PhD Social Work, Program Information

Program Faculty

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Department Chair

Jerome H. Schiele, DSW

Professor

 

Program Coordinator

Jerome H. Schiele, DSW

Professor

338 Historic Jenkins

Tel: (443)885-1964; Fax: (443) 885-8241

E-Mail: jerome.schiele@morgan.edu

 

Program Faculty

Rhonda Wells-Wilbon, DSW

Associate Professor

Program Description

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The mission of the PhD department in social work embraces and reinforces the University’s mission to address societal problems, especially those that impact urban communities. More specifically, the PhD department prepares students for leadership roles in urban social work research, social policy analysis and advocacy, and social work education. The urban focus recognizes that inner-city residents bear the brunt of the social, economic, political, and health-related problems of American society. The PhD department in social work prepares students to apply a social justice framework to analyze and solve the multifaceted problems and challenges of contemporary urban society. A special focus is given to the social problems that confront African-American families, communities, and organizations. The PhD department also produces 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 families, communities, and organizations.

Program Objectives

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1. To produce competent and socially conscious leaders in the field of social welfare who will work assiduously to affect positive social change;

2. To produce researchers, scholars, and social policy advocates who will contribute to the knowledge base of social work and to the general social science literature in the areas of urban social problems and urban social strengths;

3. To produce social work educators who will infuse knowledge of urban social problems and urban social strengths in the social work curriculum; and

4. 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

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Candidates for the PhD in social work degree must complete a minimum of forty-eight (45) academic credit hours of course work, which includes passing a comprehensive examination and successfully completing, defending, and submitting an acceptably written dissertation. 

Students may not possess “C” grades totaling more than 20 percent of the total credit hours required for satisfying the degree requirements. Thus, social work PhD 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

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To be eligible for admission to the PhD Program in Social Work, an applicant must: 

 

• Have earned a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university. 

• Possess an undergraduate cumulative grade point average (G.P.A.) of 3.0 or better to be considered for regular admission. Post-bachelor’s undergraduate credits will not be used to enhance undergraduate G.P.A. requirements for admission to graduate study. 

• Possess a 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale on all postgraduate study beyond the baccalaureate degree.  

• Have an earned Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from a program in good standing with the Council on Social Work Education. Persons with other related graduate degrees may apply but they will be required to enroll in a social work urban practice internship for one semester.

• Submit an application for admission to the School of Graduate Studies.  All required documents must be submitted as directed by the School of Graduate Studies prior to program review and admission decision.  

• Provide test scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Test scores may not be more than 5 years old prior to the date of application.  These scores must be delivered by ETS to the Morgan State University School of Graduate Studies. 

• 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. 

• Use the application system to arrange for three letters of recommendation to be placed 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. One letter should come from a recent work experience, and two from academic references.

• Submit a typed exposition regarding the candidate’s personal academic and professional plans and the reasons for selecting Morgan State University. The following questions must be addressed in the statement of interest:  1) Tell us about yourself and your professional experiences; 2) What are your research interests; 3) When did you take your last research course; 4) How do the goals of the PhD program advance your goals as a scholar/researcher; and 5) Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 

• A current resume or curriculum vitae documenting professional experiences.

• One sample of professional writing, which can include a publication and research proposal abstract if available.

• Interview with the PhD Committee.

 

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 admission should be made based on that review.

Candidacy

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Students achieve candidacy by successfully passing the Comprehensive Examination.  

Once a student achieves candidacy, enrollment in any course other than 799, 797, 998, or 997 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.

Dissertation Completion

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The dissertation is the last phase of the PhD program in social work.  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 dissertation chairperson and members to constitute the dissertation committee once they have passed the Comprehensive Examination. The role of the dissertation committee is to supervise and guide the student in selecting a dissertation 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 dissertation.

The dissertation 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 be on the committee.  Outside persons can be professors, community practitioners, or administrators, so long as they have doctorates and expertise in the area of study.

Students must orally defend a dissertation proposal and the entire dissertation to complete the program. The proposal contains the first three chapters of the dissertation. These chapters are the dissertation’s introduction, purpose, and rationale; literature review and conceptual framework; and methodology. 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 dissertation has been completed, a dissertation 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 dissertation 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

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Academic and professional conduct, and academic performance, are critically important to maintain enrollment in the PhD program. Violation of the standards of academic and professional conduct and academic performance could lead to 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: 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:  

1. maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0;

2. not exceed the seven-year statute of limitations;

3. pass the comprehensive examination;

4. pass both the dissertation proposal and final dissertation defenses;

5. not earn “C” grades totaling more than 9 credit hours of course work; and

6. 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 additional 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

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Below are the required courses for the PhD program in social work: 

 

SOWK 701 History of Social Welfare Policy 3

SOWK 702 Social Work and Human Services Statistics I 3

SOWK 703 Research Methods for Urban Social Institutions 3

SOWK 704 Knowledge and Theory Development for Urban Social Work 3

SOWK 705 Contemporary Social Policy Analysis 3

SOWK 706 Social Work and Human Services Statistics II 3

SOWK 802 Qualitative Methods in Social Work Research 3

SOWK 803 Urban Family Theories 3

SOWK 804 Social Work with Urban Organizations and Communities 3

SOWK 805 Advanced Statistical Applications in Social Work 3

SOWK 807 Issues in Social Work Pedagogy and Education 3

SOWK 808 Teaching or Research Practicum in Social Work 3

SOWK 811 Elective or Independent Study 3

SOWK 899 Guided Research 3

SOWK 997/998 Dissertation Guidance / Dissertation Defense 3/9* 

 

Note

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The student will continuously register in Fall and Spring terms for ENGL 997 (Dissertation Guidance) until the Dissertation is completed and submitted to the School of Graduate Studies for review.  The course is used only when the curriculum has been completed and the student is completing the research and writing of the Dissertation. The ENGL 997 course registration maintains the student status as a matriculated, full-time student (student registers for 3 credit hours each semester, but is acknowledged as having a 9 credit hour load).  

After the Intent to Defend the Dissertation form has been received by the School of Graduate Studies, this course registration will be changed to ENGL 998 (Dissertation Defense) for the given semester and count for 3 credit hours of curricular coursework (ENGL 998 will also count as 9 credits of load).  ENGL 997 will not count toward curricular credits. Other courses cannot be substituted for ENGL 997 (Dissertation Guidance). The only eligible grade for ENGL 997 (Dissertation Guidance) is the grade of “S” and the only acceptable grade for ENGL 998 (Dissertation Defense) is “P/F” (Pass/Fail).

Suggested Curriculum Sequence

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The typical plan of study requires enrollment in a minimum of nine (9) credit hours per term to remain full-time.  Not every course is offered every term, and the following plan of study is an illustration. At the initial conference with an advisor, a preliminary plan of study will be established, and this will be reported to the School of Graduate Studies (using the SGS Plan of Study Form) for placement in the student’s official file.  At this time, any anticipated exceptions or anticipated transfer credits will be noted. An estimated time for completion of the thesis/dissertation must be included. Changes to the plan of study will be reported to the School of Graduate Studies. The student and the advisor will sign the form submitted to the School of Graduate Studies.