SWK 214 Social Work Law
Spring 2004
Internet

Instructor: Sheri Narin
Office: L130
Office Hours: Posted by Office Door
Virtual Office Hour: Will be announced each week.
Phone Number: (336) 599-1181 Ext. 424
E-mail: narins@piedmont.cc.nc.us
Course Website: http://www.piedmont.cc.nc.us/

Faculty Website:  http:www2.piedmont.cc.nc.us/faculty

Textbooks: Alexander, R., Jr., Understanding Legal Concepts That Influence Social Welfare Policy and Practice, 2003, Brooks/Cole Publishers. ISBN: 0-534-59661-4
 

Other Required Materials: A working email address (One that can both send and receive email). Access to Microsoft Word for homework assignments. 

Course Description
This course introduces the major provisions of social services law, current trends, legislative developments and court procedures. Emphasis is placed on the interpretation of the laws and court decisions related to various social services populations. Upon completion, students should be able to interpret these laws and their implications for social services practice. This course is a unique concentration requirement of the Social Service concentration in the Human Services Technology Program.

Classroom  3 Lab  0 Clinic  0 Credit  3

Course Objectives
1. Student will describe basic legal concepts and explain the hearing process.
2. Student will list and define basic legal terms as applied to the social worker, demonstrating an understanding of the role of the social work in the court system.
3. Student will identify and describe the basic constitutional and statutory laws that impact principle areas of social welfare policy and social work practice.
4. Student will describe laws related to the protection of children, families, domestic violence victims, persons with disabilities, people receiving public assistance and others who are affected by the social welfare system.
5. Student will define legal liability and malpractice as applied to social workers and will describe the social worker’s responsibility and rights in this area

Attendance Policies

Attendance is taken from your quantity and quality of postings to the Discussion Board. Discussion Board participation counts as 30% of your final average.

Grading Policies

The activities in this course will be worth approximately 1000 points. Note that this is subject to change.

The grade breakdown is as follows:

Introductory activities, to be completed in the first 5 days of class, are worth 30 points, or 3% of your grade. These include changing your email address on blackboard, emailing the instructor, and completing a syllabus quiz.  You will also have initial posts to the student coffeehouse, but these will be graded as part of your discussion board grade.

Discussion board postings are worth a total of 270 points, or 27% of your overall grade. You get two discussion board grades each week, one for your response to the questions, and one for your responses to other students’ responses. Your initial responses to the questions are worth 10 points each, and your responses to other students are worth 10 points total for that weeks responses.

Exams will be worth a total of 300 points, or 30% of your overall grade. You will have three exams, each worth 100 points.

 
Each module, except module eight, has a homework assignment.  Each homework assignment is worth 50 points, for a total of 400 points, or 40% of your grade.

 
Overall,

Introductory activities: 30 points
Discussion Board activities: 270 points
Module Exams: 300 points

Homework Assignments:  400 points
 
The approximate scale for the class (subject to change!) is:

1000 to 900 = A
899 to 800 = B
799 to 700 = C
699 to 600 = D
Below 600 - F

Specific assignment information for each module is available on the assignments page on Blackboard.

Discussion Board Requirements

1.  Read the assigned chapter.

2.  Post your answer to at least two questions posted in the Discussion Board by the instructor.

3.  Provide feedback to at least four other student's answers.

4.  Each student is expected to log in to the course 3 times per week or about every 48 hours to participate in the Discussion Board.

Criteria for Discussion Questions

The criteria for earning an A on a discussion:

The criteria for earning a B on a discussion:

The criteria for earning a C on a discussion:

Feedback should be helpful to the student receiving it. Feedback will be evaluated for the following:

Exams

There will be three exams, each covering three modules. The exams will include multiple-choice questions, true/false questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, matching questions and short-answer/essay questions, and each exam will be worth 100 points.  You will have a week to take the exam, starting on the Monday through the Sunday that follows the end of the three modules, except with the last exam, which will be the last week of classes. All exams are online. You can access them through a link on assignments. You will generally have three hours to complete these exams, and they will be open-book exams.

Homework Assignments

There is a homework assignment with each module (except module eight).  The homework assignments are generally submitted on the second Sunday of a module, unless the module is one week long.  However, it is important to check the specific dates for each module.  Homework assignments will be typed, with a font of twelve, double –spaced with one-inch margins.  The references should be in APA or MLA style, including Internet references.  Homework assignments submitted without references will lose 10 points.  Assignments submitted with the references done incorrectly will lose five points.  Assignments should be submitted as an email attachment or via the drop box.  The title of the email or dropbox submission should always include your name, the course number (SWK 214) and the name of the assignment (For example, module two homework assignment).  Assignments that are submitted without the correct labeling will lose 5 points.

