At The University of Montana we are committed to excellence, creativity, and innovation in social work education.  Today’s graduate-level social worker must be able to work with a diverse clientele and engage in practice at multiple levels, from counseling to community change.  

At The University of Montana we take an integrated-practice approach premised on the inseparability of individual struggles and social issues such as poverty, discrimination, oppression, and social injustice.  We seek to engage individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in the process of strengthening personal capacities, social programs, and public policies.  We draw on the rich legacy of social justice work in creating a cutting-edge learning experience that prepares social workers for 21st century challenges.  Our advanced integrated-practice curriculum embraces the profession’s commitment to value-based social work practice and promotes social and economic justice by:

• grounding students in social work values and critical thinking;

• providing students with frameworks for understanding historical, political, and cultural contexts of practice, honoring difference, confronting oppression, and taking action for social justice;

• preparing students to bridge direct practice with individuals, groups, and families and the knowledge and skills of community building;

• teaching students to integrate research, policy analysis, and advocacy in their practice regardless of setting, problem area, or specific job description; and 
   
• preparing students as social work leaders committed to promotion of empowering, participatory, social-justice-oriented practice.