Field Education, Wayne State University School of Social Work

Elizabeth Voshel, Director of Field Instruction and Clinical Associate Professor, University of Michigan School of Social Work

Estella Williamson, Assistant Dean and Director of Field Education, University at Albany SUNY School of Social Welfare

Darrin Wright, Assistant Professor and Director of Field Education and Practicum Activities, Clark Atlanta University School of Social Work




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Live Webinar
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin. Alison Currington and Laurel Hitchcock present a social media toolkit for field educators.
2017 APM Field Education Institute
10/19/2017 at 8:00 AM (CDT)   |  8 hours
10/19/2017 at 8:00 AM (CDT)   |  8 hours Participants of this training can join the following portions of the 2017 APM Field Education Institute for no additional charge: -Keynote and panel presentation (9:00 am-10:30 am) -Networking Lunch (11:45 am-1:00 pm) -Innovations Showcase (4:00-5:00 pm) To register for the additional workshops that are part of this event, go to: https://show.jspargo.com/cswe17/reg/default.asp.
Administration
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.  |  120 minutes
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.  |  120 minutes
Gatekeeping
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.  |  90 minutes
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.  |  90 minutes
Recruiting Sites & Instructors and Maintaining Relationships
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.  |  90 minutes
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.  |  90 minutes
Working with Field Instructors
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.
Working with Students
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.  |  90 minutes
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.  |  90 minutes
Integrating Classroom and Field Education
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.  |  120 minutes
Select the "View On-Demand Recording" button to begin.  |  120 minutes
"Next Steps" Checklist
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource. A brief checklist of things to do after you finish this training
Evaluation
6 Questions
6 Questions Please fill out this evaluation to provide feedback on this training.
Assessment
18 Questions  |  1 attempt  |  1/18 points to pass
18 Questions  |  1 attempt  |  1/18 points to pass This optional assessment can provide feedback on how well you retained the presented content.
Certificate of Completion
No credits available  |  Certificate available
No credits available  |  Certificate available