We, the undersigned students and faculty of Metropolitan University, respectfully request that the social work program be expanded to include more applicants accepted into the program, and that the program include internships available for evening students.

Whereas the Metropolitan State Social Work Program is the only social work program in the Twin Cities eligible for the North Star Promise,

The social work program only admits 84 new students annually,

The diversity in Metro State’s social work program is ideal, with 41% Black/African American, 24.6% Asian, 21.3% White, 8.2% Other, and 4.9% Hispanic/Latino, as opposed to social work in general which is 66-70% White,

The social work profession is expected to grow 6%, and many fields such as school social work are still working from deficits from the Covid era,

Metro State has far too many applicants to accept all students who would be excellent social workers,

Competitive programs disproportionately affect non-traditional and minority students, who often don’t have the resources to volunteer or choose their working environment,

Competition among applicants not only goes against social work values, but against Metro State’s mission, vision, and values as expressed in the vision statement: “Metro State University will deliver the transformative power of higher education to all. As a national leader, we will innovate to meet emerging challenges, remove barriers to access and success, and propel the social and economic mobility of diverse learners and their communities” (Emphasis mine),

And,

Whereas non-traditional students need evening hours to accommodate their living and work situations,

Metro State is committed to serving underserved students as expressed in the mission, vision, and values statements on the website,

A lot of social work jobs include non-traditional hours of operation including evenings, nights, and weekends,

We the undersigned students and faculty of Metro State request that effort is put towards expanding the social work program to accommodate all qualified students, and effort is also made to find evening hour internships for non-traditional students in the part-time evening social work program.

Signed,