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Social Work Granted Re-Accreditation

Date: November 16, 2011
Contact: swinfo@andrews.edu
Website:
Phone: 269-471-6196

Andrews University is pleased to announced the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has granted re-accreditation to both the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and Master of Social Work (MSW) programs in the Andrews University Department of Social Work through June 2019.  The accreditation process reviews program competencies, practice behaviors, evaluation procedures, and program activities and processes. 
  
“We are delighted our Social Work accreditation has been renewed for the maximum eight-year period,” said Andrea Luxton, provost for Andrews University.  “This speaks to the excellence of our faculty and programs, and we hope that even more prospective students will see the Andrews University Department of Social Work as the place of choice for their future education.”
  
In February 2011, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) sent site visitors to Andrews University to review the Department of Social Work’s BSW and MSW programs.  “This was a rigorous review process,” says Curt VanderWaal, chair of the Department of Social Work. “It provides assurance to students and employers that the programs maintain universally high quality standards and implement the best practices of social work programs around the nation.”
  
Although the Department of Social Work has continuously maintained its accreditation with CSWE since 1990, all programs must be periodically reviewed to demonstrate their continued compliance with national standards. The examination of the program’s twelve core competencies and over 70 individual practice behaviors is conducted to ensure graduates enter the profession prepared to serve clients with the highest level of knowledge and skills.  CSWE’s Commission on Accreditation reviewed the program’s self-study as well as the site visitor’s findings at their annual meeting in October. The commissioners voted that both the BSW and MSW programs retain full accreditation status for the next eight years. 
  
“The re-accreditation process is time-consuming and rigorous. We could never have completed it without the hard work and dedication of our quality faculty, staff and university administrators,” said VanderWaal. “We were especially pleased that the Commission had no areas of concern or remediation for our program.”  
  
The Andrews University Department of Social Work currently has 50 BSW students and 55 MSW students. A site visit was simultaneously conducted with the department’s off-site BSW program at Washington Adventist University in Tacoma Park, Md., which has 30 BSW students. The Andrews University BSW and MSW programs are two of over 400 accredited BSW programs and more than 200 accredited MSW programs currently available nationwide. 

 
Andrews University is a Seventh-day Adventist institution of higher education
Phone: 1-800-253-2874     Email: enroll@andrews.edu
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Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104