Master of Social Work - Advanced Direct Practice

The Master of Social Work is a strengths-based graduate program that prepares students for advanced professional practice and leadership in both local and global social work contexts, with a commitment to evidence-based knowledge, critical thinking, and a high value on social justice. The curriculum offerings align with the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) of the Council on Social Work Education.The vision of the Social Work Department reflects a central belief that its curriculum be guided by the principle of doing what is right and just. We teach students to willingly accept the professional responsibility to act as the “heart and conscience” of the profession, and to advocate on behalf of those who suffer discrimination and oppression. The Department’s mission and goals stem from this vision.Graduates of the UW Oshkosh MSW program are competent professionals who will meet the social service practice needs of the Fox Valley and beyond.MSW Goals: Prepare advance degree social workers to assume leadership roles in clinicalmental health care and advance direct practice settings in order to meetthe growing needs of Northeast Wisconsin.Prepare professional social workers to engage in activities that will contribute to the development and improvement of social policy at local, regional, state, and national levels as it pertains to culturally relevant mental health and health care services.Advanced direct practice students will learn to critically apply central social work theoretical frameworks to make ecological assessments that include the biological, psychological, social, spiritual and environmental. They will learn that ecological interventions take the social work person-in-environment to its logical conclusion. They are interventions that work for the best outcome for both the individual and their environment in its most complete conceptualization with the understanding that the two are one. The health of both is directly proportionate. Ergo, the term “client system” refers to, for example, a family, the community they live in, and the natural environment in which the two are embedded.Advanced direct practice may include interventions that address issues of environmental justice, food insecurity, disaster preparedness or recovery, ecosystem interventions, developing sustainable communities. At a minimum, practitioners will learn to recognize the larger concept of the person-in-environment relationship in its fullest sense and how to integrate ecological practice principles into every-day practice.

A cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.75, with 3.0 in the last 60 credits of study;Have an academic background in the liberal arts and have completed a minimum of 18 credits in social sciences among courses in at least three of the following disciplines: psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, and political science (BSW students meet the criterion);Submit personal essays which address the following (these are submit as part of the supplemental application; we recommend that you draft your responses in a word processing document):Examples of how you apply social work values and principlesExplanation of how your skills, knowledge and abilities support a career in Social WorkDescription of your career goals;Three completed electronic reference questionnaires (one academic, one work, and one professional reference; see supplemental MSW application for more details);Demonstrate relevant professional work/volunteer experiences (submit via the supplemental application):Report number of hours of relevant work experienceReport number of hours of relevant volunteer experience.Have completed course work in: Biological Life Sciences, Statistics, Research Methods, and Life Span Development or submit plans for completing this work prior to taking the Advanced Curriculum in the Program. Those with a BSW from an accredited program are considered to have met these criteria. Advanced standing, applicants are required to have graduated from an accredited baccalaureate social work program within the last eight years or have successfully completed a comparable Generalist Curriculum at a CSWE accredited MSW program.Applicants who completed their degrees at foreign universities may be required to complete the TOEFL. For applicants who are Registered Aliens of the United States who have lived in the United States for more than one year or who have completed academic work in English, the TOEFL is not required. Registered Aliens who do not meet these criteria will enter the program on probation and give evidence of their English proficiency through satisfactory performance in their first-semester course work.The GRE is not required.