School of Social Sciences
Department of Social Work
The Department of Social Work was established on 17th July 1996 in the University,
offering MSW programmes with 90 credits with specialisations namely Community
Development, Medical and Psychiatry and Human Resource Management. It provides 22
innovative job-oriented courses. In the year 2005-2006, under the Choice-Based Credit System
innovative courses like Advanced Counselling, Disaster Management, and Social Work with
Persons with Disabilities were introduced. At present few more courses like Skills for Social
Worker, Human Rights, Environment and Social Work, Soft skills, Gerontological Social
Work, Corporate Social Responsibility, Life skills and Community Health are provided in
Choice-Based Credit System.
The Department takes pride in introducing a Self-Study Scheme for the first time at
Bharathidasan University. This scheme gave students the opportunity to study one more
specialization paper. The curriculum is designed to offer fieldwork training, block placement,
and research. The department also offers campus recruitment for better job placements of the
MSW students.
The Department has signed MOUs with Foreign Universities namely James Cook University,
Australia; Howest University, Belgium; and University West, Sweden. As per these MoUs the
Teachers and Students’ Exchange Programme was successfully completed. It also has MOUs
with NGOs and Social Welfare Organizations.
A unique feature, and the first of its kind in India is that the Department of Social Work is
supported by Extension Centres, namely the Child Guidance and Counselling Centre and the
Geriatric Counselling Centre, which offer free services to the public.
Our Vision
To deepen the social insights and to widen the social concerns and commitment of the students
of social work to scale down all economic, social and cultural deprivations and to create a
world with “peace, harmony and love” ensuring human dignity
Our Mission
To educate and enlighten the students of social work towards self development and professional
nurturing by accepting challenges and rendering need based services to the community.
Activities
The spirit of Social Work springs from the community and hence all the activities of
the Department are people oriented. To give such an exposure to the students, the department
provides concurrent field work training and block placement in various agencies working for
the welfare of the people. Regular workshops and seminars are conducted for the benefit of the
students by different professionals in the field. The Department organizes Rural camps or
Tribal camps to enhance the professional skills of the students. The Department also provides
psychological enrichment to the students.