STANDARDS and expectations for Professional Behaviors

Introduction

Professional Behaviors in the Classroom and Practicum

All students in the Graduate Social Work program within the College of Education and Social Work (CESW) must adhere to the code of ethics as outlined by the National Association of Social in university and practicum settings. CESW views its students as mature individuals who are either preparing to be members of the profession or continuing to develop their knowledge and skills within the profession. Students are expected to exhibit a high level of integrity, humility and empathy when working with others (clients, peers, instructors, etc.) all while upholding professional standards of conduct. Students are also expected to adhere to additional expectations set forth by Faculty and Practicum Instructors, and Task Supervisors.

Unprofessional behaviors refer to a student's behaviors, attitudes, or characteristics that may require remediation, but are perceived as not excessive or unexpected for professionals in training. Performance anxiety, discomfort interacting with clients with marginalized identities, difficulty with self-reflection and acceptance of feedback, and lack of appreciation of agency norms are examples of unprofessional behaviors that are usually remedied and not likely to progress into ethical misconduct, impairment, or incompetence. Initially, unprofessional behavior may be addressed by filing a level one concern. Faculty should refer to the CSWE standards when considering professional behaviors.

Ethical misconduct occurs when the NASW Code of Ethics is not followed This code provides both the general principles and the specific decision rules to cover most situations encountered by professional social workers in their professional activities. It has as its primary goal the welfare and protection of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. It is the individual responsibility of each social worker to aspire to achieve the highest possible standards of conduct. Social workers promote anti-racism, social justice and social change, respect, protect human rights, and do not knowingly participate in or condone unfair discriminatory practices. An occurrence of ethical misconduct may be addressed by the submission of a level 1 or level 2 concern.

Impairment is defined by the NASW code of ethics as allowing personal problems, psychosocial distress, legal problems, substance abuse, or mental health difficulties to interfere with professional judgment and performance or to jeopardize the best interests of people for whom they have a professional responsibility. As an interference in professional functioning that is reflected in one or more of the following ways:

  • Inability or unwillingness to acquire and integrate professional standards into one's repertoire of professional behavior;
  • Inability or unwillingness to acquire professional skills and reach an accepted level of competency; or
  • Inability or unwillingness to control personal stress, psychological disorder, or emotional reactions that may affect professional functioning.

Impairment is a serious and persistent ability function as a social worker and requires submission of a Level 2 or Level 3 concern.

Incompetence is defined as a lack of ability. This lack of ability may include inadequate professional or interpersonal skills, or academic deficiency. When students continue to provide social work services beyond their current level of competence they are violating the ethical standard of competence.

Incompetence can have direct implications for client safety and therefore requires submission of a Level 2 or Level 3 concern.

The following is a list of some, but not all, practice behaviors that can be used to determine a student's ability to demonstrate the competencies outlined by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Students are provided opportunities to demonstrate these behaviors in a variety of settings. Behaviors can be displayed through the quality of assignments a student completes, their interactions with faculty, staff, fellow students, and colleagues, and through experiences in practicum settings. This document will be used when a student exhibits problematic behaviors, ethical misconduct, impairment, or incompetence. These behaviors may also be in violation of West Chester University (WCU) policy (ex. The Student Code of Conduct, Academic Integrity Policy).

Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Generalist Competencies

Programs accredited by CSWE must use a competency-based framework to identify and assess what students demonstrate in practice. They have established 9 generalist competencies. Competency 1 and Competency 3 are the ones that pertain most directly to ethical and professional behavior.

