MSW Program Description

 

Welcome! The following information is a brief overview of the Master's program. For further information and details on the curriculum, please refer to the MSW Bulletin.

Traditional Master's Program
The College offers a Master of Social Work program, which is normally completed in two years (four semesters) beginning in August of one year and ending 20 months later in April. Sixty-one (61) credit hours of required social work courses and electives are necessary for completion of the program. Students choose either the Clinical Social Work Concentration or the Social Policy and Administration Concentration during the course of their studies. Please note: Students MUST complete the MSW within FOUR years.

Advanced Standing MSW Program
The College also offers an Advanced Standing Master of Social Work program for applicants who have completed an undergraduate degree in social work from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, and who meet certain other specific requirements. Students in the Advanced Standing program complete 39 credit hours of required social work courses and electives, choosing either the Clinical Social Work Concentration or the Social Policy and Administration Practice Concentration. Please note: Students MUST complete the MSW within FOUR years.

Part-Time and Distance Learning MSW Program
The Part-Time MSW Program is designed to allow students who cannot pursue full-time study to work toward a MSW degree on a structured, time-extended basis. Students with a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited program or those without a BSW degrees are eligible for admission consideration to the program. The program requires students to register for a minimum of two courses per semester and complete the MSW within four years. Students must meet all the admission requirements of the College of Social Work. To obtain additional information on the Part-Time MSW Program, contact the Director of the Distance Learning Program. Program guidelines are available for each off-campus program.

There are part-time programs located in Tallahassee and at our off-campus locations in Gainesville, Jacksonville, and at the FSU Branch Campus in Panama City. At these locations, faculty teaches courses in a face-to-face format. An on-line, web-based program of studies is also available to students.

M.S.W. PROGRAM CONCENTRATIONS

CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK CONCENTRATION
This concentration prepares you for evidence-based clinical social work practice with a variety of clients in numerous community settings. Overall, this curriculum emphasizes professional services to clients experiencing stressful situations which impair, or threaten to impair, psychological and social functioning. Clinical social work students develop knowledge and skills to enable them to assess, diagnose, and treat persons with emotional, intellectual, and/or behavioral disorders. The curriculum includes courses and seminars focusing on theory, research, policy, practice knowledge and skills deemed essential for clinical work with diverse populations of individuals, families, groups, and communities.  Course work focuses on populations at risk such as various religious and cultural groups, the disabled; gays and lesbians; ethnic minorities; the mentally ill; the elderly; and those who are socially or economically at risk. Field education provides hands-on opportunities for the application and integration of knowledge and skills.

The Clinical Concentration curriculum enables you to meet the following objectives:
1. Assess, diagnose, and treat clients' psychosocial problems through individual, couple, family, and/or group modalities.
2. Facilitate clients gaining access to appropriate community resources.
3. Work cooperatively and/or collaboratively with other human service professionals to plan and implement services to clients.
4. Conduct empirical evaluations of their own practice interventions.

SOCIAL POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION CONCENTRATION
The goal of the Social Policy and Administration (SPA) concentration is to prepare you for advanced, evidence-based social work practice in organizational and community settings, policy and/or administrative positions in governmental and non-governmental social agencies serving diverse individuals, groups, and communities.

The SPA Concentration curriculum enables you to meet the following objectives:
1. Provide leadership in agency-based practice agencies in the public and privatesector.
2. Analyze social policies and demonstrate effective strategies for change that contribute to social and economic justice.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of social programs, agencies and policies.
4. Develop effective, collaborative, and cooperative endeavors with other professional social workers and agencies.

SOCIAL POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION FAQ'S

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