Student Placement Software for the Social Work Field Office: Goodbye Post-it Notes!
Kristen Samuels
This month’s guest educator post comes from Kristen Samuels, MSW, MS, MEd, the Field Director for the University of Phoenix’s Department of Social Work. In this blog post, she reviews the “whys” and “hows” of selecting student placement software for your field education office. Kristen can be reached at Kristen.samuels@gmail.com, or @KristenMSamuels on Twitter.
Student placement software are valuable tools when managing the complex processes of Social Work Field Placement. These programs are often web-based and provide easy access for our students, field instructors, and administrators to gather and store information, submit documentation, and obtain reportable data. In reality, field offices often piece together multiple systems to meet all the office needs. This is often because of cost and program features – few affordable student placement programs address all of the needs for a typical field office. In the end, the most important components of student placement software and databases are functional communication between stakeholders, compliance with regulatory requirements, and ease of use.
Endless platform options are available to manage the student placement process. Depending on the size of your program, your needs will vary, and depending on your budget, your options for platforms will vary. Some institutions are able to manage placements through home-grown efforts (i.e. they design their software in-house) or low-cost proprietary software, such as Google Drive applications, which not only encourage collaboration among the team but are also free to use. A spectrum of other proprietary platforms are available, with varying functionality and associated costs. On the low-cost end of the spectrum, software programs such as Intern Placement Tracking (IPT) allow for form submission (i.e. students and field supervisors complete learning agreements and evaluation forms online) to manage basic logistics, whereas larger programs like 2U provide a placement team with tools to manage a database of affiliated agencies, accreditation support, and more.
How to pick the program that is right for your Field Office?
It is important to develop your own list of needs based on your specific institution and the needs of your field office. Here are some questions to consider when developing that list:
| Costs |
|
| Functionality |
|
| Access |
|
| Legal |
|
| Regulatory |
|
| ADA |
|
| Data |
|
| Training |
|
| Tech Support |
|
| Integration |
|
Once you come up with your list of needs, start talking with other people at your institution and in social work field education about what software they recommend and use. This is not a decision to make without input. For example, your Information Technology (IT) or eLearning offices on your campus may have vetted a few programs already. Minimally, they will know how the student placement software programs will integrate with the other computer systems on campus. Also, ask your social work field colleagues about what technology and software programs they are using and why. Finally, consider asking the software vendor to visit the campus for a demonstration for the Field Office or even the entire faculty. Invite your field supervisors, campus IT personnel, and even students to attend the demonstration, and ask for their feedback. (Editor’s Note: The Social Work Distance Education Assessment Readiness Checklist [SW-DEAR] may also be a helpful tool during this review process, especially for online programs).
In keeping with an interprofessional spirit, it is useful to consider platforms that have been developed for programs other than Social Work, such as E*Medley for Health Sciences, or E*Value for Healthcare. With some out-of-the-box thinking, social work field offices can adjust components of these platforms to meet our needs if the placement processes are similar. For example, if your institution has multiple departments placing students in internships (i.e. teacher education, nursing, etc.), consider collaborating with those programs to develop your institutional requirements. Having multiple departments using one system can help substantiate your case when proposing a platform to leadership by demonstrating operational efficiency by streamlining processes, combining budgets, and increased student counts to help negotiations with the vendor.
And how much will this all cost?
Speaking of cost, be sure to carefully review each vendor’s pricing structure. Most platforms charge based on student Full-time Enrollments (FTE), developing a contract based on the number of students you can bring to the agreement. Companies such as Sonia have a pricing structure that charges less per student as your enrollments climb. Other vendors, like Tevera, charge you a flat rate no matter how many students you have. What I have found most interesting in my research, is that some platforms charge per user – not per student. In our placement process, we assume that every student will have several people associated with their field record to support the journey. This can include, at a minimum, a field instructor (potentially an additional task instructor), a field liaison, and an administrator (coordinator, director, faculty leader, or all). If the vendor uses a per user model, you could be charged the rate 3-4 times or every person affiliated with your single student. Another important consideration is if the fee is annual, or includes lifetime access. If your program (or programs if you host both BSW and MSW programs) has several years of internships, annual fees for each student will quickly add up.
A final note about Field Instructors
Our field and task instructors are (typically) volunteering their time to supervise our students. They serve an essential role in the students’ development, and we ask a lot of them with very little return. Of course, we view this as a service to the profession and part of our duty to help lead the next generation of social workers. Paying for these positions is (typically) not possible or in our control as Field administrators. What we can control is the experience they have with our department, and we strive to be frictionless partners and provide the content they need to serve their role. Maintaining relationships with our community partners takes a lot of effort, and creating a space that supports information, easy access, and free-flowing communication can improve that experience. This is important to keep in mind when selecting a student placement software program. You will need to think about how you plan to train your field supervisors to use the software program, and how easy will it be for them to use. Oftentimes, our field instructors are working with multiple institutions, and have to master multiple software programs.
As the signature pedagogy of Social Work Education, field placement is the most important, and most complicated, aspect of program development. Effectively managing this complex process is a priority to ensure program and student success. It is important to find a platform in balance with your size program, without undue reliance on complex technology. It takes time, collaboration, and strategic planning to implement a new software platform. Ultimately, it can improve the experiences for all stakeholders.
What software programs do you use for your field office and why? Please share in the comments section below. Your experiences and insights will be valuable for your colleagues in social work education.
How to cite this post:
Samuels, K. (2018, September 7). Student Placement Software for the Social Work Field Office: Goodbye Post-it Notes! [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://laureliversonhitchcock.org/2018/09/07/student-placement-software-for-the-social-work-field-office-goodbye-post-it-notes/.
