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2022-2024 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Doctor of Social Work: Doctor of Social Work (DSW), Program Information
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 Return to: School of Social Work
Department Chair: Dr. Jerome Schiele, Professor
Program Coordinator: Dr. Linda Darrell, Associate Professor
School of Social Work
Morgan State University 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane
Historic Jenkins Bldg., Rm. 338 Baltimore, Maryland 21251
ph: 443-885-1964
fax: 443-885-8241
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Program Faculty:
Dr. Sharlene Allen, LCSW-C, Associate Professor
Dr. Linda Darrell, LCSW-C, Associate Professor
Dr. Anthony Estreet, LCSW-C, Associate Professor
Dr. John R. Gallagher, LCSW-C, Associate Professor
Dr. Georgia Jennings-Dorsey, LCSW-C, Assistant Professor
Dr. Dawn Thurman, LCSW-C, Associate Professor
Dr. Laurens Van Sluytman, LCSW-C, Associate Professor
Dr. Rhonda Wells Wilbon, LCSW-C, Associate Professor
Program Description
The Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program is an advanced clinical practitioner degree offered by the School of Social Work. Strategically adapted towards the working advanced career clinical practitioner, the DSW program is an accelerated online program that enables students to complete degree requirements in three years with minimal career disruption. The primary focus of the program is to provide MSW clinicians with advanced clinical training to serve urban families and communities disproportionately comprise minorities of color, the DSW program primarily focuses its training on this population. The DSW program curriculum provides advanced skills in both micro and macro social work practice which includes evidence-based practice, clinical leadership, and advanced clinical research. The DSW differs from the Ph.D. in social work in that it is a professional practice degree.
Program Objectives
- To produce competent and socially conscious social work practitioners with an expertise in the field of social work and leadership to address social justice & change;
- To produce social work practitioners with advanced practice skills who will contribute to the advancement of clinical research, scholarship, and social policy advocacy specifically in the areas of urban social problems and urban social strengths;
- To produce social work practitioners who will infuse knowledge of urban social problems and urban social strengths in the social work curriculum; and
- To produce graduates who are competent in and knowledgeable of urban social policy, urban social work and family theory, urban organizations and communities, and research methods and statistics.
General Requirements
Candidates for the Doctor of Social Work degree must complete a minimum of 36 academic credit hours of coursework, which includes passing a comprehensive examination and successfully completing, defending, and submitting an acceptably written capstone project. Candidates may not possess “C” grades totaling more than 20 percent of the total credit hours required for satisfying the degree requirements. Thus, social work DSW students must not have more than 9 credit hours of “C” grades. Students who earned more than 9 credit hours of “C” grades will be dismissed from the program.
Admission
To be eligible for admission to the DSW program in the School of Social Work, an applicant must:
Have an earned Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from a program in good standing with the Council on Social Work Education, with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.2 or better, and at least 3 years of post MSW Clinical or Human Service experiences. Clinical Practitioners who are engaged in micro, mezzo, and macro practice are encouraged to apply; and A Clinical Licensure preferred but not required. Demonstration of Urban based community engagement on a micro/mezzo/macro level is valued;
Application Requirements
- Submission of an application for admission to the School of Graduate Studies at Morgan State University. All required documents must be submitted as directed by the School of Graduate Studies prior to program review and admission decision.
- Graduate Record Examination (GRE), GMAT, MAT etc., are not required for this program.
- Utilize the application system to arrange for three letters of recommendation to be accompanied with the application. These letters must be from officials or faculty members of institutions previously attended who are acquainted with the applicant’s ability for graduate study or from employment supervisors where applicable.
- Submit a typed, personal statement of professional interest that addresses the following questions:
Why are you interested in pursuing a DSW degree at Morgan State University?
What do you expect to gain from advanced DSW studies?
Describe a professional experience that you had with a client or client system that was very challenging and describe how you intervened? what was the conceptual/theoretical framework that under girded your intervention?
How will this DSW degree help you to positively impact urban individuals, families or communities?
- A current resume or curriculum vitae documenting education and professional experiences.
- One sample of professional writing which can include a publication, research proposal abstract, clinical or other professional training abstract.
- A virtual interview with the DSW Admissions Committee may be required.
