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The study explored the characteristics and experiences of branch campus social work education programs and educators in the United States. Eighty-one branch campus social work educators in 26 states completed an online survey. Findings revealed that undergraduate and graduate branch campus social work education was primarily delivered face-to-face to nontraditional students. Half of these programs were recently established, and the majority were expected to grow. However, teaching these students was not necessarily viewed as a shared responsibility. Although some branch campus faculty reported higher workloads and limited connections to parent campus colleagues, faculty generally reported great satisfaction teaching branch campus students. Practical implications are provided.

Abraham Flexner contended that "something more than a degree or claim" is needed to make a profession. He further asserted that the definitions of a profession require recasting over time. This article critically considers recasting licensing as something more for social work. Analysis of past and present discourse on licensing in social work revealed three overarching themes: (a) advocacy and rationale for licensing, (b) scrutiny and critique of licensing, and (c) the disconnect and dissonance between professional licensing and social work education. Moving forward, we suggest recasting social work's professional paradigm in the common framework of competency, with licensing part of the continuum of professionalization. This recasting can promote critical congruence between social work education and ongoing professional competency.

The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) has become a significant social movement. The newest "Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards" of the Council on Social Work Education explicitly identify SoTL as important in advancing social work education. This article considers social work education's role, relationship, and responsibility in relation to SoTL. Providing a critical understanding of SoTL's background, the article summarizes SoTL's history and current status. Next, we explain the rationale for social work education to focus on SoTL. Then, the article provides pragmatic steps and strategies for performing SoTL. The article concludes with a discussion of specific recommendations for social work education in moving forward in the SoTL movement.

This article describes how to develop a comprehensive teaching philosophy from articulation through implementation to evaluation. Using literature and teaching-learning experiences, we discuss pragmatic steps for using a teaching philosophy to inform, engage, and evaluate teaching-learning. We promote an integrated teaching philosophy to ensure competent practice in social work education.

In response to increasing global changes, this article proposes that social work education add meta-practice to traditional micro-, mezzo-, and macro-practice curriculum areas. Drawing on pertinent literature, the authors conceptualize meta-practice as a necessary paradigm shift for competent and relevant social work practice. Further, the authors offer an initial articulation of how meta-practice uniquely addresses interdependent global concerns, particularly in the framework of sustainability. The article provides an example of how this integrative practice dimension is implemented in a MSW curriculum and concludes with critical consideration of the Council on Social Work Education Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards competencies.

This research study explored the Child Welfare League of America's (CWLA) perception of residential care for children, as a reflection of the child welfare profession as a whole. A content analysis of CWLA's national conference programs and the journal "Child Welfare" from 1997 to 2006 found that the profession emphasizes family foster care and community-based services and devotes minimal attention to residential care. The child welfare profession is encouraged to dialogue and more critically examine the role of residential care within the cluster of services for children. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

This article provides a reflection on the author's transition from an experienced social work practitioner to a full-time academic, i.e. a pracademic. The article provides observations and insights on the unique challenges faced by pracademics in the academic setting. The author provides this narrative to assist pracademics wishing to enter the academy. Also, the article can encourage academic settings to give greater consideration of pracademics for their faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article illustrates the multilevel process of organizing for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights carried out by concerned citizens in Louisville, Kentucky. It describes how a grassroots campaign, the Fairness Campaign, lobbied successfully for a local ordinance protecting GLBT rights in Louisville. Broader implications for advocacy and organizing efforts include and understanding that significant change require coalition building and systemic intervention, that organizers need to be ready to take advantage of key opportunities to take action, and that action must be sustained even beyond victory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]