Spring 2026 SOWK 531 Class 04 Weekly Email
Email sent on to SOWK 531
I have all of the content up for this week now. Sorry for the delay. Hope you have a great week.
Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn
Week for is asynchronous. Students will read about creating organizational change and the process for determining whether engaging in this macro intervention is appropriate. Students will engage in forums reflecting on the reading, practicing with analysis methods, considering policy, and engaging in scholarship around organizational change. The lecture video provides an example of engaging in decision-making for organizational change in action. The agenda for the lecture video includes:
- Week four asynchronous content
- Example of decision-making for organizational change
Learning Objectives this week include:
- Apply how a decision to make an organizational change can be made.
- Analyze whether a macro-level organizational change effort is appropriate within a specific agency context.
- Apply force-field analysis to assess driving and restraining forces influencing organizational change.
- Critically examine scholarship on organizational change and connect research findings to real-world macro practice.
Unit Assignments
Content
- Read Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2018) Chapter 6: Decision Making for Organizational Change
- Watch my lecture video (Should be posted by Wednesday)
W-04 A-01: Asynchronous Participation and Engagement
As I mentioned, I am building this class as we go. I had some things come up on Monday and was unable to finish developing the forums. Due to my tardiness, I’m decreasing the number of required replies for this week.
The expectation is that each of your replies will be substantive and provide meaningful perspectives, contributing to the forum’s conversation and scholarship. They can be related to the prompts or building on conversations shared by peers. There are five forums_ for this week, and you are expected to make at least 4 replies across any of the forums and read all of your peers’ replies. These forums include the following:
- Students examine how personal traits and contextual factors interact when advocating for organizational change through textbook-based Chapter 6 reflection questions.
- The Force Field Analysis activity provides a framework for analyzing forces that support or hinder change in practicum settings.
- Through examples of formal and informal policy, students explore how policy impacts agency operations.
- The forum, Initial Application of PREPARE and Practicum Site, encourages students to start writing or doing work on their plan for their community impact project.
- Finally, students identify and share a peer-reviewed article on organizational change to build familiarity with relevant literature and connect theory to practice.
Unit Resources
I created a Community Assessment Group Project Planning Teams Google Doc. It provides the notes from the meeting that happened in class, a link to the assignment description, and a table for people to add their names to which group they are in and a space to offer two suggested locations their group can do their assessment at.
You can listen to a podcast episode for this week’s reading Chapter 6: Decision Making for Organizational Change, or see the entire series Podcast Series.
All of the presentations for this class can be found at https://presentations.jacobrcampbell.com. This week’s slides are Spring 2026 SOWK 531 Week 04 - Decision Making for Organizational Change.
The Lecture Videos tab in the MyHeritage course is where you will be able to find class recordings. The video this week is at Spring 2026 SOWK 531 Week 04.
Reference
Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H. (2018). Generalist practice with organizations and communities (7th ed.). Cengage Learning.
To-Do Lists
- Read chapter six
- Complete 4 replies across any of the forums
- Pick your group and document in the Community Assessment Group Project Planning Teams Google Doc
