Dear Social Work Students,
I hope you are well and doing okay during these challenging, transitional, and transformational times. This email is regarding our plans for face to face and hybrid classes in Fall 2020. As a student who is already registered, there is absolutely nothing you need to do. So, if you need to save this email and read it later when you have a bit more bandwidth for new information, that is okay. Either way, please do find some time to read it carefully at some point as we hope it will provide you with a sense of certainty and confidence in what your Fall semester will look like.
Because of concerns for the health and well-being of students, staff, faculty and their loved ones as a result of COVID-19, the university is limiting on campus instruction for the fall semester. As a result, all Social Work classes will be online in Fall 2020 with some very intentional modifications for those sections that were face to face or hybrid. We will be listening to our university leaders’ plan for a safe return on campus and that guidance will dictate who may be able to spend some time on campus later this year. We will keep you informed as we learn more.
What Happens Next?
First things first, there is nothing you need to do. Your section(s) that you are enrolled in will be automatically modified to indicate online. Your instructor will stay the same, the CRN will stay the same, and your classmates enrolled in the same section as you will remain intact. While tuition and fees will be set later this month for the 2020-21 academic year, you can rest assured that the University has worked hard to create an equal environment where online and on campus students pay the same amount in tuition and fees. Also, we are glad to report that the RTD waiver will continue and we hope that the news of no commuting or parking fees is some relief. More information will be released by the University soon!
The Online Environment is our Friend (even if we don’t always invite them over for dinner)
The Department of Social Work had the very first fully online BSSW Program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. We are leaders in online education, not only in social work education, but at MSU Denver as well. We have been developing online programming since 2005. Online programming is in the fabric of our being and we know that, even if it’s not a learning environment intentionally chosen by students, it can be an enriching learning environment.
We have invested in online programming, and we will continue to do so. In recent years, we have appointed Dr. Ann Obermann as our Online Program Coordinator. Within the last year, we have hired an Online and Hybrid Course Development Analyst to work with Social Work faculty on online course design and delivery. Our faculty continually participate in online development workshops both within the Department of Social Work and at the University.
So, while we know it’s not ideal and not what you had hoped for, we also know we can do this really well. We are committed to this, to you, the profession of Social Work and the communities social workers serve. In partnership with you (and our friend “online environment”), we will charge ahead and help you stay on track with your dreams of being a social worker. You can do it, and you are needed more than ever! We are here to help you stay on track for graduation and your career that is just ahead.
Customized Online Classes Designed for You
Okay, but let’s get real, we know you didn’t want to be online and the faculty who signed up for your courses really hoped to have you in person. And, while we know you understand the implications and restrictions of our public health crisis, we also understand you may be apprehensive or unsure, especially if you have never taken an online class before. The good news is that the face to face and hybrid classes that are going online in the Fall will be different than our regular online classes (which we will continue to offer as well).
So, what are these intentional modifications? While you will be learning online, the meeting day and time assigned to your face to face or hybrid course will continue into the online learning environment by way of synchronous time. This means that there will be a significant amount of live virtual face to face instruction, group work, one on one with your faculty, and/or other creative activities to meet learning goals. Our faculty are immersed in the course design process to implement this new, but familiar, teaching and learning modality. If you have taken online BSSW coursework, this may be familiar to you, but know that this is a different concept as the design we are introducing here mirrors face to face/hybrid expectations and not the 50 minutes that BSSW online faculty utilize in fully online BSSW courses.
Aside from the real time contact with your faculty and peers, this strategy will help students who may feel uneasy about time management in online learning. As an example, all 3 credit hour lecture courses require 3 hours of meeting time. In addition to that, student can expect to spend another 3 hours outside the classroom (research, groupwork, reading, writing, etc.). Fully online students must be able to find time to account for all 6 hours of unstructured time in their week. While this is very flexible, some students may desire more structure. With our plan for synchronous online classes, you will still have that 3 hours of structured time each week. If you protect that time and dedicate it to learning (as you would in the classroom), your schedule and time management will feel like on campus learning. Hey, and maybe a few silver lining benefits like a temporary reprieve from traffic and parking fees. Trying to find the bright side. =)
Woah – that was a lot of information!
While we recommend you save this email, it’s not the last time you will hear from us over the summer. We will be building a website full of resources to help you navigate learning online, accessing advising, communicating with our faculty and staff, and general supports. This email will be archived there too. Additionally, you may have heard that the University is transitioning to a new online platform called Canvas. We will have resources to support you on that too.
The general message here is: we know it’s a lot, we’ve got your back, and we don’t expect everything to fully make sense the very first time you hear it.
Remember to lean on your support team!
- Office of Social Work Student Services
- Office of Field Education
- For students completing a field placement in 2020-21, the Office of Field Education will be in communication throughout the summer about how field placements may be impacted by various types of remote and in-person learning activities based on state, university, and agency health guidelines. Please continue to check your email for details and/or reach out to field@msudenver.edu if you have specific questions.
- Your faculty advisor – keep in mind they may not be teaching this summer and have limited availability, but they’ll be back in Fall!
- As we approach Fall semester, we will be expanding this support team to include some online experts as well.
Looking ahead to Spring 2021
If we can be back on campus in Spring 2021, we will be able to transition back seamlessly. For example, if you are in a face-to-face Field class in Fall, and we can be back on campus in Spring 2021, you’ll be back on campus with the same meeting day and time. We will continue to communicate with you as we learn more about the road ahead.
On behalf of the faculty and staff in the Department of Social Work, we invite you to ask any questions you may have along the way and continue to provide us feedback about how things are going.
Take care,
Amy K Middleton, MS | Director
Office of Social Work Student Services, Administration, and Finance
pronouns: she/her/hers
Why Do I Have My Pronouns Listed?
Department of Social Work| College of Professional Studies
Skip to main content
Skip to main content
