GRADUATE PROGRAM AND COURSES

ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING

GREATER MIAMI VALLEY MSW COLLABORATIVE:  MIAMI UNIVERSITY AND WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY

As is often the case in social work and life experience, when one door closes, another door opens. Such is the case for us at the Wright State University Social Work Department.  We are grateful for the mentoring we received from The Ohio State University College of Social Work as we now partner with Miami University to provide a collaborative MSW program in the greater Miami Valley region.

The mission of the new program is:

The Mission of the Greater Miami Valley MSW Collaborative offered by Miami University and Wright State University is to prepare students from the Greater Miami Valley region to become advanced generalist professionals.  Graduates will be lifelong learners and leaders, contribute to the profession of social work through advanced generalist practice which emphasizes effective practice and policy skill development to promote diversity and cultural competency, social and economic justice, reduce oppression, and improve the broader human condition.

The collaboration between WSU and MU allows us to combine resources to reach our program mission and provide an excellent advanced generalist, graduate social work training in the local, geographic area.The initial proposal for this new program has been approved by the faculty and senate of both universities, has received approval from the Council on Social Work Education to move forward with the application for candidacy, and has received approval from the Ohio Board of Regents to submit a full proposal for a new graduate program in the state.  The original Program Development Plan (PDP) submitted to OBR has been placed on this website.

Next Steps

In order to begin the first MSW classes in Fall 2012, the following processes must be completed:

• Receive approvals at both universities from the appropriate graduate faculty committees, graduate schools, faculty senates, provosts, and Board of Directors by Winter 2012.

• Submit and receive approval from the Ohio Board of Regents Advisory Committee on Graduate Study (RACGS) by Spring 2012

• Site Visit. . ..

• Submit Benchmark 1 to the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), complete the site visit between December, 2011-February, 2012, and receive approval for candidacy by June, 2012.

We are on target to meet these timelines and feel confident in our goal of beginning Fall 2012.

Students

Continue to check this website for updates on the proposed program.  We plan to begin an application process in late Fall 2011 and into Winter 2012.  All applications will be unofficial as students can not be accepted into the Graduate Schools of either university until OBR and CSWE approvals have been achieved. We will post the full CSWE Benchmark 1 document and the full OBR proposal to this website by December, 2011.  These documents will provide specific details about the curriculum and academic supports of the program. 

Here are some highlights of the proposed program:

• Accept up to 30 beginning students in Fall 2012:  15 from WSU and 15 from MU.   This first class will follow a two-year full-time program with anticipated graduation of Spring 2014. 

• Application qualifications will include a bachelors’ degree, minimum of 2.75 cumulative GPA across all higher education classes, and have taken required courses for non-BSW students, such as Human Biology.  Students must complete 60 semester hours of required courses, including three field practicums which total to 900 hours.  A full-time schedule will typically be 5 classes (3 semester hours each). 

• In the student’s last semester, she/he must complete an applied research project as part of the third research course. 

• In addition to the Foundation courses of Year 1, all students will complete the Advanced Generalist concentration and will have a choice of two concentration focus areas:  Older Adults or Children and Families.Classes will be offered on the WSU Dayton campus and the MU Middletown campus.  Some classes will be taught using Distance Video Learning Classrooms where students interact with the professor and other students from Miami University via live video feeds.

• Classes will be taught by faculty in the social work programs at both MU and WSU.  Both programs are accredited and were reaffirmed with CSWE in 2010.  Faculty in both programs have extensive teaching, research, and service expertise in social work.

• Students completing the graduation requirements will receive a Masters of Arts in Social Work. 

• The diploma and transcripts will contain the names of both universities.

• There will be a diversity of field practicum sites available throughout the region.

We plan to offer an accelerated, three semester program for students who graduate with a BSW from a CSWE accredited social work program, have a 3.25 GPA, and are selected from the applicant list.  The first accelerated program will begin Summer 2013.  Students in this program going full-time will be on target to graduate in Spring 2014.

The CSWE approval process for accreditation begins with 3 years of candidacy, which includes submissions of follow-up benchmark documents and annual site visits.  The anticipated timeline for the proposed program is:

• Fall 2012-Sping 2013  Year 1 of Candidacy

• Fall 2013-Spring 2014 Year 2 of Candidacy

• Fall 2014-Spripng 2015 Year 3 of Candidacy

• Fall 2015-Spring 2016 Year 1 of Accreditation

• Fall 2015-Spring 2016 Year 2 of Accreditation

• Fall 2016-Spring 2017 Year 3 of Accreditation

• Fall 2017-Spring 2018 Year 4 of Accreditation

• Fall 2018 – Apply for Reaffirmation for 8 years

Once we receive accreditation, all previous graduates will be notified.  Students will not be eligible to apply to become Licensed Independent Social Workers in Ohio until full accreditation of the program is received.

Social Service Providers

We look forward to expanding our partnership with local social service agency social workers in the roles of field practicum supervisors, advisory board members, and adjunct professors.  Please also consider writing a letter of support for the OBR and CSWE documents.  And please become part of the site visit schedule with the CSWE commissioners.

Students and social service agency staff can learn more about this exciting program by contacting Dr. Carl Brun, PhD, LISW, Chair, Professor, Social Work, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, 45435; 937-775-2751; carl.brun@wright.edu

Thank you for visiting our website today. We are excited that you are interested in pursuing a graduate education in social work and are considering a program in our region.