Generalist Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

Social workers understand the value base of the profession and its ethical standards, as well as relevant policies, laws, and regulations that may affect practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers understand that ethics are informed by principles of human rights and apply them toward realizing social, racial, economic, and environmental justice in their practice. Social workers understand frameworks of ethical decision-making and apply principles of critical thinking to those frameworks in practice, research, and policy arenas. Social workers recognize and manage personal values and the distinction between personal and professional values. Social workers understand how their evolving worldview, personal experiences, and affective reactions influence their professional judgment and behavior. Social workers take measures to care for themselves professionally and personally, understanding that self-care is paramount for competent and ethical social work practice. Social workers use rights-based, antiracist, and anti-oppressive lenses to understand and critique the profession's history, mission, roles, and responsibilities and recognize historical and current contexts of oppression in shaping institutions and social work. Social workers understand the role of other professionals when engaged in interprofessional practice. Social workers recognize the importance of lifelong learning and are committed to continually updating their skills to ensure relevant and effective practice. Social workers understand digital technology and the ethical use of technology in social work practice.

Social workers:

  1. make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for ethical decision making, ethical conduct of research, and additional codes of ethics within the profession as appropriate to the context;
  2. demonstrate professional behavior; appearance; and oral, written, and electronic communication;
  3. use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate practice outcomes; and
  4. use supervision and consultation to guide professional judgment and behavior.

Generalist Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice

Social workers understand how racism and oppression shape human experiences and how these two constructs influence practice at the individual, family, group, organizational, and community levels and in policy and research. Social workers understand the pervasive impact of White supremacy and privilege and use their knowledge, awareness, and skills to engage in anti-racist practice. Social workers understand how diversity and intersectionality shape human experiences and identity development and affect equity and inclusion. The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersectionality of factors including but not limited to age, caste, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, generational status, immigration status, legal status, marital status, political ideology, race, nationality, religion and spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status. Social workers understand that this intersectionality means that a person's life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege and power. Social workers understand the societal and historical roots of social and racial injustices and the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination. Social workers understand cultural humility and recognize the extent to which a culture's structures and values, including social, economic, political, racial, technological, and cultural exclusions, may create privilege and power resulting in systemic oppression.

Social workers:

  1. demonstrate anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice at the individual,family, group, organizational, community, research, and policy levels;
  2. demonstrate cultural humility by applying critical reflection, self-awareness, and self-regulation to manage the influence of bias, power, privilege, and values in working with clients and constituencies, acknowledging them as experts of their own lived experiences.

Evaluation of Professional Behaviors

The evaluation of Professional Behaviors of students via Concern forms may be completed at any time over the semester by faculty, staff, or in conjunction with a Practicum Instructor. Below describes the process.

Restorative Practices:

Level 1

Level 1 behaviors may include unprofessional behavior and some instances of ethical misconduct. A WCU faculty or staff member can submit a concern about a student by first completing the Qualtrics link to the MSW Professional Behavior – Concern Form. The level of concern (Level 1 or 2) must be indicated before submission. If this behavior occurs in a practicum, the practicum liaison/professor will submit the concern. While most concerns are at a Level 1, a faculty member or the Department Chair may choose to escalate the concern to a Level 2 concern if there is more than one concern happening at the same time or if the concern is more serious. Next, the faculty or in the case of a staff submission, the graduate coordinator meets privately with the Student to create the "Restorative Action Plan." Restorative Action plans allow students to increase their professional competencies. If the behavior of concern occurs within the context of a practicum, the plan may involve working with the practicum supervisor to address concerns in that context. A Student's failure to successfully complete the "Restorative Action Plan" may also escalate the concern to a Level 2. Students may appeal Level 1 decisions within five business days via email to the Department Chair. The Department Chair has five business days to respond. The Department Chair's decision is final in this appeal. All parties must sign the form, and a copy will be emailed to the Student.

Level 2

A concern is Level 2 when there have been at least two concerns submitted or Level 2 was indicated on the initial concern submitted for a student. If this behavior occurs in a practicum, the practicum liaison/professor will submit the concern. Serious cases of ethical misconduct and some cases of impairment and incompetence constitute an initial filing of a level 2 concern. If the concern is a Student's first and designated a Level 2, the Department Chair can discuss the level of the concern with the faculty member to decide if it should remain at a Level 2 or be lowered to Level 1. The department chair and the Associate Dean of the CESW receive a copy via email. The Department Chair then meets with the student within ten business days. The Professional Behavior – Action Plan Form is completed and signed by all appropriate parties. If the concern occurs in the practicum context, the chair may consult the practicum liaison and practicum supervisor in the creation of the action plan. Students may appeal Level 2 decisions within five business days to the Associate Dean via email and the Associate Dean's decision is final.

