Program Director
Dr. Corinne Warrener, Ph.D., LMSW

Thayer Hall, Room 232

Telephone: (404) 880-8531

Master of Social Work Degree (59 Credits) Specializations:

• Child and Family
• Behavioral Health

This program offers three-degree completion options: 1) Two-Year Option (59 Credits); 2) Three-Year Option (59 Credits); 3) Advanced Standing Option (38 Credits) 

Program Overview

The Master of Social Work Degree Program offers a clinical practice degree and prepares social work practitioners with the competencies and skills necessary for effective clinical practice in various social work roles.  The school uses the Afrocentric Perspective as the cornerstone of its practice model and infuses it throughout the generalist and clinical curriculum.  The Program prepares students to demonstrate a heightened sense of social consciousness and become culturally competent social workers capable of addressing and resolving complex social problems and issues affecting diverse groups in various settings.  The emphasis is to prepare graduates to be creative and responsible social work professionals who, in pursuit of social justice within a global context, demonstrate commitment to the search for solutions to problems affecting the African American community, with a focus on children, families, and males within the context of family and community.

The Master of Social Work Degree Program further seeks to advance the aims of the profession through education for excellence in advanced clinical social work practice and offers two foci areas:

1. Child and Family and
2. Behavioral Health

Both specializations utilize ecological and systems theories as a base, though they draw upon other theories, including developmental and life-stage theories. Three major integrative themes undergird the curriculum: Afrocentric Perspective, Humanistic Values, and Autonomous Social Work Practice Roles.

Mission

The mission of the Master of Social Work Program is to prepare clinical social work practitioners as leaders who pursue social justice with a commitment to service to diverse populations, address disparity issues that prevail locally, nationally, and globally, and engage in competent practice.

Vision

The vision of the Master of Social Work Program is to educate and train clinical social work practitioners with knowledge, values, and skills for practice, advocacy, policy analysis, and research to be effective and culturally competent with a strong impact on diverse global populations.

The three mission statements (University, School, and MSW Program) highlight the values of leadership and diversity.  To lead, compete, and practice effectively on a local, national, and global level, MSW students must have an appreciation for human diversity that builds on clients’ strengths and empowerment. Implicit in the mission statement is an appreciation of human diversity, which is reflective of the contextual environment in which the program is embedded. The mission preserves the significance of the profession’s quest for pursuing social and economic justice for all people, especially those who are oppressed and seeks to produce graduates who are able to advance the purposes of social work education and address social, economic, and racial disparity issues that prevail on national and global levels. 

Program of Study Master of Social Work

The Master of Social Work Degree Program offers the following degree completion plan of study options:

Admissions Requirements

In addition to the General Admissions Requirements as published in this Catalog, all applicants to the Master of Social Work Degree for the Two-Year, Full-Time, Three-Year, Part-Time Option, and One-Year, Full-Time Advanced Standing Option must submit a personal statement. The applicants for the One-Year, Full-Time Advanced Standing Option must have a Bachelor’s degree in social work from a Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accredited program in order to be eligible for Advanced Standing. The GRE is waived for application to the MSW Program.

All applicants for the Master of Social Work Degree must have completed a minimum of twenty-seven (27) liberal arts undergraduate credit hours as follows:

• Human Biology (3)
• Humanities (21)
• Mathematics (3)

Applicants who have liberal arts deficiencies may be admitted conditionally; such students must complete all liberal arts requirements during their matriculation in the MSW program.

Note: The Master of Social Work Degree program does not permit academic credit for life or work experience.

Program Objectives

1. Prepare students for culturally competent practice with diverse systems of all sizes, including the ability to utilize an Afrocentric Perspective to resolve complex social issues and to promote and advocate for social and economic justice. 
2. Prepare students for service in the social work profession as ethically competent clinical social work practitioners. 
3. Prepare students to apply multiple theoretical frameworks and practice models to work with client systems of all sizes to resolve complex social issues. 
4. Provide students with social work research, knowledge, values, and skills that will enable them to provide leadership in service delivery systems on a local, national, and global level.
5. Prepare students to use technology appropriately to ensure competent and ethical practice and provide access to opportunities that enhance their personal and professional growth.