Spring 2026 SOWK 531 Class 14 Weekly Email

MyHeritage Syllabus Presentations Emails

Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn

Week 14 is the final synchronous class session of the semester, scheduled for Saturday, 04/25. There is no chapter reading this week; instead, students listen to a timely podcast episode on macro social work practice. The main focus of class is the Community Impact Project Presentations, where students share with peers the assessment they conducted, the interventions they implemented, and the outcomes they observed in their macro-level projects. There are no forums this week, but there are some tasks you are expected to complete, and students will earn their participation points by doing them.

The agenda for the in-person class session is:

• Community Impact Project Presentations

The learning objectives for this week include:

• Demonstrate the ability to plan, implement, and evaluate a macro-level community project in a community setting.
• Apply culturally responsive methods to evaluate outcomes across individual, family, group, organizational, and community levels.
• Critically analyze project outcomes and articulate how evaluation findings will inform future practice effectiveness.

Unit Assignments

Content

• No chapter from the textbook this week. This semester we will still read chapters 15 next week and chapter 2 the last week if you would like to start on that.
• Listen to Sabota (2026) “Social work under rising authoritarianism (No. 346)” inSocialWork Podcast

I have updated the assignment on MyHeritage to A-03b: Community Impact Project Presentation to allow you to upload your presentations. The assignment closes at Saturday morning, so please make sure you upload your presentation before then (for those presenting Saturday¹). During my lunch, I will go through them and organize them so it is easy for us to go from one presentation to the next when we get to our class time. I have created Google Doc 2026 Presentation Sign-Up for A-03b Community Impact Project Presentation. We will use this during class to know who is going after each other.

A reminder, that we talked in class about reducing the time each student has to complete their presentation (e.g., 5 minutes or less). Once the timer hits six minutes I will have to cut you off and have the next person come up and present. I do this to ensure we have time to make it through everybody’s presentations, and if you get cut off it is nothing personal. My suggestions would be to practice your presentation so you have the timing down and look at how you can condense your information to still cover the competencies and assignment expectations, but also to fit within the time limit. I would also suggest making sure your presentation slides clearly identifies the expectations and how you address it so if there are parts you don’t cover during the live presentation, I will clearly see it in the slides you submit and can consider that in my final grading.

W-14 A-01: Asynchronous Participation and Engagement

I don’t have any forums for you to complete this week. I do have a couple of tasks that I still expect you to do.

• Sign up for your presentation slot
• Submit your presentation slides
• Complete your final course evaluations (assuming they come out this week)
• Listen to the podcast I shared

Assignment 03: Community Impact Project

The community impact project is divided into two parts. During the macro intervention, students will plan, implement, and assess a community project that they facilitate. This will take place at the students’ practicum placement or other community setting. Basic project plans will be shared and approved by the professor before proposals are submitted and should likewise be discussed with the student’s faculty practicum liaison and supervisor. Projects constitute a new or additional service to the agency or its clientele. Examples might include offering an educational training, an outreach event, fundraising/collecting donations to meet a need, or providing a service. The two assignments include, first, the project proposal, in which students will assess their setting to identify a need and develop a plan to implement their project. Second, after the project is completed, a presentation will be held to showcase the results.

Assignment 03b: Community Impact Project Presentation

Meta: Points 100 pts (20% of final grade); Deadline Saturday 04/25/26 during class Completion via in class presentation; Locations: MyHeritage Assignment Detail, Assignment Description and Rubric.

Purpose: Students will develop and deliver a presentation that demonstrates their ability to implement, evaluate, and critically analyze a macro-level community project. This assignment assesses Competencies Eight and Nine by requiring students to apply culturally responsive, evidence-informed interventions and to evaluate their outcomes across individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Task: Students will create a 15–20-minute 5-Minute (for in-class) presentation discussing the results of their community impact project. The evaluation of their project should demonstrate the culturally responsive methods used to evaluate it, and the critical analysis of the outcomes improves practice for individuals, groups, families, organizations, and communities. In this presentation, discuss the assessment you conducted, the proposed interventions, and the outcomes of those interventions. Be sure to explain how your intervention was culturally responsive and evidence-informed, and describe how you negotiated, mediated, or advocated with and on behalf of the target system. Include artifacts from the implementation of your proposal (i.e., photos from the event, flyers, letters, etc.). Students will also reflect on the experience and the learning they gained, including how evaluation findings will inform future practice at multiple system levels.

Success: This assignment is graded using the Appendix B Community Impact Project Presentation and Competencies Eight and Nine Rubric. A successful presentation clearly articulates the project’s assessment, implementation, and outcomes while demonstrating culturally responsive interventions and evaluation methods. The student presents a thoughtful, critical analysis of outcomes across all system levels and communicates with professionalism, clarity, and strong engagement.

