Master of Social Work (MSW) Admission Requirements

General Admission

Admissions requirements for the Master of Social Work degree include a Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution. Overall GPA must be at least 3.0. Applicants must have completed a statistics course by the time they are admitted in the fall. A personal statement, resume, and completed field application form are required. Applicants must supply three letters of recommendation from instructors or employers. An interview may be required.

Advanced Standing Admission (BSW/BSSW)

Students who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from a CSWE accredited program within the past 5 years are waived of all generalist practice courses in which they earned a B or better in their undergraduate program. Advanced standing students must complete 720 field internship hours while at the College of Staten Island, and are credited with 480 hours from their BSW/BSSW program. Students who complete less than 480 hours in their BSW/BSSW program will have to make up the necessary field hours in their advanced year internship placement. A summer bridge course is required of all Advanced Standing Students.

One Year Residency (OYR) Admission

Admissions requirements for the Master of Social Work degree OYR option include a Bachelor’s degree in a major other than social work. Overall GPA must be at least 3.0. Applicants must be currently employed with a human services agency for a minimum of one-year and have a minimum of two years of full-time human services work experience. OYR students must complete 900 field internship hours with their current agency in a different unit.

Transfer Students

Students who wish to transfer from another CSWE accredited Master of Social Work program will have their transfer credits evaluated by the Admissions Committee. MSW students may transfer up to 12 credits and up to 480 hours of field internship (the equivalent of the generalist practice year internship). Advanced Standing students may transfer up to 9 credits (6 elective credits and 3 summer bridge course credits). All advanced year field internships, advanced year seminars and area of specialization courses must be taken in residence at the College of Staten Island.

Foreign Degrees

Those with baccalaureate degrees from non-English speaking universities must also take the TOEFL examination and achieve a minimum score of 600 on the paper-based version (out of a total of 677 possible points) or 100 on the computer-based version (out of 120 possible points). Students with Bachelor degrees in Social Work from foreign universities will have to obtain an evaluation of their degrees through the Council on Social Work Education. CSWE will determine whether or not the degree is equivalent to a CSWE accredited Bachelor of Social Work degree. If CSWE determines that the degree is equivalent, the student will be considered for admission to the Advanced Standing program. If CSWE determines that the degree is not equivalent to a CSWE accredited degree, the student will be considered for the traditional, two-year MSW program.

The Admissions Committee will determine acceptance into the program. One member of the Admissions Committee will serve as the affirmative action designee responsible for seeing that students traditionally underrepresented in graduate programs will have opportunities to apply and to be accepted into the program.

Dismissal, Probation, Continuation and Graduation

Academic requirements for MSW students are somewhat different from those of students in other programs. Faculty are expected to act as gatekeepers to the profession, ensuring graduates meet not only the academic expectations of the profession, but also the professional expectations. CSWE refers to this as professional performance. Students in both the classroom and field are expected to behave in a manner that is respectful of clients, of other students, staff, and faculty, and to conduct themselves in accordance with the NASW Code of Ethics. Failure to do so is a strong indicator of a lack of readiness for entry into the social work profession and consequently may result in termination from the program.

To support academic and professional advisement, each student admitted to the MSW program will be assigned a full-time social work faculty member to serve as the academic and professional advisor for the student for their remaining stay at the College. Students are also informed that they must make an appointment to see their advisor every semester, prior to registration, to assure that the student is making the appropriate choices in pursuit of the MSW degree. Of course, social work academic advisors are available throughout every semester for any concerns or questions students may have regarding their studies or matters related to their professional development.

If a student is not performing to academic or professional expectations, or is unable to master the required knowledge or skills, or has violated the ethical standards of the profession, the academic advisor will report the difficulties to the MSW Program Director. Difficulties specifically relating to field placement will also be reported by the Field Liaison to the Director of MSW Field Education. Regardless of where difficulties arise, it is the responsibility of the faculty, faculty advisor and/or Field Liaison to request a meeting of the Social Work Program’s Academic Review Committee. The Academic Review Committee may impose specific conditions to support the student in succeeding academically and professionally, place the student on probation or terminate the student from the program.

Probation

Students may be placed on probation for academic or professional reasons. Graduate students whose GPA falls between 2.7 and 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. Students on academic probation must raise their GPA to 3.0 within the next semester to continue in the MSW program. Graduate students whose GPA remains below 3.0 at the end of the probationary semester will be allowed to continue in the MSW program only upon successful review by the Academic Review Committee. This policy is applicable no matter the number of credits earned by the student. Students who have been identified as not meeting professional requirements of the program may also be placed on probation by recommendation of the Academic Review Committee.

Continuation

Graduate students whose GPA falls below 2.7 will not be eligible for graduation, and will not normally be permitted to continue in the MSW program. These students will only be allowed to continue in the MSW program upon successful review by the Academic Review Committee. Students who receive less than a B in any practice or seminar course, or who do not pass Field, can continue in the MSW program only upon successful review by the Academic Review Committee. Students who receive below a B in a practice or seminar course, or below a C in any other MSW course, cannot continue in any course for which the course is a prerequisite. For a course in which the minimum grade is not achieved, students can retake the course once if their GPA meets the criteria for continuation, but will only get credit once. An Advanced Standing student who fails a course might be required to remediate, depending on assessment by the Program Director and/or the Academic Review Committee.

Dismissal

A student referred to the Academic Review Committee for failing to meet academic and/or professional expectations may be terminated from the MSW program. If the Academic Review Committee determines that, in its academic and professional judgment, the student is not meeting the standards of the program and the profession at the level expected of a graduate social work student, and that the difficulty is unlikely to be resolved quickly and satisfactorily with a problem resolution plan, the MSW Program Director will notify the student by through their CSI email, within 14 days of the Committee meeting, that the student will be dismissed from the MSW program.

Readmission after Withdrawal or Dismissal

A student who withdraws in good standing is eligible for readmission within two years but must notify the Program Director six weeks prior to the semester in which they intend to return. A student who withdraws or is dismissed due to not meeting minimum GPA expectations may reapply for admission during the regular spring admissions process to request fall readmission. The student will have to participate in an interview with the Admissions Committee and it must be determined that the student is capable of academic success. A student who is dismissed due to a serious violation or pattern of violations of the NASW Code of Ethics or other professional misconduct will not be considered for readmission.

Social Work MSW - Master of Social Work

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