The Council on Social Work Education’s (CWSE) Commission on Accreditation has granted the Master of Social Work program at Pacific Oaks College Candidacy for Accreditation. This is a significant milestone because approved candidacy for a baccalaureate or master’s social work program by the CWSE’s Commission on Accreditation indicates that it has made progress toward meeting the criteria for the assessment of program quality evaluated through a peer-review process.
A big step forward
This development also means that the Pacific Oaks MSW program has demonstrated a commitment to meeting the compliance standards set by the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards but has not yet demonstrated full compliance.
“This is a stamp of approval for our Master of Social Work and Bachelor of Social Work programs,” says Sandra Hill-Glover, Ed.D., associate dean of Social Work programs. “Our students can know that we have demonstrated excellence and that we are on track to attain full accreditation with CSWE.”
What comes next?
As a result of this decision, students will be retroactively recognized as having graduated from a CSWE-accredited program once the program attains initial accreditation as long as their program attains candidacy in, or before, the academic year in which they started.
While candidacy typically takes three years and does not guarantee that a program will eventually attain initial accreditation, approval assures potential applicants about the quality of the program and the competence of students who graduate from the program.
A chance to make a difference
Accreditation candidacy applies to both online and in-person instruction. Because the Master of Social Work program is online, there is no geographic limit to who can enroll in the program and, upon graduation, make an impact where they live. Dr. Jack Paduntin, president of Pacific Oaks, points out that this development will be advantageous for the communities in which graduates of the programs live. “Accreditation will allow our graduates to become licensed social workers and serve communities with the most need,” he says.
