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M.S.W. Program
Candidates entering with an appropriate bachelor's degree from a recognized university will normally complete the program in two years of full-time study. Candidates entering with a B.S.W. degree from a recognized university will be given advanced standing and will normally complete the program in one year of full-time study or two years of part-time study. All students are expected to graduate with an advanced level of knowledge and professional competence in a chosen social work specialization.
Human services are among the fastest growing sectors of the Canadian economy. Along with the growth is an increasing diversification of the sector, with fields of practice rising up around specific areas of need. This process will continue with or without the social work profession as employers and the country as a whole go in search of the workers they need to staff the new, more specialized service agencies of the future. While the notion of generic social work has a role to play in this increasingly complex environment, it is clear that graduates will also require more specific skills if they are to thrive in the new human service sector. In other words, generic social work is a necessary, but no longer sufficient preparation for practice. The overall aim of the program is therefore to produce graduates who are ready to enter the field of their choice after first receiving a thorough grounding in the knowledge, values and skills common to all social workers. The specializations will be built upon the expertise of core teaching faculty and have all been developed with the very active participation of partner agencies in each of the respective fields.
GOALS
1. To prepare graduates for ethical, innovative and effective social work practice in a diverse society;
2. To work actively to promote social justice, make professional decisions and perform professional functions that are informed by an understanding of the political context of practice;
3. To prepare graduates for competent practice which integrates theory and research;
4. To prepare graduates capable of integrating practice and policy;
5. To prepare graduates who have a generic foundation of core social work knowledge, values and skills, applicable to all fields and methods of practice; and
6. To prepare graduates for practice in specialized areas, defined by student interest, faculty expertise and demand from the field.
OBJECTIVES
- To prepare students for professional practice according to the accreditation standards of CASWE;
- To prepare students for social work practice interventions based on research evidence;
- To prepare students for specialized practice in five identified areas:
1. Children and their Families
2. Social Justice and Diversity
3. Mental Health and Health
4. Gerontology
5. Social Service Administration
- To strengthen our partnerships with social work agencies in areas of particular interest to the Faculty for the purposes of enriching our curriculum and of producing graduates with the requisite skills to function in those agencies;
- To encourage interdisciplinary linkages.