Student Success Center
Student Success Center: Piedmont Community College now offers a comprehensive package of services to assist students with their academic success. The Student Success Center, located in Room G-204, provides a variety of free learning support services including computer access, tutoring, supplemental instruction, study groups, and other academic services. Visit or call Gloria Bennett, Coordinator of the Student Success Center, at 599-1181 ext. 276 to access this valuable student resource.

Students with Disabilities
If you have a learning or other disability, and you want to request special accommodations to ensure equal access to education at PCC, please see Shelia Williamson at the Office of Student Development. The information that you provide to Ms. Williamson will be kept confidential.

Financial Aid
It is important to be aware that withdrawing from a class or failing a class may adversely affect financial aid availability, and at times will result in your having to pay back money to the school. You are strongly encouraged to talk with the financial aid office before withdrawing from a class.

OTHER CLASS POLICIES

1. You are expected to treat this class as you would a job. This includes completing assignments in a timely manner. Discussion Board postings will lose 1 point per day late. Projects and related assignments will lose 3 points per day late. Being late is defined as being turned in any time after 8:00 p.m. on the due date.
2. Respect other students' opinions, even if you do not agree with them
3. Respect confidentiality. Being actively involved in class may involve some level of sharing of personal information. You are expected to treat the classroom with the same level of ethical responsibility with which you would treat a job or internship. Do not share personal information about other students outside of the blackboard forum. This includes discussing this information with your fellow classmates.
4. If you choose to drop the class, you are responsible for completing and turning in the withdrawal slip. If you have stopped coming to class but not turned in a withdrawal slip or contacted the instructor to discuss this, you will receive an 'F' for the class.
5. Blackboard postings and homework are expected to be on time. If there are problems with the blackboard system and it is not accessible for more than 5 hours, an exception may be made. However, you will always have at least three days to post responses and have access to computers on campus, thus, computer problems are not an acceptable excuse for late work.
6. Copying directly from the textbook or any resource for assignments or tests, or taking someone else's thoughts or ideas without giving them credit is plagiarism and is illegal and unethical, and will not be tolerated! This also includes printing information from the Internet without identifying and referencing the source. The consequences for plagiarism are as follows:
· For the first occurrence, rewrite of the assignment and loss of 50 % of the grade
· For the second occurrence, failing the assignment and reduction of overall class grade by 100 points
· For the third occurrence, a grade of 'F' in the class
· Please note that this applies to all assignments in the class.

8. According to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary on the internet (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary), to cheat is:
(transitive senses)
1 : to deprive of something valuable by the use of deceit or fraud
2 : to influence or lead by deceit, trick, or artifice
3 : to elude or thwart by or as if by outwitting
(intransitive senses)
1 a : to practice fraud or trickery b : to violate rules dishonestly (as at cards or on an examination)

Cheating includes copying someone else's work, taking credit for someone else's work, as well as what is traditionally thought of as cheating. An example would be: Copying someone else's homework, when it is an assignment that is supposed to reflect your work/thoughts. An example would be an assignment of finding words you do not understand and finding definitions for them; copying someone else's homework in this instance would be considered cheating. The consequences for cheating are the same as for plagiarism.

9. Please contact me by phone or email with any questions or problems. There is also a distance-learning counselor available. Her name is Libbie McPhaul-Moore and she can be contacted at 599 - 1181 ext. 445.

EMAIL POLICIES

When sending an email to your instructor, please make sure that in the title, you put the course code (PSY 255, SWK 214, SWK110, etc.), your name, and to what this is in reference (Module two homework assignment, etc.). Emails that do not identify the speaker in the title line may be deleted to protect from viruses.

 You are also encouraged to look at the link in External Links in “Netiquette,” for further guidelines on email.

The last day to drop this class with a "W" is March 5, 2004.

 SCHEDULE

Detailed descriptions of the assignments are listed under each module in Assignments.

For module one and module nine, your initial discussion board posting will be due by Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Your response to other students will be due by Sunday at 8:00 p.m.

For modules two through eight, your initial posting will be due by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday of the first week. Your responses to others will be due by 8:00 p.m. on the Sunday of the second week.

Assignments are due on the last day of the module. For example, the homework assignment for module one will be due by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 18, 2004.