2019 Annual Conference

Military Education

Shared Concurrent Session (Approx. 12 or 20 minutes)

Providing social work education to active duty military students stationed overseas has unique challenges. Graduate social work faculty discuss successes and challenges including distinctive needs of the military population, inter-institutional obstacles, field placement complications, course scheduling issues and learning opportunities in this huge undertaking.

Educators interested in military student population and providing online and hybrid courses to active duty personnel. 

Intended learning outcomes: Participants in this session will learn strategies implemented by a social work program in a medium size University to provide graduate social work education to active duty military personnel and their dependents stationed in Europe. By the end of the session, participants will:
1. Learn components of a unique partnership that allows social work education to reach American military personnel stationed in Europe.
2. Learn ways to overcome obstacles to finding field placements, course scheduling, and delivering courses.
3. Learn unique needs of students who are active duty military personnel.

 Military students are not simply students who happen to be in the military, they represent a culture with diverse needs. Since they are active duty and not veterans, they cannot yet access many resources focused on veteran services. Through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to provide education to troops in Europe, a social work program from a medium sized university has brought a master's of social work program to a population that previously had no access to social work education while deployed and stationed overseas. Over 80 students are currently enrolled in our social work program and approximately 40 students have graduated since the program began in 2014. Classes are delivered primarily on from large air base in central Europe via hybrid and online modalities. Field experiences are completed in U.S. military hospitals, social service agencies, and military schools throughout Europe. While there is literature documenting the need for understanding the “military connected student”, articles typically relate to students on traditional college campuses. The importance of student support services are crucial to serving the military student overseas.This presentation will highlight strategies that proved successful in educating active duty military personnel. 

A brief description of the partnership will be presented followed by information about the diverse needs of active duty military students and challenges encountered in delivering the online and hybrid program. The main component of the presentation will be presentation of strategies implemented that have proved successful in meeting the challenges. Short video clips depicting current and former students will be presented to give voice to the military context and program successses. Participants are invited to share experiences and ask questions.