Pre-Social Work BSW Volunteer Requirement

Social Work is an exciting and rapidly growing career option. People from all backgrounds and experience find their way to Social Work and enjoy a rich career of working with individuals, families, neighborhoods, and communities. We require that students considering the Social Work major spend time in a human services organization to discover if a service profession is a good fit, to engage with different populations, and to gain valuable experiences that can enrich classroom discussion and learning.

Qualifying volunteer experience for the BSW Professional Sequence Application

Current or past paid or volunteer work experience with a secular or faith-based social services agency can be utilized to meet the 60 hours of volunteer or work experience required for the BSW Professional Sequence Application that is completed in the fall semester of one’s junior year. The application is available in August.

Submit documentation of in-progress or completion of volunteer hours

The Documentation of Volunteer/Service Learning/Paid Hours (PDF) form must be submitted to bswadmissions@csuchico.edu by December 15th. Hours must be completed by December 15th. Supervisor signatures are not required.

Social Work 170 Volunteer Hours

Completion of SWRK 170 requires documentation of a minimum 10 hours of service learning or volunteer experience. Please contact the course instructor for specifics.

Gaining Relevant Experience in Human Services

Human service-related experience might include a variety of paid and/or unpaid jobs, service corps, internships, or volunteer work. As a guide for students, we have provided some descriptions of what would count towards their social work experience. Social and human service work may be working with just one individual or a family, or may provide benefits for a community, such as education, medical care, and housing.

We define human service work as any activity aimed to promote the welfare of others.

For additional help identifying social service experience, please visit our two-page Volunteer Information Guide (PDF) that provides general ideas for social service volunteerism as well as specific agencies listed by county who often seek volunteers.

Volunteer Information Guide (PDF)

Please note that this guide is not meant to be fully comprehensive of every volunteer opportunity available, but should be used to help students consider different kinds of human services and organizations in their communities that they could reach out to fulfill the volunteer pre-requisite.