Appendix B. Community Impact Project Presentation and Competencies Eight and Nine Rubric

The Community Impact Project Presentation and Competencies Eight and Nine Rubric evaluates students’ ability to clearly communicate the outcomes of their Community Impact Project through a professional, well-structured presentation. It measures how effectively students demonstrate culturally responsive intervention strategies, advocacy and negotiation skills, and macro-level evaluation practices. Additionally, it assesses organization, clarity, and adherence to assignment expectations, including the integration of artifacts and reflection on learning.

Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
a. Engage with clients and constituencies to critically choose and implement culturally responsive, evidence-informed interventions to achieve client and constituency goals; and
b. Incorporate culturally responsive methods to negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf of clients and constituencies.

Description	Initial	Emerging	Developed	Highly Developed
The presentation documents culturally responsive and evidence-based interventions.	The presentation does not appear to use culturally responsive interventions and lacks evidence informed basis.	The presentation includes limited discussion regarding culturally responsive practices. There is a limited discussion of the evidence base.	The presentation discusses culturally responsive practices but lacks specific details. The overall presentation includes a discussion of evidence base.	The presentation explains a fully developed, culturally responsive set of interventions, with a clear description of the adaptations made to respond to the target system’s needs. Scholarship related to the intervention is detailed.
The presentation incorporates culturally responsive methods to negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf of clients and constituencies.	The presentation does not include a discussion of culturally responsive methods or advocacy at all levels of engagement.	The presentation discusses culturally responsive methods but lacks specific implementation at all levels of engagement.	The presentation discusses culturally responsive practices and how they are implemented at all levels, but some of the descriptions are not directly tied to all levels of engagement.	The presentation demonstrates a high degree of understanding of cultural identities and contexts. They explain how they facilitated and incorporated negotiation, mediation, or advocacy at all service levels (e.g., individual, family, group, organization, and community).

Competency 9: Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
a. Select and use culturally responsive methods for evaluation of outcomes.
b. Critically analyze outcomes and apply evaluation findings to improve practice effectiveness with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Description	Initial	Emerging	Developed	Highly Developed
The presentation describes the culturally responsive methods used in the evaluation.	The presentations do not directly address culturally responsive practices in evaluating their project.	The presentation provides minimal insight into culturally responsive practices in evaluating their project.	The presentation is developed and includes a discussion of culturally responsive practices, but it does not provide specific, detailed descriptions.	The presentation includes a specific discussion of culturally responsive practices, such as learning about the population service and their needs. Outcomes from the project are identified and linked to the needs identified in the assessment.
The presentation details the critical analysis of the outcomes.	The presentation provided a minimal description of the evaluation and was not tied to each service level.	The presentation did not include all levels of practice, but the areas for improvement and descriptions were adequate for those discussed.	The presentation included an adequate description of how they conducted the evaluation and briefly considered most of the service levels.	The presentation will provide a detailed description of how they evaluated practice effectiveness at each service level (individual, family, group, organization, and community), and it will include specific areas of improvement for each level.

General Assignment requirements

Description	Initial	Emerging	Developed	Highly Developed
The presentation is professionally delivered.	The presentation is unclear or highly disorganized.	The presentation has some problems with organization, clarity, and delivery.	The presentation is organized and clear, but lacks smooth flow and engagement.	The presentation is professionally delivered, clearly conveys the plan’s details, and uses strong presentation skills.
The presentation closely follows the assignment description.	Does not follow the assignment description.	Somewhat follows the assignment description, but significant errors exist.	Follows the assignment description and requirements but has minor errors.	Closely follows the assignment description and requirements.

Unit Resources

My faculty self-evaluation came out today, and usually, this week of class, the surveys for students’ final course evaluations get created. It doesn’t seem ready yet, but I’m hopeful it will be in the next couple of days. I do ask that you take the evaluation, and I do really care about the reflection you give. While I am asking you to do this as one of your tasks, I don’t actually have a way to verify if individuals have done it. I will update this with a link if it becomes available, it will have to be next week.

The most recent episode of the inSocialWork Podcast, “Social Work Under Rising Authoritarianism,” discusses macro social work and community issues (Sabota, 2026). Given that we did not have a reading this week, this discussion is both timely and fits with our content this semester. You can find it episode at their website, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, or Spotify. I would like you to listen to this episode.

Reference

Sobota, P. (Host). (2026, March 24). Social work under rising authoritarianism (No. 346) [Audio podcast episode]. In inSocialWork. University at Buffalo School of Social Work. https://www.insocialwork.org/social-work-under-rising-authoritarianism/

To-Do Lists

• Attend class
• Be ready to present for A-3b
• Sign up for presentation order and submit your slides
• Complete your final course evaluations (if available)
• Listen to the podcast I shared

1. I have two students that have made other arrangements due to pre-planned absences. They can email a link to their recorded presentation. They can also submit their slides in the assignment. ↩