UW-River Falls

Program modifications may have occurred that are NOT reflected in this on-line document.
Please consult with your academic adviser regarding academic requirements.

College of Education and Professional Studies

Wyman Education Building
(715) 425-3774; FAX (715) 425-0622
www.uwrf.edu/college-of-education

Departments/programs within the College of Education and Professional Studies include:

Health and Human Performance
Teacher Education
Counseling and School Psychology
Communicative Disorders
Social Work

The college prepares undergraduates for professional careers in teaching, social work, and communicative disorders. Teacher education has been a major commitment of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls since its founding in 1874. The university's teacher education programs have received national recognition for excellence and are accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, North Central Association, and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

The Bachelor of Science degree is granted after successful completion of programs in elementary education and middle/secondary education.

Teacher education students are required to complete a comprehensive program of study in general education, a rigorous series of field-based professional education courses and experiences, and extensive academic study in the areas of certification. Professional education course work and experiences are field-based, requiring numerous laboratory and school-site experiences that apply classroom content. Professional organizations within the college offer students opportunities to become actively involved in the education profession.

A teaching license in communicative disorders requires a master's degree. Wisconsin and Minnesota require a terminal degree for licensure as a speech pathologist. For more information on the master's degree in communicative disorders, please contact the office of graduate studies or the communicative disorders department.

UWRF offers students a Bachelor of Social Work degree (BSW- a major in social work). At the undergraduate level, this liberal arts course of study prepares a student for beginning, generalist, and professional practice. The program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), the nationally recognized accrediting organization in social work. Social work is the professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and creating societal conditions favorable to that goal. In general, social work is planned, purposeful intervention, based on professional knowledge, values, and skill that is aimed at both individual and social change. Social workers seek to strengthen and improve the capability of people and systems to cope with the tasks and problems they face in life and to promote improvements in the social environment which will enable human needs to be more adequately met.

Admission to Teacher Education
Application for admission to teacher education is made through the Dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies. Students should begin the admission to teacher education process when they have completed 40 semester credits of course work. Students in the middle/secondary education program must be admitted to teacher education before they are permitted to enroll in the following methods courses: TED 420, 422, 423 and the appropriate methods course(s) in the major(s) and/or minor(s) TED 429-441. For students in the elementary education program, admission to teacher education is a prerequisite for enrollment in the following Block I courses: TED 312, 315, 317. Students majoring in agricultural education apply for admission to teacher education through the department of agricultural education.

Admission to Teacher Education is based on requirements of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the College of Education and Professional Studies. Current information is available in the student handbook and on the college website: www.uwrf.edu/college-of-education. Students are responsible for checking the website for the information they will need.

A student may be denied admission to Teacher Education on the basis of either a low grade point average (GPA), or inadequate scores on any one subsection of the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST/PRAXIS I), or the Computer-Based Academic Skills Assessments (CBT). In addition, a student may be denied admission to the Teacher Education program based on faculty assessment of the applicant's capacity to carry out requisite responsibilities of beginning teachers and to successfully complete the requirements of a professional Teacher Education program.

Appeal Procedures for Admission to Teacher Education
A student who is denied admission to Teacher Education may begin the appeal process by making an appointment with his or her adviser. The appeal process can only be initiated after the student has received notification from the Dean's office denying admission. A student and/or a faculty member who may serve as an advocate for the student can initiate the teacher education appeals process.

Detailed information on the appeals process can be found in the student handbook or on the college website: www.uwrf.edu/college-of-education. Students are responsible for checking the website for the information they will need.

Admission to Student Teaching or Interning
Admission to student teaching or interning is based on requirements of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the College of Education and Professional Studies. Current information is available in the Student Handbooks and list of dates at the college website: www.uwrf.edu/college-of-education/. Students are responsible for checking the website for the information they will need.

Conditions for Retention in Teacher Education Programs
Authorized department personnel at the university, with reasonable cause, may question whether a student's physical or mental health will permit successful completion of the requirements of a professional program in the College of Education and Professional Studies. They may require that the student be evaluated by appropriate professional personnel to help determine whether admission, continuation, or graduation should be permitted. A student may be notified at any time that termination from a program is being considered. At that time, the student or faculty advocate may initiate an appeal for consideration through the College of Education and Professional Studies Dean's office.

Teacher Certification/Licensing
All students who wish to become certified to teach in the state of Wisconsin must complete the following steps before an application form is submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction:

1. Graduate and complete a teacher education program at this university with a grade point average of 2.75 overall in all previous course work.
2. Fill out an application form (PI-1602) available on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's website.
3. Submit the application form to the Dean of Education and Professional Studies office with a check for the appropriate fee made payable to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Students who seek teacher certification in states other than Wisconsin should visit the college website at www.uwrf.edu/college-of-education.

Admission to Social Work
Admission to the BSW Program is competitive, and students holding an accredited BSW may receive recognition by accredited graduate schools of social work, leading to advanced standing toward a Master's of Social Work degree (MSW), the terminal practice degree in the profession. State licensing boards in social work recognize the BSW as meeting requirements to sit for licensure examinations.

Social Work is an active "doing" profession with a long history of caring for persons and social change. Social workers are involved in wide-ranging tasks in many different public and private agencies. Some of the kinds of places social workers can be found include: child and adult protective services, counseling and mental health centers, probation and parole, neighborhood and community organizations, schools, employee assistance programs, labor unions, hospital and long-term-care facilities. Social Workers can be found almost any place where people and organizations come together.

BSW students engage in a two-semester fieldwork experience in their senior year. The experience is at least a 450-hour internship, supervised by accredited social work field instructors. Over 60 agencies located in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, western Wisconsin, and eastern Minnesota participate to provide opportunities for real-world practice/experience.

Any student may claim social work as a major and be advised by social work faculty. However, the social work program does have a formal admission process. During the fall semester of the sophomore year, the student is required to submit a formal application to the program for acceptance into the major. The complete application, along with the description of the admission process and the admission requirements, is available in the Social Work Student Handbook. The following are among the requirements that must be met before the application can be submitted:

1. Successful completion of 36 semester credits;
2. Attainment of a cumulative grade point average of 2.25, and a major GPA of 2.50;
3. Completion of SOWK 150 and 205 with a grade of C or better

Meeting the above requirements does not guarantee admission to the program. The following social work courses are open only to those who have been admitted to the social work program: SOWK 324, 325, 424, 426, 472, 480 and 481.

Admission to Field Practicum
During the second semester of a student's junior year, the student applies for entry into the field practicum. A careful review of the student's academic record and potential for practice performance is undertaken at this time. Only students who have completed all course prerequisites, and have demonstrated competency in communication and helping skills, have demonstrated a commitment to social work values, and meet all requirements and standards for admission to the field program, will be admitted to the field experience course. Some placements may require a criminal background check.

Students should be aware that admission requirements to the Social Work program. and the field practicum include factors other than GPA, may change at any time, and may differ from those listed here. Current requirements can be found in the Student Handbook and the Field Manual.

The program reserves the right to deny admission to any applicant on the basis of failure to meet any specified requirements, or due to an excess of applicants over available spots in the program. In addition, all those admitted must maintain a grade of C or better in all social work courses, a major GPA of at least 2.50, and a cumulative GPA of 2.25 in order to graduate with a BSW degree.

Updated March 2007

Program modifications may have occurred that are NOT reflected in this on-line document.

Please consult with your academic adviser regarding academic requirements.

College of Education and Professional Studies