History of Council on Social Work Education Accredited Program at CU-Lock Haven

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There are numerous accredited programs at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania. The Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program is unique in that it was one of the first accredited social work programs of the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE). CSWE is the national organization that provides educational standards for collegiate social work programs. According to the CSWE website on accreditation (CSWE, 2024 a) "this accreditation assures recipients of social work services and students, faculty, and staff of social work education programs that the program has a clearly defined mission and objective that are achievable and consistent with expectations of social work practice."

In the archives of the Stevenson Library is located extensive material on the Lock Haven BSW accreditation process and the recognition of the BSW program through the Pennsylvania System of Higher Education. Mrs. Bernadette Heiney, Information Technology Technician, provided the research support for archival information. In this article there is detailed three aspects of the history of social work and accreditation at Lock Haven campus.

1. Recognition of the BSW program within Pennsylvania's System of Higher Education (1967).
2. History of the CSWE accreditation.
3. Current accreditation for the BSW program.

Dr. Richard Parsons at Lock Haven State College originated a proposal for Fall Semester 1967/68 for adoption of a major in social services at the undergraduate level. This request was based on a need for social workers to staff health, welfare and social work services. There was a need for an increased supply of social workers (Parsons, 1967).

In 1971, a proposal was submitted to Lock Haven University to implement field experience in social services. The proposal was developed by Lucy Landon who at the time was the chairman of the Department of Social Welfare at Lock Haven State College, as well as Delores Lynch who was an assistant professor in Social Welfare, Murray Hanes who was a juvenile probation officer in Lycoming County, and Dr. Margaret Matson of Pennsylvania State University in the Social Welfare Program. Field work was added to the curriculum to help expand students' knowledge of how to work in the community. Field experiences help the students take theoretical knowledge from the school and expand their practice-based knowledge of social services in the community.

The Lock Haven program applied for CSWE accreditation in November 1971. Formal accreditation activities began July 1974 and from October 5 to October 6, 1978, CSWE conducted an onsite evaluation. In October 1979 accredited status was awarded to Lock Haven State College Social Work program.

Currently the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania is an accredited program of the Council on Social Work Education. In 2022 a substantive change report was written which withdrew Lock Haven campus' accreditation and transferred it to Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania. The Lock Haven campus is now part of the accreditation of Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, which spans the Lock Haven, Clearfield, Bloomsburg, and Mansfield campuses.

It is very prestigious that the Lock Haven campus has been consistently accredited since 1979 as a BSW program. This will continue with the upcoming reaccreditation of the Commonwealth University social work program, anticipated in 2025.

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