My first year as the bachelor’s program director was also the year of my mandatory tenure and promotion review.  I began the year confident in the knowledge that the year would end with the possibility of disappointments but assured that there would be accomplishments. I had to hope the accomplishments would outweigh the disappointments.  

In August 2004, I began as the bachelor’s program director in our school of social work.  I had served as the MSW director for over a year and had already faced the initial accreditation of our MSW program, reaffirmation of our BSW program, and our school director taking a one year leave of absence.  In the administrative reorganization, the graduate coordinator role and the program director role were combined as one position.  As a result of these changes, I was asked to take over as the bachelor’s program director. The thought of being director was more daunting than any task I had faced as a social work faculty member in the past. As I shifted my focus from MSW curriculum to BSW curriculum, I knew that I must expand my knowledge of the college and the school of social work’s advising process, and become involved in a wider range of student issues and policies.  While at the same time, I was sweating and fretting about my tenure and promotion.

Focus on the BSW Curriculum

Survival in my first year as the bachelor’s program director required a shift in focus from the MSW curriculum to the BSW curriculum.  The BSW curriculum in our program, like other accredited BSW programs, is very prescriptive and structured. Although the MSW program is also structured, the graduate curriculum is not encumbered with general education requirements. At our university, the BSW curriculum is entangled with 15 hours of language requirements, and other unique requirements such as further studies beyond the typical general education requirements.  To complicate these requirements many students enter the program after switching majors, or transferring into our university from other schools.  As the director at our university, informing others around the university about our curricular structure is paramount. Being the director meant being proactive in communication with the university’s advising office and our school’s faculty on our curricular structure and requirements. 

Student Advising 

Student advisement is often like leading a lost individual through a dark forest of arcane requirements.  Currently, more than 200 students are listed as majors or pre-majors in our School of Social Work at the undergraduate level.  The liberal arts and sciences general education requirements and the presence of undergraduates on the campus five days a week place enormous time demands on the director. Primarily, the director is the point of contact person with admissions, university advising and inquiries into the program.  The year required creativity and allocation of my time to obscure resources.  Throughout the year, I tried to maintain an open door policy.  Maintaining this policy was difficult, as a result of advising students, addressing student concerns, conducting program orientations, review and revisions of the student manual, class scheduling to meet student needs, and other school, college and university service obligations.  I accomplished these tasks not because of my wizardly powers, but because of my survival strategies. Some of my survival strategies included: trying to leave by five each day, not giving my home phone number to students, keeping a jar of candy on my desk for a conversation starter with passing students, working on today’s tasks, not taking criticisms personally, and trying to always focus on the positive. 

Student Issues and Policies

As the BPD, I had to be flexibile and maintain an open mind in difficult situations. As a regular faculty member school, college, and university policies were open and shut. I quickly found out that the director often works in the “gray areas” of policy.  As an example, the “counseling out” of a student is never an easy duty.  I had to learn how to apply an empowerment perspective whenever possible.  As the director using an empowerment perspective when “counseling out” a student reflects the integrity this position requires.  The NASW Code of Ethics (1999) calls for social worker educators to be “fair and respectful” (section 3.02 part (b)).  Sometimes good students are not the right fit for social work. Empowering students to focus on other career strengths is ethically required in the “gray areas” of policy. Student issues and policies do not require a director to be made of steal. It is about being understanding.  These were sometimes hard lessons to apply, but it was necessary for the survival of my first year as the bachelor's program director.

Tenure and Promotion: Oh my!

As a new faculty member, my administrative role was to some extent atypical in the university.  The role I embarked upon was largely driven by the demands for curriculum development and accreditation of the MSW program and re-affirmation of the BSW program.  This role does not leave much time for traditional scholarship. Within the context of my director’s role, I focused much of my scholarship on curriculum, student advising, teaching effectiveness, student issues, and school policies. This focus was somewhat risky, since the university’s tenure and promotion committees had little experience with this kind of applied research. By the end of my first year I was granted promotion with tenure.

I began the year with apprehension, fearing the year would end with disappointment. Instead, the year ended as it started, with accomplishments, and yet another new task ahead of me.  I was asked to be the interim director of the university center for teaching and research excellence.  I did eventually come back home to my director’s role.  It was a second, first year for me to be a director.  This time I entered the role with a renewed passion, ready for new curriculum revisions, advising a new cohort of students, facing new student issues, and mentoring junior faculty members in the tenure and promotion process.  

Reference

National Association of Social Workers. (1999). Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Work