Field Education

Campus-based field faculty meet with students to assess each student’s strengths, experience and interests. Students and field faculty identify field sites that will provide opportunities to optimize the field practicum experience.

UNE students have opportunities to work with individuals, families and groups of all ages. Students who are passionate about working with a particular population, e.g., older adults, veterans, homeless individuals, trauma survivors, LGBTQ+ individuals, refugees, prison inmates, and immigrants, will be able to choose from agencies that work with members of that population. Students’ field practicums actualize our mission of social inclusion. 

Our wide-ranging network offers placements for virtually any type of health care setting, including hospitals (e.g., Maine Medical Center) and mental health centers (e.g., Maine Behavioral Health and Opportunity Alliance), domestic violence and sexual assault centers, agencies that work with adults with intellectual disabilities, hospice agencies (e.g., Southern Maine Hospice), and agencies dedicated to working with the homeless population or people struggling with substance use disorder issues.

Students who are interested in advocating for social justice and social inclusion will find multiple opportunities at the community and state levels. Our students have been able to develop their community social work skills via placements at agencies including the Maine People’s Alliance, New Mainers Program, Maine Women’s Lobby, Boys to Men, Maine Inside Out, Equality Maine, and Maine Disabilities Council.

Students who are interested in working in educational settings can choose from a number of exciting placements, including Lyman Moore Middle School and the Reiche School, while those with a passion for helping kids and families can find fulfillment at agencies such as SMART Child and Family Services and Woodford Family Services.

Field Placements

Students complete two field practicum experiences. The generalist year practicum is 400 hours and the specialization year practicum is 500 hours, each completed over two consecutive semesters (or one academic year). Advanced Standing students complete one 500-hour field placement.

Student choice

Students interview with at least two agencies/organizations before making a decision about their field practicum site. The School of Social Work has relationships with agencies in a wide range of practice contexts, including mental and therapy, physical health, poverty, homelessness, services for children and families, juvenile and criminal justice, substance use disorders, community organizing, and public policy. 

Supervision

Students receive at least one hour of field instruction per week from an experienced M.S.W. field instructor/onsite supervisor.

Support

Field faculty facilitate weekly seminars that provide students with the opportunity to integrate classroom and field practicum learning.  Each semester the seminar instructor facilitates a field visit with the student, M.S.W. field instructor and/or onsite supervisor (if applicable). The goal of the field visit is to discuss the student's activities at the field site and review progress toward meeting the student’s learning goals.