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Outcry over loss of BYU program

When Utah State and Southern Utah State can each offer a Bachelor's Social Work Programs, in addition to the Uiversity of Utah and to have Utah Valley State College considering to develop a Bachelor program it really puts a big question mark on David Magleby's argument that they can't get qualified staff to maintain its own Bachelor's program. When BYU with its national ranking as a private university can't handle a Bachelors program in social work, its really says something about the entire university. Perhaps as a private school, it doesn't need to care about the community that surrounds it, perhaps its focus is on some other spiritual plane, but unfortunately on this issue it doesn't seem concerned about earthly matters even though spirituality and social work have been gaining alot of attention lately. I guess BYU hasn't gotten the word. The might do well then to listen to the University of Utah when it comes to spirituality and social work.

I think this is the same guy who eliminated the Home Economics Department a few years ago. My wife was a Home Economics Education major (graduated before the cancellation of the program), and has heard horror stories about how students and faculty in the Home Ec Department were treated.

When BYU has solicited for donations, we have donated to the General Fund, and to the College of Engineering (my college), but we refuse to donate to the college of Family, Home and Social Sciences (they might as well remove the "Family" and "Home").

What is the mission of BYU anyway? It seems to me like it has become "be like everyone else".

I had a son in that program. It was a disgrace to the university.

BYU, like any university, needs to weigh costs v. programs. You may not be aware of it, but BYU is one of the cheapest Universities in the U.S. while maintaining an excellent reputation, even if a Mormon University. Nope, we are not mormon. Next year, we will be paying 18,OOO dollars per year for our daughter's education here in Georgia.

Yes, it is sad to be losing one undergraduate degree program, but better that then losing accreditation in the entire department which it clearly is at risk. There are other universities that do still offer the program for undergraduates or you may chose plan "b" at BYU, which consists of a different degree and 2,000 hours of supervised internship. Add to that it seems that UVSC may well be able to financially pick up the slack and add a social work degree and the point becomes moot because one would only need to travel 10 minutes to a different university.

Again, it all comes down to $ and clearly the social work program doesn't produce benefactors/alumni that can contribute those dollars to keep the program going.

I thought that these guys were Perfect..everything the do is Perfect, everyone they know is Perfect , Perfect..whip-ddee-do, getrdone, stuff. I quess the world is not their campus anymore just for some and if Romney gets in..expect more.

'"This is not a done deal. We will fight this forever," said Marc Gilchrist'

Yes, it is. No, you won't. Much like the Gold's protesters, Mark suffers from a lack of understanding of reality.

...or those students could just earn their Master's degree at ANOTHER university.

One problem of making a college a university is the emphasis on graduate programs at the expense of the undergrad programs. We can see that BYU is no different than other universities in this regard.

What a waste of ink or electrons. BSW canceled. Go somewhere else. Get a life. You're going to "fight this forever." No wonder you're in the field... you need help.

BYU or any university can add or subtract programs to their hearts content. That's what they do. To whine about it is just silly.

The last comment: "totally out of the blue" is kind of funny if you think about it...

No, I'm not talking about the elimination of this major at BYU, I'm referring to the reaction of all these "protesters" and the two people that have already left comments. Do you not realize that some of the best universities in the nation have eliminated this same program because it just doesn't make sense anymore? You can get a bachelor's in another degree and then get your masters. Then you are actually marketable. Who cares if the other universities have these programs or if UVU is thinking about adding it. They are behind the times. You people are silly and way too quick to condemn your alma mater.

First of all, why does BYU owe anyone "advance notice" except for the students themselves. They don't owe public agencies anything. I agree with Silly, who is correct that it's possible -- and I would add preferrable -- to get a BS in something else and then get an MS.

And home economics is not an academic program.

I, for one, am heartened and encouraged by BYU's recent actions.

I think one of the big problems of not having a BSW program at BYU is that students will no longer qualify for advanced standing MSW programs after graduation. If you only have to pay for one year of grad school, You can go to some of the better schools out there and not have to worry about BYU's MSW wich is too competative for what it has to offer and Utahs MSW program which is good but not excellent.

But, I think The BYU MSW programs function is to supply LDS Social Services and administrators may see that as a greater need for the Church as a whole

***"When Utah State and Southern Utah State can each offer a Bachelor's Social Work Programs...it really puts a big question mark on David Magleby's argument that they can't get qualified staff to maintain its own Bachelor's program."*** - Tab Uno

My (admittedly vague) understanding of social work is that it is one of the more leftish professions. If that's true, would that make it tougher for a more conservative school like BYU to attract qualified professors?

And what is the purpose of a social work major, exactly? Again, not expressing a view - just asking.

BYU can do what it wants and will do what it wants. I love the points made already to this. If you don't like it go some where else. If its so important to you then go some where else. If you can't deal with not haveing free employees to do your work maybe you need to re-evaluate the situation.

I respectfully disagree with Tab Uno about the U merging spirituality and social work. I am a student in their social work grad program. Outside of one professor, Dr. Dave Derozotes, one never hears about spiritulaity here.

Personally, I'm glad they cancelled the program. While BYU could do more to reach out to the community, one could say that about every other university in this state. Frankly, I think BYU students perform more service than most university students do. It's not the university's responsibility to staff institutions with free labor.
BYU felt that it was in the best interest of the institution. Universities make simililar decisions on a daily basis, deal with it.

Okay so they get rid of the BSw and want you to go straight for the Masters. The reason because too many people get the Bachelor's Degree and then go else where for their MSW. We have a lot of people who come to the U of New Hampshire to get their MSW/Family Counseling after obtaining the BSW at BYU. It cost more to go to UNH but they do get the experience and the job. BYU is just out the money and the community loses its free advice.

It is clear there are many comments here by people who haven't done their homework, and they are talking about a profession/degree they know little about. I am from another state, and it took a community crisis for all of us to open our eyes to see the many valuable things that come from Social Work - including the bachelor level license. Social Work is listed on all of the most needed career lists for the future. UVSC knows the value of the degree and has tried for years to get an accredited program. The bottom line with BYU is we have a Dean over the college who is making a political and a money decision. He has reported to the students he consulted heavily with community agencies, faculty, alumni, and students, yet the students' research could not identify anyone who had been consulted. Yes, they can make a decision on their own if they want to, but when they say they have consulted with many, and they have not, that is not being honest BYU.

I work for a community agency (I have changed my name)and I along with 5 other agency heads told Dean Magelby that we are against this decision. The hour after our meeting, he told the students and the media that he had just met with community heads and that we are in favor and supportive of this decision. We have made multiple attempts to contact BYU administration to tell them how displeased we are with the fact we were falsely represented but top administration will not have an audience with anyone. I know,, I have tried dozens of times. Why can't BYU at least be honest about all this?