Student Rights and Responsibilities

The rights of Garland School students include, but are not limited to:

• Right to participate in shaping the development of plans, programs, and policies that affect the quality of the curriculum of the Garland School of Social Work.
• Right to learn in an environment that promotes individual and career development.
• Right to learn in a diverse community that provides exposure to a wide range of viewpoints.

The responsibilities of social work students include, but are not limited to:

• Accountability for their own learning.
• Expectation to abide by the Baylor University Student Code of Conduct and all other relevant policies related to their degree program. 
• Expectation to be an active agent in the process of continuously improving the Garland School of Social Work’s academic programs.

The student is responsible for becoming informed and observing all regulations and procedures concerning degree completion required by the graduate program to which they are admitted. This includes attention to all internal deadlines (degree completion, registration, graduation, etc.), and satisfying registration throughout degree completion and financial settlement procedures.

The school policy conforms to the Student Right to Due Process Policy and Procedures outlined in Baylor University Student Policies and Procedures.

MSW Student Code of Conduct

The mission of the Garland School of Social Work focuses on educating and preparing students for professional social work practice. Students are expected to practice upholding the major themes of the School: community building, strengths perspective, and the ethical and anti-oppressive consideration of religion, spirituality, philosophy, and worldview. In addition to Baylor University's student code of conduct policies, students are expected to uphold the social work profession's core values and ethical standards. These values and ethical principles are identified and discussed in the Council on Social Work Education standards, the NASW Code of Ethics, and the Texas State licensing standards (or comparable licensing standards in other states). As part of the requirement for graduate entry into the program and for all practice in the community, students are asked to read and sign the following Student Code of Conduct derived from the NASW Code of Ethics and the Texas State Licensing Board regulations. (Numbers at the end of each item refer to the applicable section of the NASW Code of Ethics.)

1. Social work students are expected to uphold the profession's values, ethics, and standards. (5.01)
2. Social work students are expected to treat their peers, faculty, and staff with dignity and respect (2.01A) and avoid unwarranted negative criticism and demeaning comments of these colleagues (2.01B).
3. Social work students should strive to enhance their competence and recognize the need for continuous professional growth (4.01).
4. Social work students should not practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination against persons (4.02).
5. Social work students should not participate in, condone, or facilitate any type of dishonesty, fraud, or deception (4.04).
6. Social work students whose personal problems, psychosocial distress, legal problems, substance abuse, or mental health difficulties interfere with their abilities to meet classroom and field practice requirements are expected to take appropriate remedial action and show documented evidence of the success of that action (4.05).
7. Social work students should not let their private conduct interfere with their classroom or field practice responsibilities (4.03).
8. Social work students engaged in research are expected to protect the confidentiality of human subjects, obtain voluntary informed consent, and inform participants of their right to withdraw from the study (5.02).
9. Social work students should take responsibility and credit, including authorship credit, only for work they have actually performed and to which they have contributed (4.08).

MSW Standards of Practice

Students are asked to review the entire NASW Code of Ethics and the applicable state code before any academic work in the community that involves using social work knowledge, values, and skills. The following are excerpts or summarized points from some of the major community practice standards as delineated in the NASW Code of Ethics.

Please note: If at any time during your classroom or internship experiences, you find yourself in a situation in which you have questions about a potential ethical concern, please contact your MSW Program Director, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, internship instructor, faculty liaison, or the Director of Practicum Education in your program.

• Commitment to Clients (1.01)
  • A social worker’s primary responsibility is to promote the well-being of clients.
• Self-Determination (1.02)
  • Social workers respect and promote the right of clients to self-determination and assist clients in their efforts to identify and clarify their goals.
• Competence (1.04)
  • Social workers should provide services and represent themselves as competent only within the boundaries of their education. It is important to inform your clients that you are a student.
• Cultural Competence (1.05)
  • Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical ability.
• Conflicts of Interest (1.06)
  • (a) Social workers should be alert to and avoid conflicts of interest that interfere with the exercise of professional discretion and impartial judgment.
  • (b) Social workers should not take unfair advantage of any professional relationship.
  • (c) Social workers should not engage in dual or multiple relationships with clients or former clients in which there are risks of exploitation or potential harm to the client.
• Privacy and Confidentiality (1.07)
  • Social workers should protect the confidentiality of all information obtained in the course of professional service, except for compelling professional reasons.
• Sexual Relationships (1.09)
  • Social workers should under no circumstances engage in sexual activities, inappropriate sexual communication, or sexual conduct with current or former clients, whether such conduct is consensual or forced.
• Physical Contact (1.10)
  • Social workers should not engage in physical contact with clients when there is a possibility of psychological harm to the clients as a result of the contact (such as cradling or caressing clients).
• Derogatory Language (1.12)
  • Social workers should use accurate and respectful language in all communications to and about clients.
• Ethical Responsibility to Colleagues (2.01& 2.07)
  • Social workers should treat colleagues with respect and accurately and fairly represent colleagues' qualifications, views, and obligations.
• Social workers should cooperate with social work colleagues and with colleagues of other professions when such cooperation serves the well-being of clients. (2.03 & 2.05)
• Social workers should avoid engaging in sexual relationships with colleagues when there is a potential conflict of interest. (2.06

MSW Social Media Policy 

Technology and social media use are ever-growing and ever-changing platforms for connection, information, and communication. The National Association of Social Workers released an updated Code of Ethics in 2021 that addressed important ethical considerations related to the use of technology in social work practice. The Garland School of Social Work's Practicum Education office recognizes the benefits of individuals and organizations maintaining an active online presence. However, as a professional-in-training, your online persona should be managed as carefully as you would mind your actions, speech, and dress in the workplace.

Professional social workers must be mindful of social media use because the information shared on social media platforms can be used by clients, other professionals, and the general public to shape opinions about you and social workers as a whole. Maintaining primary social work values like client privacy and confidentiality is of utmost importance, and upholding one’s reputation is critical to competent, successful practice.

Social workers’ professional behavior is guided by the NASW Code of Ethics, the State Code of Conduct, and the policies and practices of their employing organizations. Students in the Garland School of Social Work are expected to model ethical and professional standards of behavior in any public forum, whether online or in person. Students are also expected to abide by all policies of Baylor University, the Garland School of Social Work, the Practicum Education Manual, and the social work profession's legal and ethical responsibilities.