Advanced Standing Degree Option

The Advanced Standing degree option may be selected if a student has earned a baccalaureate degree in social work from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and meets other admission criteria. If admitted, the full-time student can complete the MSW degree in 10 months or 29 credit hours of graduate work. 

Curriculum Content

The program offers two areas of specialized practice. In each specialization, students acquire advanced practice skills and knowledge that build on the standard curriculum. The program’s areas of specialized practice are defined by fields of practice: Clinical Practice and Community Practice. Students complete the Advanced Internship in a setting that allows them the opportunity for preparation for practice in these areas. Students are expected to expand their learning further by the use of electives.

Each area of specialized practice consists of a combination of courses taken exclusively with others in the specialization. In addition, students in all specializations take the Administrative Practice in Social Work, a Capstone course and the Evaluation of Practice courses. These combined courses allow students an opportunity to learn from each other and gain exposure to the other areas of specialized practice.

Students must have completed all standard requirements before enrolling in the advanced social work practice courses. These courses are designed to provide an intensive experience of applying learning in the standard curriculum and advanced practice methods and principles in the specialization to actual practice situations. Students will learn the skills for advanced practice in the area of their specialization and to assess their own practice and establish ongoing professional development.

Students follow a concurrent format for internship and will enroll both semesters in a two-hour seminar course, while also completing 16-20 hours weekly for a minimum of 225-275 hours in the fall, and 20-24 hours weekly for a minimum of 275-325 hours in the Spring, for a minimum total of 550 hours across the two semesters. Students must have completed all other pre- or co-requisite coursework before enrolling in the Advanced Internship. Advanced Internship consists of social work preparatory practice in a setting appropriate to the student’s specialization.

During the final week of this semester, students engage in a capstone experience, during which they present a practice-oriented workshop to colleagues and professional social workers, including a faculty evaluator.

Brief Description of Master of Social Work Areas of Specialized Practice

Clinical Practice

The clinical practice specialization prepares students for advanced, direct practice with individuals, families, and groups in a variety of clinical settings. Students learn to apply evidence-based practice theories and methods of intervention that reflect a person-environment orientation and a strengths perspective. Specific philosophical frameworks include humanism, positivism, and evidence-based methods. The program is based on the development of an eclectic method that offers the opportunity to investigate more specific practice models. Some examples include cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy, motivational interviewing, narrative approaches, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), structural family therapy, therapeutic use of play, and dialectical behavior therapy. Assessment tools and techniques, especially focusing on DSM-5, are critical to the program.

Common professional opportunities for social workers in clinical practice include practice in health settings and practice with children and families. As a result, the clinical specialization provides students with the option to focus on one of these settings in an advanced practice class and in their advanced internship. Students in the clinical practice specialization will take a practice course focused on health settings (SWO 5376 Advanced Clinical Practice: Health Settings) and/or children and families (SWO 5377 Advanced Clinical Practice: Children and Families). Students must take one of these options but may also take the other as an elective if they wish to do so and enrollment allows.

Community Practice

The community practice specialization prepares students for advanced practice with public and/or nonprofit organizations, neighborhoods, communities, congregations, and religiously affiliated agencies. Students learn a variety of professional community practice models that serve to strengthen and enrich communities in local and global settings. Communities can be defined as both geographic (e.g., neighborhoods) and relational (e.g., ethnic communities). The central models are rooted in professional literature and research, and they include advanced skills in community development, community organizing, and community planning.

The advanced model of development is asset-based community development, which recognizes community struggles but responds most centrally to community assets. Asset mapping is a key skill learned when studying this model.

The advanced model of organizing is consensus-based. Consensual organizing is rooted in consensus-building rather than building on the potential conflict. Negotiation and facilitation are key skills learned with regard to this model.

The advanced model of planning is emergent-based. While most planning requires a rational approach to planning (e.g. the logic model), the emergent model allows for greater flexibility and adaptability when working in diverse contexts. Engagement of stakeholders is a key skill here.

MSW Degree: Part-Time Degree Option

Students may choose to take fewer courses each semester because of life circumstances and extend their time in the program accordingly. Since courses are designed to build on one another, and all courses are not offered every semester, students should seek consultation from the MSW Program Manager in planning their individual program of study. All Field Education courses must be completed in the standard fall-spring sequence.

Course Requirements: Clinical Practice

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Fall Semester
SWO 5337	Advanced Clinical Theories and Models	3
SWO 5379	Advanced Clinical Practice: Individuals, Families, and Groups	3
SWO 5323	Administrative Practice in Social Work	3
SWO 5494	Part I Advanced Internship	4
SWO 5282	Evaluation of Practice I	2
Spring Semester
SWO 5377	Advanced Clinical Practice: Children and Families	3
or SWO 5376	Advanced Clinical Practice: Health Settings
SWO 5490	Part II Advanced Internship	4
SWO 5283	Evaluation of Practice II	2
SWO 5298	Capstone	2
Total Hours		26

Please note, that this does not include 3 hours of required elective credit.

Course Requirements: Community Practice

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Fall Semester
SWO 5335	Frameworks and Perspectives for Community Practice	3
SWO 5375	Advanced Practice I: Community Practice	3
SWO 5323	Administrative Practice in Social Work	3
SWO 5494	Part I Advanced Internship	4
SWO 5282	Evaluation of Practice I	2
Spring
SWO 5378	Advanced Practice II: Community Practice	3
SWO 5490	Part II Advanced Internship	4
SWO 5283	Evaluation of Practice II	2
SWO 5298	Capstone	2
Total Hours		26

Please note, that this does not include 3 hours of required elective credit