Field Education

Recognition

Experienced field instructors receive special recognition for their instruction of students via an official title. Instructors who have completed ten or more placements and have made special contributions to the Field Education program at Laurier are invited by the Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work Field Managers to apply for the title associate field education professor (part-time).

Receive Professional Development Dollars

In appreciation of the hard work our field agency partners do in providing excellent learning opportunities for our students, the Faculty of Social Work offers Professional Development (PD) dollars. Each agency that takes a field placement student receives PD dollars that can be used toward almost any workshop offered by the Faculty of Social Work's Professional Development Office.

Placement Opportunities

The Field Education Office welcomes agencies and instructors to contact us for any information about offering a placement opportunity. If you are interested in providing a placement opportunity to either undergraduate or master's students, submit a request in our online portal Navigator.

Committee Participation

Field instructors may participate in the Faculty of Social Work Divisional Council meetings and/or one of its standing committees. Depending on the committee, field instructors may also have voting privileges.

There are some campus services that you can have access to as a field instructor.

Library

All field agency personnel who have some connection with current student field placements (i.e. not just the field instructor, but also the agency director, the placement supervisor and anyone else with some role to play in student’s placement) will have electronic resource access to the Laurier Library (as well as borrowing privileges) through a login provided by the Field Education Office.

Field personnel also have the option to sign up for a community borrower card to access hard copy items in the library. There is no charge for a community borrower card.

Athletic Complex

Field instructors in the Kitchener Waterloo area receive a discounted membership to the Laurier Athletic Complex (25% off) on the Waterloo campus.

Contact bswfield@wlu.ca or mswfield@wlu.ca if you are interested in using the Athletic Complex and you will be provided with a letter of introduction from the faculty.

Field advisor overall responsibilities include:

• Assisting agencies and instructors to feel positively connected with the Faculty of Social Work.
• Establishing and maintaining an atmosphere of trust, supportiveness and openness with the field instructor and student.
• Ensuring early in the placement those field goals as required by the curriculum will be met.
• Ensuring that specific student educational needs and/or problems in learning are being dealt with.
• Acting as a contact person from the Faculty of Social Work for agencies, instructors, and students to address questions, procedures, and possible problems, should they occur, in a collaborative manner.
• Providing students with an individual resource person (if needed) and offering students a regular support group experience throughout the placement.
• Reviewing students’ written evaluation reports and, if required, addressing problems when identified (with instructor and student).
• Initiating and implementing field resolution procedures and placement dissolution procedures in situations where the field instructor has identified that the student is not meeting expectations, in collaboration with the Master of Social Work (MSW) field education coordinator.
• Assisting with and monitoring the placement as to whether it meets the student’s learning needs and expectations of the faculty.
• Providing relevant support for field instructors and other agency personnel.
• Conducting site meetings

• The field advisor meets virtually with both the field instructor and the student at the beginning of the placement.
• Instructors and students also reach out to the advisor for consultation on any matter pertaining to a student’s performance in the placement.
• At least one site meeting is required for each placement setting. These meetings are held via zoom or phone conferencing.

Field advisors initiate and implement field resolution procedure in situations where the field instructor has identified that the student is not meeting expectations. This procedure is also initiated to report any conflict that arises between a student and the field instructor, or when a student identifies learning issues or challenges within the placement. If issue is not resolved, the placement dissolution procedure may be initiated as per the recommendation of the agency, instructor, or field manager.