Meeting the minimum eligibility requirements and submitting all the required documents does not guarantee that an offer of admission will be made to the applicant. the decision of the Program Admissions committee involves a review and analysis of all the elements of the application as well as the availability of positions in the program. The committee then recommends to the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies that an offer of admission should be made based on that review.
Candidacy
Students achieve candidacy by successfully passing the Comprehensive Examination. Once a student achieves candidacy, enrollment in any course other than 799. 797, 997, or 998 is generally prohibited. Students seeking additional skills, knowledge, or a certificate must seek approval through the program up to the School of Graduate Studies. The request must be accompanied with a revised Plan of Study.
Capstone/Dissertation Completion
The capstone project is the last phase of the DSW program. It is a written analysis of a specific academic topic that applies traditional scientific methods of inquiry to examine specific research questions or hypotheses. Students begin the process of selecting a capstone chairperson and members to constitute the capstone committee once they have passed the Comprehensive Examination. The role of the capstone committee is to supervise and guide the student in selecting a capstone topic, in conceptualizing the research problem and research questions, in executing the research design and data analysis, and in organizing and presenting the ideas that shape the capstone project. Candidates may select from four types of capstone projects, a dissertation, intervention, curriculum development or publication.
The capstone committee must comprise of at least three (3), but no more than five (5), members. A majority of the committee members must be full-time faculty in the School of Social Work at Morgan State University. The student can also select outside persons (that is, persons who are not affiliated with the School of Social Work or Morgan State University) to serve on the committee. Outside persons can be professors, community practitioners, or administrators, so long as they have doctorates and expertise in the are of study.
Students must orally defend a capstone proposal and the entire capstone project to complete the program. Once the proposal has been successfully defended, students can then proceed to collect and analyze their data and discuss the findings and implications. Once the written capstone project has been completed, a capstone hearing is scheduled for the final oral defense. Four outcomes of both the proposal and final oral defenses are possible: 1) Passed (no corrections are needed); 2) Conditionally passed (minor adjustments are needed in substance and/or format and must be approved by the capstone chairperson); 3) Deferred (major adjustments are needed in substance and/or format and a second and final oral defense is warranted); and 4) Failed (needed adjustments are too extensive or candidate failed to satisfactorily defend).
Additional Requirements
Academic and professional conduct and academic performance are critically important to maintain enrollment in the DSW program. Violation of the standards of academic and professional conduct and academic performance could lead o a student’s dismissal. Academic conduct is the degree to which students behave ethically and honestly as they execute their academic responsibilities and interact with their peers and professors. Some examples of unethical and dishonest behavior are cheating, plagiarism, abuse of academic/library materials, stealing, and lying.
Professional conduct is both inclusive of and broader than academic conduct and integrity. It fundamentally requires students to behave in a manner consistent with the ethical principles and standards of the social work profession, as formalized in the National Association of Social Workers’ (NASW) Code of Ethics (see the NASW website http://www.socialworkers.org). These ethical principles require social workers to conduct themselves with enormous integrity and respect for the dignity and worth of all people.
Academic performance is the degree to which students maintain the minimal level of achievement as assessed by established metrics such as the Grade Point Average (GPA). To maintain enrollment in the program, students must do the following:
- maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0;
- not exceed the seven-year statute of limitations;
- pass the comprehensive examination’
- pass both the dissertation proposal and final dissertation defenses;
- not earn “C” grades totaling more than 9 credit hours of coursework; and
- not earn two or more grades of “F.” All courses with “F” grades must be retaken and a passing grade must be assigned to graduate.
Failure to adhere to these standards, in addition to those of honesty and integrity, can lead to a student’s dismissal from the program. If students are dismissed from the program, they have the right to appeal the decision. All appeals, including a student’s academic progress, probation, or dismissal, must be addressed in writing to the Dean of the School of social Work who, in consultation with the PhD Department Chair, will review the appeal and prepare a report and written recommendation for review by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. The Graduate Studies Dean renders the final decision regarding a student’s appeal.
Program Course Requirements DSW 36 credits
Elective courses 6 credits
6 credits chosen from the courses below:
Dissertation Seminar courses 3 credits
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Return to: School of Social Work
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