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We offer globally-accredited degrees and courses taught by the region’s finest academics in world-class facilities.
Our aim is to provide you with a learning environment in which you can strengthen your skills as a self-directed learner and enhance your capacity to interact and collaborate with your peers, share experiences, challenge accepted ideas and build new knowledge.
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Introduction
Enhance your abilities to provide social support services with the Diploma in Social Services (Dip. SOSS). This programme is designed to provide an academic foundation and specialised training for persons in social work or community work fields who need to upgrade their academic qualifications for further tertiary level studies and formalize functional skills for the effective development and practice of the social work role. Students build competencies in English Language and Mathematics and are introduced to the theory and practice of social work to enable them to support organizational goals.
Who is this programme for?
This Diploma programme is designed for persons wishing to develop social service skills in order to facilitate support services and social engagement in their local communities and persons interested in formalizing their qualifications in social service.
Programme Structure
The diploma programme is delivered using a mixed-mode format. Courses are delivered using online or blended approaches. Students must have access to a computer and Internet access. Online orientation is conducted before the start of the programme.
Students complete a total of 30 credits normally equivalent to 10 courses. Students explore general education and core courses in a number of areas including:
- Fundamentals of English
- Principles & Practice of Social Work
- Human Growth & Development
- Human Behaviour & the Social Environment
- Administrative Principles & Practices
When will the programme start?
The programme starts in August of the academic year.
Entry Requirements
Applicants should meet one of the following matriculation requirements:
- Persons over the age of 21 on the basis of their overall academic and professional attainments.
- Holders of the approved certificates from the School of Continuing Studies, UWI with an acceptable pass in English Language
- Holders of three (3) CSEC or GCE ‘O’ Level passes or equivalent, not necessarily obtained at the same sitting, as follows:
(i) English (A), and
(ii) Two (2) other approved subjects.
Academic Preparation
Prior to the start of the programme all new participants must take part in an orientation programme held in August of an academic year. This orientation introduces learners to online study and prepares them for the demands of a UWI Open Campus Associate Degree programme.
OOL1001 Orientation to Online Learning
IYSS1001 Improving Your Study Skills
Course of Study
A General Education course, Mathematics provides students with the opportunity to refresh and renew their knowledge about mathematics that will assist them in grasping tertiary level theories, problems and formulae. This course exposes students to the basic mathematical concepts, their application and the ability to express these concepts by clear expression and logical reasoning.
Pre-requisites- Students must have general mathematical computation skills and a basic knowledge of algebra
This course deals with the basics, major concepts and principles of computers and computing. Topics covered will include: evolution and classification of computers, computer hardware, software and data communications; computer data processing; and microcomputers in business.
This course will introduce students to classical social theory through an understanding of the work of writers such as Auguste Comte, Max Weber, Karl Marx and George H. Mead. The main focus of this studying is to understand the central ideas of these writers and to reflect on the usefulness of their theory in contemporary Caribbean societies. This reflection will support students’ further investigations of the explanations given for issues on the front line of Caribbean societies’ development agendas. At the same time, students will learn about the central ideas and perspectives of writers such as Edward Kamau Brathwaite, M.G. Smith and George Beckford. The combination of classical and Caribbean schools of social inquiry will set the tone for a synthesizing of perspectives on race, class, gender, ethnicity and the family in society. This process will assist students with developing their theoretical base in social theory, as well as independent thought on happenings in Caribbean society.
Assessment :
Coursework 40%
Final Exam 60% (face-to-face)
Assessment:
Coursework - 40%
Final Exam – 60% (face-to-face)
Students must complete SOWK0900 before taking this course
Assessment :
Coursework 40%
Final Exam 60% (face-to-face)
Assessment:
Course Work - 40%
Final Exam - 60% (face-to-face)
NB: The offering of this in Summer will be dependent on student registration numbers.
Required Text: Development Through The Lifespan,4,5 or 6/edition, By Laura E. Berk