There are two ways that a Level 2 concern can be elevated to a Level 3 concern. First, the Department Chair can immediately elevate the concern to Level 3 if there are at least two Level 2 concerns and/or if the concern is serious forms of ethical misconduct or impairment or incompetence.

The second way that a Level 2 concern can be elevated to a Level 3 concern is if the Student does not successfully complete the action plan, then the concern moves to Level 3.

Restorative Practices Summary Chart

*Candidates can appeal the decision of any level to the next level via email within five business days of the decision. The Decision at the next level is final.

Significant Concern:

Level 3

A concern is Level 3 for one or more of the following reasons: (1) when another concern has been submitted after a Level 2 action plan, (2) when a student did not successfully complete the Level 2 action plan, (3) a student is dismissed from practicum, (4) if the concern is a serious concern, or (5) the concerns have been escalated by the Department Chair. If this behavior occurs in a practicum, the practicum liaison/professor will submit the concern. The CESW Associate Dean receives a copy of the Level 3 concern and convenes a Review Board within 10 business days that includes voting members: the Associate Dean, the Special Assistant to the Dean for Social Work (faculty), the faculty who filed the complaint or a faculty representative from the Practicum Committee, and one faculty member from the College of Education and Social Work's Dispositions Committee who is not faculty in the MSW Program. The Office of the Associate Dean of the CESW provides notice to the Student of the date of the hearing. The Student does not have to participate in the hearing and can accept the fact pattern and consequences without attending. If the Student chooses to attend the hearing, they may come to the hearing alone or invite Lisa Montgomery, Ed.D., Director of Student Advocacy & Resources (Lmontgomery@wcupa.edu), or a WCU faculty member. This Student may consult with the individual during the meeting but that person may not address the Review Board directly.

During the hearing, the Review Board will hear testimony and review evidence from the Student and all participants involved.

  • Formal rules of evidence will not be employed.
  • The Review Board will give appropriate weight to evidence, based on its reliability.
  • The Review Board will not decide to dismiss a student from the program based solely on hearsay evidence.

After receiving all the evidence, the Board will recommend one or a combination of the following. In the case of a tied vote, both options will be offered for the Student to choose their preference:

  • New Placement: In this instance, an effort to find a new placement will be made. It is not guaranteed that a new placement will be available at another site during the same semester. This could delay graduation or completion of graduate certificate requirements.
  • Remediation: The Student will be provided with an action plan for remediation. The action plan will consist of specific, measurable tasks and outcomes with deadlines, as well as consequences if the action plan is not successfully completed. The Graduate Social Work Review Board will select materials for the action plan. The action plan must be signed by all participants. Failure to fulfill the plan may result in the Student's course grade being lowered. The course instructor will be the final decision-maker on the grade based on the grading criteria outlined in the syllabus. Removal from Program: Students who are removed from the program may be eligible to pursue other degree options at WCU.

Reflect: The Board will make a limited plan for an individual to serve as a coach for the student to reflect on the situation that caused the concern to be filed. This time will be no more than one semester and reevaluated at the end of that time. Coaching sessions time and duration will be determined by the coach in collaboration with the student, with coaching sessions being held once a month, minimally. This option is less intensive than remediation and to be used in situations where active remediation is not seen to be required by the Review Board.

If Reflection or Remediation is not completed or is completed but unsatisfactory, the Review Board will meet again to discuss and potentially vote on a new recommendation. If the Student is not satisfied with the committee's decision, they can appeal within five business days to the Dean of CESW who can either support or deny the decision of the Review Board within five business days. The Student can appeal the Dean's decision through the appropriate university appeal process.

Areas of Significant Concern Summary Chart

Areas of Significant Concern Summary Chart