SINGAPORE: The Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) will launch its sixth school – for social work and social development – in the third quarter of 2025, it announced on Tuesday (Mar 25).
Currently, SUSS and the National University of Singapore are the only two universities in Singapore that offer undergraduate and graduate social work degree programmes.
Making the announcement, provost Professor Robbie Goh noted that there is a lot of attrition in the social work sector, with many suffering from burnout after some time.
SUSS currently takes in about 250 students across all its social work programmes each year, he added.
“While we’re doing good work, we hope that the establishment of the new School of Social Work and Social Development will ramp up capability, allow us to do a lot more to help this very, very important sector,” said Professor Goh, adding that it was a good time to revamp the curriculum.
The new school will continue to offer SUSS’ existing three part-time and one full-time programmes – the full-time and part-time Bachelor degrees in social work, as well as the part-time Masters degree and graduate diploma in social work, said SUSS in a factsheet on Tuesday.
The part-time programmes take in students twice a year in January and July, while the full-time degree course takes in students once a year in August.
CEO of Allkin Singapore Dr Vincent Ng will be appointed as the Dean of the school. Allkin Singapore is one of the major social service agencies in Singapore and was previously known as AMKFSC Community Services.
Dr Ng has already been teaching at SUSS as an associate faculty member, and brings a “wealth of experience” with him, said Prof Goh.
All 10 existing full-time faculty members from the social work team who are currently part of the S R Nathan School of Human Development will be transferred to the school for social work, with plans to recruit more full-time faculty staff, said SUSS.
With the new undergraduate curriculum, students will undertake “areas of concentration” that align with different areas of social work practice, and their practicum experience will also be aligned to the areas they choose.
The areas of concentration are protection, family social work, children and youth work, eldercare, disability services, juvenile justice and correctional settings, as well as healthcare and related settings.
The undergraduate curriculum will also be streamlined with graduate offerings that curate the mature social worker’s development in the various areas, said SUSS in its factsheet.
This will also provide opportunities for those who may want to switch to other areas of social work or develop adjacent skills, the university said.
Through this, the school hopes to be forward-thinking and forward-looking, said Prof Goh.
“For social workers, they need to expand the conception of their job away from just social work into … adjacent disciplines,” he said.
The graduate offerings will continue to be stackable to facilitate adult learning.
At the postgraduate level, the new school will help to develop social workers through two specialised tracks – policy and management as well as professional clinical practice.
With the new school, SUSS will develop and promote practice research in the social service sector by partnering with other organisations, including social service agencies, governmental bodies and hospitals, it added.
The new school will also collaborate with the Ministry of Social and Family Development to enhance the practicums in MSF’s protective services for SUSS’ social work undergraduates who choose protection as their area of concentration.
SUSS will get a new campus at the former site and vicinity of Rochor Centre, which will be ready by the mid-2030s. The autonomous university currently offers more than 110 programmes across its schools.
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Currently, SUSS and the National University of Singapore are the only two universities in Singapore that offer undergraduate and graduate social work degree programmes.
Making the announcement, provost Professor Robbie Goh noted that there is a lot of attrition in the social work sector, with many suffering from burnout after some time.
SUSS currently takes in about 250 students across all its social work programmes each year, he added.
“While we’re doing good work, we hope that the establishment of the new School of Social Work and Social Development will ramp up capability, allow us to do a lot more to help this very, very important sector,” said Professor Goh, adding that it was a good time to revamp the curriculum.
The new school will continue to offer SUSS’ existing three part-time and one full-time programmes – the full-time and part-time Bachelor degrees in social work, as well as the part-time Masters degree and graduate diploma in social work, said SUSS in a factsheet on Tuesday.
The part-time programmes take in students twice a year in January and July, while the full-time degree course takes in students once a year in August.
CEO of Allkin Singapore Dr Vincent Ng will be appointed as the Dean of the school. Allkin Singapore is one of the major social service agencies in Singapore and was previously known as AMKFSC Community Services.
Dr Ng has already been teaching at SUSS as an associate faculty member, and brings a “wealth of experience” with him, said Prof Goh.
All 10 existing full-time faculty members from the social work team who are currently part of the S R Nathan School of Human Development will be transferred to the school for social work, with plans to recruit more full-time faculty staff, said SUSS.
With the new undergraduate curriculum, students will undertake “areas of concentration” that align with different areas of social work practice, and their practicum experience will also be aligned to the areas they choose.
The areas of concentration are protection, family social work, children and youth work, eldercare, disability services, juvenile justice and correctional settings, as well as healthcare and related settings.
The undergraduate curriculum will also be streamlined with graduate offerings that curate the mature social worker’s development in the various areas, said SUSS in its factsheet.
This will also provide opportunities for those who may want to switch to other areas of social work or develop adjacent skills, the university said.
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Through this, the school hopes to be forward-thinking and forward-looking, said Prof Goh.
“For social workers, they need to expand the conception of their job away from just social work into … adjacent disciplines,” he said.
The graduate offerings will continue to be stackable to facilitate adult learning.
At the postgraduate level, the new school will help to develop social workers through two specialised tracks – policy and management as well as professional clinical practice.
With the new school, SUSS will develop and promote practice research in the social service sector by partnering with other organisations, including social service agencies, governmental bodies and hospitals, it added.
The new school will also collaborate with the Ministry of Social and Family Development to enhance the practicums in MSF’s protective services for SUSS’ social work undergraduates who choose protection as their area of concentration.
SUSS will get a new campus at the former site and vicinity of Rochor Centre, which will be ready by the mid-2030s. The autonomous university currently offers more than 110 programmes across its schools.
Continue reading...