The Placement Process

Internship Structure

Social Work Foundation Field Practicum (SOWK 5106 and 5206) consists of a two-semester concurrent placement of an average of 16 hours per week, for a minimum of 480 hours.  Social Work Advanced Field Practicum (SOWK 5306 and 5406) consists of a two-semester concurrent placement of an average of 20 hours per week for a minimum of 600 hours.  The field experience is educationally directed and professionally supervised to provide students with the opportunity to engage in generalist or advanced clinical social work activities in practice community settings. Students are placed in agencies within a 50-mile radius of their preferred location. 

Prerequisites

Foundation YearStudents must be accepted into the MSW Program to be eligible for field education. The field internship is completed concurrently with class work and students must take practice coursework at the same time they are completing their internships.
Concentration (Advanced) Year Students seeking to enter the concentration (advanced) field internship must have completed all of their foundation year classes successfully OR have been accepted into the advanced standing program and have completed their bridge and psychopathology courses. The advanced year internship is traditionally completed in the final two consecutive semesters of the MSW educational process. If a student elects to take a part-time course load, they will need to plan accordingly so that they are taking at least one practice course concurrently with their concentration year internship.

MSW Field Application

Submission DeadlinesSeptember 15, 2022 for Generalist/Foundation Spring/Summer 2023 InternshipsMarch 15, 2023 for Clinical/Concentration Fall 2023/Spring 2024 Internships. We strongly encourage that you complete your field application as soon as possible so that you will have more internship options to consider.Internships that have night and weekend business hours are rare and may not be available in your area or during each academic year. 

MSW Field Application Steps 

The internship application process begins by activating your EXXAT account through the noreply@exxat.com invitation email you received after your MSW confirmation.  If you do not find this email in your inbox or junk folder, email  support@exxat.com stating that you an ETSU social work student and need an account activation invitation email.Make sure you bookmark the login page as you will be using EXXAT at least weekly throughout your internship!Start Here-This video will introduce you to our field management system EXXAT New Student Orientation Video  

Step 1- You will receive an email from the Director of Field Education asking you to indicate your top three preferences for field advisement. Please submit your top three choices as soon as possible.

Step 2-To prepare for your meeting, please complete the My Profile section of Exxat and upload an up-to-date resume.

Step 3- At your field placement planning meeting, we will discuss any field/internship questions and concerns that you may have, review your areas of interest/agencies, determine your top three selections in order of preference. 

Step 4-The agency will contact you within 2-3 weeks to schedule an interview. Be prepared to discuss internship hours and activities. EXXAT/Student Packet contains a proposed schedule template that many find helpful. You can also find useful information by exploring FAQs. Sometimes, placement offers are made at the interview. It’s important to ask when you should expect to hear back about a decision. If an agency does not have a placement available or does not extend a placement offer. Please notify the Director of MSW Field Education immediately upon receiving Field Placement decisions.  Frequent communication with your field director is vital during this process to avoid delays in securing a placement.

Step 5-When you get a placement offer, promptly return the email or phone call to officially accept. Please complete the Confirmation of Field form in your EXXAT/Pending Documents within 2 weeks. The remaining Pending Documents will list due dates and contain instructions for completion. If you experience issues with uploading a document, please check to make sure it is in an allowed format (pdf, doc, docx, gif, jpeg, png).

Step 6-One month before your internship start date, contact your agency to ask if there are additional onboarding or pre-internship requirements to be completed. The internship follows the academic calendar so the first day of the semester is the official start date and the last day of the semester is the pause or end date.