Social Work

Community Organizing (formally Community Organizing, Planning and Development)

This concentration develops students’ competence for community-based practice. It stresses the skills, techniques, and strategies needed to mobilize both people and resources to solve basic social problems at either the neighborhood or citywide level. The social planning and social reform aspects of social work practice are underscored in seeking change to alleviate individual and family problems. Education and training are developed in collective action, advocacy, program evaluation, proposal writing, community outreach, legislative advocacy, and other vital organizing roles. Field practicums occur in a number of settings in international organizations, city and state planning agencies, legislative offices, community engagement arms of human service organizations, and a wide variety of grassroots organizations. Students in these placements work on everything from local economic development issues, food and hunger projects, and tenant advocacy to LGBTQ issues and women’s rights.

The nationally-ranked Master of Social Work (MSW) Program at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College is a 60-credit, competency-based graduate program leading to the MSW degree. The MSW curriculum reflects and facilitates a commitment to social justice; diversity; and ethical, knowledgeable practice in metropolitan, cross-cultural, and global environments. It has been shaped around a set of core competencies that are essential for all social workers, as identified by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), which accredits American schools of social work. Each course and field education experience within Silberman’s MSW Program is intentionally designed to help students progress toward advanced-level competency attainment by the time they graduate.