Ph.D. Minor in Social Work

Doctoral students wishing to pursue an external minor in social work should contact the Director of the Ph.D. Program who will discuss the requirements and secure an advisor from among the doctoral faculty in the School of Social Work. The minor in social work requires the completion of at least 12 credit hours. Minimal acceptable grades are determined by policies established by the student’s major department or school. The choice of courses comprising the minor must be made in consultation with the Ph.D. Program Director and have the approval of the student’s identified faculty advisor. The faculty advisor will serve as the representative of the School of Social Work in all examinations and other requirements of the student’s Ph.D. Program that pertain to the minor, including certification that the student has met the requirements of the minor. A written qualifying examination is not required by the School of Social Work, but will be administered at the request of the major department.

Students must complete either S-730 or S-740 and at least one additional course from among the 700 level courses listed below. Remaining course requirements may be taken from among the school’s 500 and 600 level courses with the approval of the Director of the MSW Program and the course instructor.

• S-710 Social Work Theories of Human and Social Behavior
• S-720 Philosophy of Science and Social Work
• S-726 Advanced Social Work Research: Qualitative Methods
• S-727 Advanced Social Work Research: Quantitative Methods
• S-724 Theory, Practice, and Assessment of Social Work Teaching
• S-730 Pro-seminar on Social Work Policy
• S-740 Social Work Practice: Theory and Research
• S-790 Special Topics in Social Work Practice, Theory and Research

500 and 600 Level Courses

S501 Professional Social Work at the Masters Level: An Immersion (3 credits) This foundation course provides an overview of social work, including the definition, scope, history, ethics and values of the profession. This course will provide basic orientation to the available resources and expectations of graduate education in general, and the M.S.W. program, in particular, all within the framework of the adult learner model. Students will develop basic communication, self-assessment, and reflection skills necessary for success in the M.S.W. program. Students will have an opportunity to survey various fields of practice and will begin to identify personal learning goals for their M.S.W. education as well as develop a commitment to lifelong learning as a part of professional practice.

S503 Human Behavior in the Social Environment I (3 credits.) This course provides content on the reciprocal relationships between human behavior and social environments. It includes empirically based theories and knowledge that focus on the interactions between and within diverse populations of individuals, groups, families, organizations, communities, societal institutions, and global systems. Knowledge of biological, psychological, sociological, cultural, and spiritual development across the lifespan is included. Students learn to analyze critically micro and macro theories and explore ways in which theories can be used to structure professional activities. Concepts such as person-in-environment are used to examine the ways in which social systems promote or deter human well-being and social and economic justice.

S513 Human Behavior and the Social Environment II (3 credits) (variable title) This course builds upon S503 and focuses on developing further knowledge of human behavior theories and their application to practice. Students will link course content to the concentration that the student has selected.

S600/ S718 Intermediate Statistics for Social Work (3 credit) The intent of this course is for students to acquire an understanding of basic and intermediate statistical analyses that are used in the social sciences, the concepts and uses related to those statistics, and to be able to use a decision-making framework for selecting and computing appropriate statistical techniques for data analysis. The course content will assist students in developing knowledge and skill in selecting appropriate statistics to compute from a variety of basic univariate and bivariate statistics. Students will learn selected parametric and non-parametric statistics to examine research problems. Included in the learning process are hand computations of statistics, development of skills in using a comprehensive computer statistics package, and selection of statistical techniques based on levels of measurement and analyses of the assumptions of statistics.

S663 Leveraging Organizations, Communities, and Political Systems (3 credit) This course focuses on the knowledge and skills essential for understanding, analyzing, and application in organizations, communities, and political arenas. Such knowledge and skills include, but are not limited to: organizational theories, structures, and processes; examination and application of rural, urban and virtual community models, themes and practices; and understanding and involvement in political, social action, and social change interventions and empowerment practices.

S665 Designing Transformational Programs (3 credits) This course focuses on alternative, transformational models of strategic, community, and program planning. Featured development models center on collaboration, cultural competence, empowerment, and social justice. The course will address advanced grant writing, identification of funding and other resources, and philanthropic trends within a variety of social service delivery systems. It will move beyond a focus on the technology of program development, to examine planning as a vehicle for designing organizational, community, and social change.

S682 Assessment in Mental Health and Addictions (3 credits) Recognizing the social, political, legal, and ethical implications of assessment, students enrolled in this course critically examine various conceptual frameworks and apply bio-psychosocial and strengths perspectives to understand its multidimensional aspects. Students learn to conduct sophisticated mental status and lethality risk interviews, engage in strengths and assets discovery, and apply the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association and other classification schemes in formulating assessment hypotheses. They gain an understanding of the application of several relevant assessment instruments and learn to evaluate their relevance for service to at-risk populations, including persons affected by mental health and addictions issues. Students learn to collaborate with a diverse range of consumers and other professionals in developing meaningful assessments upon which to plan goals, intervention strategies, and means for evaluation.

***It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that any courses taken in the School of Social Work are compatible with degree requirements as specified by the school in which the student is pursuing a degree.