Director of Practicum Instruction, Social Welfare

Job

Location:

Main Campus-Berkeley

Full/Part Time:
Full Time

At the University of California, Berkeley, we are dedicated to fostering a community where everyone feels welcome and can thrive. Our culture of openness, freedom, and belonging makes it a special place for students, faculty, and staff, who are among the most talented and accomplished anywhere, including Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Mac Arthur Fellows. Since our founding in 1868, we have been an engine for innovation - driving intellectual, economic, and social progress that benefits California, the U.S., and beyond.

Together, we change the world.

At Berkeley, the best careers are built on a foundation of continuous learning and growth. We actively support professional development by providing all full-time staff employees with at least 80 hours of paid time per year and provide space for supportive colleague communities via numerous employee resource groups.

We invite applicants who are inspired by our Principles of Community and who are eager to be part of our exciting Strategic Plan, which charts Berkeley's next era of excellence.

Learn more about some of our accomplishments at Points of Pride.

UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare has provided statewide, national, and global leadership in evidence-informed social work practice and social policies since its inception in 1944. Despite the small number of faculty, UC Berkeley Social Welfare has for decades been ranked the most productive group of social welfare scholars in the country, producing new knowledge that regularly challenges conventional wisdom and paves the way for new practices and policies.

Equally important, our graduates become agents of social change through direct practice, agency management, policy making, and leading new discoveries that address the grand challenges confronting our society. Collectively, as both scholars and practitioners, UC Berkeley Social Welfare continues to have a significant, positive impact on the common good across many social issues and populations in need.

The Director of Practicum Instruction supports the School's practicum education infrastructure by strengthening site quality, placement capacity, practicum instructor development, partnership processes and systems, and data-informed educational quality improvement. This position advances a coherent, reliable, and instructionally strong practicum education system across first-year and advanced-year MSW placements.

Serving as an operational lead for practicum education operations in the School of Social Welfare, the Director of Practicum Instruction focuses on administrative and educational operations, with responsibility for site portfolio management, partnership development, practicum instructor capacity building, placement capacity mapping, and data-informed educational quality improvement.

Reporting directly to the Associate Dean for Curriculum, the Director of Practicum Instruction works closely with the Practicum Education Program Coordinator, Admissions, Advising, and Student Experience staff, MSW program leadership, instructors of record, faculty site visitors, practicum instructors, and community agency partners.

The First Review Date for this job is August 4, 2026. For full consideration, please apply by the first review date.

Administrative Leadership:
Site Portfolio Management and Partnership Development

• Serves as the operational lead for practicum site portfolio management and partnership development across first-year and advanced-year MSW placements.
• Maintains a data-organized understanding of the school's practicum site portfolio, including site capacity, placement history, student fit, practicum instructor availability, instructional quality, program alignment, and partnership stability.
• Leads operational placement capacity mapping across the MSW program, including analysis of available placements, student demand, agency capacity, placement timing, geographic distribution, practice-area needs, and emerging gaps.
• Uses data and database knowledge to assess community agencies regarding site quality, placement capacity, student-site fit, practicum expectations, onboarding needs, and supervision and site improvement concerns.
• Makes recommendations to the Associate Dean for Curriculum regarding approval, pausing, probation, or discontinuation of practicum sites based on site quality indicators, placement stability, student learning needs, practicum instructor readiness, and program priorities.
• Supports the Associate Dean for Curriculum in developing criteria and recommendations to identify and cultivate centers of excellence in practicum education.
• Leads agency recruitment and site retention efforts to ensure adequate, stable, and high-quality practicum capacity across program years and student interest areas.
• Supports the evolution of the practicum site portfolio, including long-term strategies for high-capacity…