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Social Work

Social Work Program

Social Work Program

The BSW program at A&M-Texarkana seeks to provide students with a quality education and prepare students with entry-level skills to become generalist social work practitioners prepared to address and work with diverse clients dealing with complex social issues.

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Program Mission

The A&M-Texarkana Baccalaureate Social Work (BSW) Program mission is to prepare students as generalist Social Work practitioners to work with constituents at various systems levels to address regional problems related to poverty, chronic illness, and other social and economic injustices.  The program seeks to prepare students with professional knowledge, values, skills, and processes guided by human rights, respect for diversities, and social responsibility and centralized around anti-oppressive, and trauma-informed social work practices essential for working with complex issues faced by individuals, families, communities, and organizations. 

Program Goals

  1. Prepare competent generalist social workers ready to engage with diverse client systems.   
  2. Engage students in research to better inform their practice and policy advocacy efforts. 
  3. Prepare students to promote anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices with constituents at various system levels within a variety of professional contexts.  
  4. Enhance students’ problem-solving skills through experiential learning designed to prepare them for complex case work and ethical decision making in their field work and beyond.    
  5. Engage students to work in partnership with the community to address local and regional concerns. 
  6. Educate students about person-in-the-environment and ecological frameworks and how each gives context to providing anti-oppressive and trauma-informed care

Program of Study

Flexible programs of study are available (part-time, full-time, evening and online course options). While the program of study is flexible, the sequence in which the classes are to be taken is structured. Generally, students can complete the social work bachelor's degree coursework over four full-time semesters.  A minimum of 57 credit hours in social work is required for graduation:

  • 6 lower division social work pre-requisites
  • 43 credit hours of upper division social work coursework
  • 8 credit hours of field instruction (400 clock hours) that offers our students the unique opportunity to gain professional experience while under the supervision of a professional social worker in an agency setting.

Our faculty offers our students individualized academic advising for specific guidance related to their program of study.

Featured Courses

SOCW 501 - Practice I: Social Work with Individuals

Provides an overview of clinical social work and the practice, knowledge, and skills needed to successfully treat clients. Emphasizes interpersonal and interviewing skills, the generalist planned change process, utilizing a strengths perspective, values and ethics, and cultural competence. Prerequisite

SOCW 502 - Practice II: Social Work with Families and Groups

This course introduces students to the theory and practice of social work in Groups. It prepares students by helping them develop the knowledge, values, and skills needed for generalist social work practice with Groups. In this course, group work is broadly defined to encompass treatment groups as well as task groups. Attention is given to the individual person in the group, the group as a whole, and the environment in which the group exists. Emphasis will be placed on utilizing evidence-based practice principles and developing group leadership skills. 

Social Work Student Spotlight

My name is Adrianna Byrd and I am in my final semester of the Master of Social Work Program! I was born and raised here in Texarkana and graduated from Liberty-Eylau High School in 2017. Before getting to where I am now, I first graduated with my associate degree in General Studies from Texarkana College in 2019, then transferred to TAMU-T soon after. After switching my major twice, I finally realized that my true passion involved being in the field of mental health. Long story short, I obtained my B.S. in Psychology in the spring of 2022, then began the MSW program that fall. I now have the honor of serving as President of the Social Work Student Association (SWSA). I have also made lifelong friends and soon to be colleagues, as well as learned many valuable things about social work. Once I graduate, my hope is to obtain my clinical license and work with children and adolescents who need help coping with trauma and everyday life. When I am not interning or doing homework, you can find me hanging out with my family or somewhere out of town visiting my friends. But most days, you’ll probably find me listening to music or taking a nap because sleeping is my favorite sport and form of self-care!