Field education is an integral part of our Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and Advanced Master of Social Work (MSW) programs.

Field education is the ‘signature pedagogy’ of social work — it is the opportunity for students to have out-of-classroom experiences within a supervisory relationship in a range of micro to macro social work settings. Field education provides experiential learning where students can integrate and apply knowledges, theory, skills, and values to professional practice.

Because field education is an integral part of social work education, all students will have the experience of immersing themselves in practicums during their program. In order to facilitate the integration of learning within the field with the learning of course work, the practicum experience is supported by an integrative seminar and a faculty liaison.

Field Education Team

The field education team consists of two field coordinators, a part time administrative staff member and a chair of field education. We demonstrate educational leadership and pedagogical innovation in the field education program.

In addition to working with students to identify and articulate their learning goals for practicum, recruiting and sustaining field instructors and placement sites, and facilitating matches of students and placement sites, we coordinate and facilitate training workshops for field instructors and continuing professional development workshops for social workers on a wide range of topics.

Community Partners

Our relationships with our community partners are of utmost importance to us and together we focus on providing quality field education experiences. We gratefully acknowledge the critical role our community partners and field instructors have in educating our students.

We continuously seek to improve our field education program at both pedagogical and practical levels. We welcome feedback from the community and students in our program. If you have feedback or suggestions for us, or if you are interested in becoming a field instructor, we invite you to contact us. We look forward to continuing to provide quality field education to all students in partnership with our community co-educators.

Intern Placement Tracking (IPT) System

The IPT system is a secure online database used to complete administrative tasks related to field placements. Students, field instructors and faculty liaisons use the IPT to electronically complete required field placement forms.

For more information on IPT, including how to view and edit required forms, please refer to the “IPT Quick Reference Guide” section in our Field Education Policy Manual.

When you are first entered into IPT, you should receive an email with your default username and password to use for your first login. If you have not received that email, please check your Junk Mail as it was sent automatically through IPT. You’ll be able to create your private username and password after the first login.

  1. Organization ID: ubcsw
  2. Username: use your default username for your first login (case sensitive)
  3. Password: use your default password for your first login (case sensitive)