Social Work Internships

Goshen College offers you a great advantage when it comes to practical experience and integrating it with the instruction. Our area is rich in social service agencies and our proximity to, and close relationships with these agencies makes it possible to explore many interesting avenues for your professional future.

Intro to Social Work (SoWk 224) provides a window into the profession both in the classroom and through a 20-hour internship in an agency, so you explore for yourself the range of opportunities in social work

Social Service Field Experience (SoWk 321), typically taken your second year, provides the structure for a 40-hr internship in an agency, while you develop interviewing skills in the classroom.

Field Instruction (SoWk 409) structures 400 hours of in-agency experience under the close supervision of an agency field instructor and a faculty member. Recent seniors have selected field placements in mental heath, child welfare, developmental disabilities, school systems, job and life skills training for women, family services, services to the aging, court services and youth services.

Senior Seminar

The capstone of your social work education at GC is a senior seminar in which you and your peers complete your preparation for professional employment. Contemporary issues in social work are discussed with guest speakers and on a field trip to Chicago. Throughout the seminar you write an integrative paper demonstrating your understanding of the social work profession, values, roles, theories and skills, and yourself as a beginning professional. At the conclusion of the seminar, you will complete an oral examination based on this paper to assist in evaluating your integrative understanding of the profession.