Social Work, Ph.D.

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Program Goals

Social Work doctoral education is directed at the development and transmission of new knowledge for the profession and at the rigorous practice and evaluation of existing clinical, management, and policy approaches in social work. Scholarship in social work pursues, primarily, knowledge for practical use. It is concerned with doing so by developing theoretical and empirical understanding utilizing the full range of research methodologies. It also is concerned with developing knowledge and skills for teaching on both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Morgan State University’s Ph.D. program in social work is uniquely designed to prepare students for leadership roles in urban social work research, policy analysis, and advocacy education, and macro social work practice. The program’s urban focus recognizes that many inner-city residents bear the brunt of the social, economic, political, and health-related problems of American society. The disproportionate occurrence of these problems in urban areas represents a crisis in American democracy. To address this crisis, the Ph.D. program in social work prepares students to apply a social justice framework to analyze and solve the catastrophic problems of contemporary urban society. Specific emphasis is on the multifaceted and sustained problems of urban minority populations. A special focus is given to the social problems that confront African American families, communities, and organizations. The program also seeks to produce persons interested in becoming professors in schools and departments of social work so that they can influence future social workers and contribute to social work’s knowledge base on urban minority populations.

Admission Requirements

Official transcripts of all academic work completed at regionally accredited institutions of higher education
GPA of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale for the last two years of undergraduate work
GPA of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale on all postgraduate study beyond the baccalaureate degree
MSW Degree from Council on Social Work Education accredited program. Persons with other related graduate degrees also are encouraged to apply, but they will be required to enroll in a social work urban practice internship.
Official results of the GRE (Graduate Record Examination)
International students, whose native language is not English, must provide a TOEFL score of 550 or higher and demonstrate through the required written documentation and interview that they have requisite verbal and analytical skills needed to successfully complete the program.
A 3 to 4 page, double-spaced written statement of the applicant’s interest and career goals that must address five questions: 1) What career objectives do you envision with a Ph.D. in social work? 2) What specific area of research do you plan to pursue if admitted into the Ph.D. program? 3) How have your professional experiences influenced your interest in pursuing a Ph.D. in social work? 4) What specifically attracts you to the social work doctoral program at Morgan State University? and 5) How prepared are you for the personal, emotional, and time demands of doctoral training?
A current resume or curriculum vitae documenting professional experiences.
Samples of professional writing, including publications and research proposal abstracts, if available.
Data from personal interview.
Three letters of recommendation: one (1) from a recent work experience, and two (2) academic references.

General Requirements

The Ph.D. Program in Social Work consists of 42 credits in the core curriculum and a minimum of 6 credit hours of dissertation research for a minimum total of 48 credit hours to complete the program. The program is primarily for full-time students, but a part-time option is available for special or unusual circumstances. Full-time students are expected to complete the program within four years or sooner. There is a seven-year statute of limitation for completion of the Ph.D. Degree in Social Work. Students must complete the 42 core credits with grades of B or above before applying to take the comprehensive examination. The comprehensive examination must be passed prior to movement into the dissertation phase of the program. Students may repeat the comprehensive examination only once. Students must submit an approved dissertation in partial fulfillment of the Ph.D. in Social Work. When the dissertation has been completed to the satisfaction of the dissertation chairperson and committee members, a dissertation defense will be scheduled at which time the student must orally defend the dissertation before the dissertation committee. Graduation from the program is dependent upon successful completion of a dissertation.

Program of Study

The following core curriculum, consisting of 42 credit hours, and a minimum of 6 credit hours of dissertation, are required of all doctoral students in social work. Elective courses are specified with “Elective” in parentheses, and students are required to take only two electives:

SOWK 701 - History of Social Welfare Policy 3 Credits
SOWK 702 - Social Work and Human Services Statistics I 3 Credits
SOWK 703 - Knowledge and Theory Development for Urban Social Work 3 Credits
SOWK 704 - Research Methods for Urban Social Institutions 3 Credits
SOWK 705 - Contemporary Social Policy Analysis 3 Credits
SOWK 706 - Social Work and Human Services Statistics II 3 Credits
SOWK 801 - Administration, Management, and Organizational Policy 3 Credits (Elective)
SOWK 802 - Qualitative Methods in Social Work Research 3 Credits
SOWK 803 - Urban Family Theories 3 Credits
SOWK 804 - Social Work with Urban Organizations And Communities 3 Credits
SOWK 805 - Advanced Statistics For The Human Services 3 Credits
SOWK 806 - Program Evaluation 3 Credits (Elective)
SOWK 807 - Issues In Social Work Pedagogy And Education 3 Credits
SOWK 808 - Teaching Practicum In Social Work Education 3 Credits
SOWK 809 - Health Policy Issues and Practice 3 Credits (Elective)
SOWK 810 - Scholarly Writing and Productivity 3 Credits (Elective)
SOWK 811 - Independent Study 3 Credits (Elective)
SOWK 997 - Dissertation Guidance 3 Credits
SOWK 998 - Dissertation Seminar Credits

Doctoral Dissertation

The doctoral dissertation provides students who have completed the core curriculum and passed the comprehensive examination with an opportunity to devise and conduct original research. Students must complete 15 credit hours of dissertation research. In the event the dissertation is not completed within the 15 credit hours, students must continue to register for SOWK 997 - Dissertation Guidance until the dissertation has been completed and approved.

Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive examination is designed to evaluate the degree to which doctoral students have successfully mastered content presented in the core curriculum. This in-class examination is written and spans over a one and a half day period in which students respond to questions in each core curriculum area. The core areas are 1) theories and methods of urban social work, 2) social welfare history and policy analysis, and 3) research methods and statistics. Students must pass the comprehensive examination prior to moving to the dissertation phase of the program. Students are only eligible to re-take the comprehensive examination one time.

Transfer Credits

Students who have taken doctoral courses in social work and interested in transferring to the Ph.D. Program at Morgan must submit course syllabi for evaluation by the Director of the Ph.D. Program. No more than twelve (12) semester credit hours can be transferred, and these transfer credits cannot be applied until the student has taken at least twelve (12) semester credit hours in the Ph.D. program at Morgan.

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