Social Work PhD Curriculum
COURSE OF STUDY
CURRICULUM
It is assumed that all required courses will be taken at the University of South Carolina. Under some circumstances and with the approval of a student's advisor in consultation with the director of the doctoral program, coursework taken from an accredited doctoral program may be accepted in lieu of required or elective courses.
All course work to be applied toward the Ph.D., exclusive of the Master's degree portion, should be completed within eight years prior to graduation. If the student exceeds eight years in the program, special arrangements may be made with the Graduate School for the revalidation of over-age credits in courses given by the University. The College of Social Work must approve each revalidation.
Per Graduate Studies Bulletin, “Students are advised that unforeseen circumstances may interfere with the scheduling of any give course or degree offering. Students must be prepared for such developments even if they cause the students to experience delays in fulfilling their academic goals ore require them to modify some of these goals (p. 16).” The College will work closely with students to resolve such unforeseen problems in completing program requirements.
The course requirements described here constitute the minimum that is expected of doctoral students. Dissertation chairs and committees may require students to take additional courses in order to prepare them to carry out their dissertation research. The doctoral program in social work is designed so that course requirements can be completed in 2 or 3 years. A student must enroll full-time (9 hours per semester) during the first calendar year in residence. A typical plan of study follows:
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Fall
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Spring
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Summer
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Year I
Required reading prior to beginning classes
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SOWK 800: Intellectual Foundations of Social Welfare and Social Work, I: Historical Roots
(3 credits)
SOWK 892: Design and Critical Analysis of Social Work Research (3 credits)
*SOWK 890: Analysis of Social Work Data-- Statistics, I (3 credits)
SOWK 850: Professional Seminar
(1 credit)
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**SOWK 801: Intellectual Foundations of Social Welfare and Social Work, II: Modern Developments (3 credits)
SOWK 811:
Qualitative Methods of Inquiry for Social Work Research
(3 credits)
SOWK 891:
Advanced Analysis of Social Work Data- Statistics, II
(3 credits)
SOWK 850: Professional Seminar
(1 credit) |
Reading
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Year II
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SOWK 802:
***Intellectual Foundations of Social Welfare and Social Work, III: Conceptual Model Building
(3 credits)
EDHE 738: Principles of College Teaching
(3 credits)
Elective
SOWK 850: Professional Seminar
(1 credit)
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SOWK 831: Leadership for Social Change
(3 credits)
Elective
Elective
SOWK 850: Professional Seminar
(1 credit)
SOWK 894: Proposal Writing Seminar
(1 credit)
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Reading
****SOWK 899:
Dissertation Research
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Year III
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Elective
SOWK 899:
Dissertation Research
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SOWK 899:
Dissertation Research
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*Waiver examinations for research methods and statistics courses will be available to students who can demonstrate competency in these areas. Students who successfully waive one or both of these courses will substitute elective courses.
**Successful completion of SOWK 800 is prerequisite for enrolling in SOWK 801
***Successful completion of SOWK 801 is prerequisite for enrolling in SOWK 802
****Successful completion of SOWK 894 is a prerequisite for enrolling in SOWK 899.
Minimum Course Requirements:
Intellectual Foundations of Social Welfare and Social Work Core: SOWK 800, SOWK 801, SOWK 802 (9 credits)
Research Methods Core: SOWK 890, SOWK 891, SOWK 892, SOWK 811 (12 credits)
Education and Leadership Core: EDHE 738, SOWK 831 (6 credits)
Substantive electives outside of the college (6 credits)
Advanced research methods electives (6 credits)
Professional seminar: SOWK 850 (2 credits)
Planning and design of dissertation research: SOWK 894 (2 credits)
Other electives (6 credits)
SOWK 899 (12 credits)
Total 61
Doctoral Courses:
- 800 -- Intellectual Foundations of Social Welfare and Social Work I: Historical Roots. (3) Examines across disciplines the theoretical and empirical foundations for social welfare and social work in historical, economic, social, and political contexts prior to the 20th century.
- 801 -- Intellectual Foundations of Social Welfare and Social Work II: Modern Developments. (3) Examines across disciplines the theoretical and empirical foundations of social welfare and social work in historical, economic, social, and political contexts from the early 20th century to the present.
- 802 -- Intellectual Foundations of Social Welfare and Social Work III: Conceptual Model-Building. (3) Examines the process of developing theory-based welfare and social work scholarship from a variety of research approaches, focusing on conceptual model-building.
- 811 -- Qualitative Methods of Inquiry for Social Work Research. (3) Foundations of qualitative methods in social research with emphasis on intensive interviewing and grounded theory.
- 822 -- Measurement and Instrument Design. (3) (Prereq: SOWK 891, 892) Advanced study to evaluate and design measurement and instrumentation in social work research. Restricted to social work doctoral students.
- 831 -- Leadership for Social Change. (3) Examines theoretical and practical foundations of providing leadership for social change through organizations, communities, public policies, and social norms.
- 870 -- The Social Work Educator in the University. (3) (Prereq: EDLP 738) Examines the etiological development of social work education in the United States and analyzes the current issues confronting the social work educator.
- 850 -- Social Work Doctoral Professional Seminar. (2) Examines issues related to making a successful transition from doctoral student to professional social work scholar.
- 871 -- The Social Work Education Curriculum. (3) (Prereq: SOWK 870) Examines the forces and issues related to curriculum construction for social work education at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels.
- 872 -- Social Work Education Practicum. (3) A wide range of supervised classroom, field, and other learning experiences designed to prepare the student for work as a social work educator.
- 890 -- Analysis of Social Work Data. (3) Approaches to the organization, analysis, interpretation, and utilization of data sets available from social agency records or from existing empirical research.
- 891 -- Advanced Analysis of Social Work Data. (3) Analysis of complex data sets from social services agencies and other research sources. (Restricted to Social Work doctoral students).
- 892 -- Design and Critical Analysis of Social Work Research. (3) Advanced study of research methods commonly employed in the development of knowledge for social work practice and education. Critique of published social work research using a standardized critique model.
- 893 -- Information Technology for Social Work Research. (3) Classroom and experiential learning in use of computer software packages for research and scholarly production in social work.
- 894 -- Planning and Design of Dissertation Research. (1) (Prereq: SOWK 890, 891, 892, 811) A seminar designed to provide intensive faculty supervision and peer consultation to the doctoral student in the preparation of the dissertation proposal. Repeatable: 2 credits required for the doctoral program.
- 899 -- Dissertation Preparation. (1-12) (Prereq: SOWK 894)
SOCIAL WORK TEACHING PRACTICUM (SOWK 872)
Students are required to complete a teaching practicum. The purpose of the teaching practicum is to develop teaching skills at the university level under the direction of an experienced social work educator. Students may complete the practicum either as a teaching assistant to a faculty member in the College of Social Work or as an instructor in the College. The particular structure and content of the practicum depends upon the experience and the learning objectives of the student.
In preparation for the practicum, the student should consult with the doctoral director about individual learning needs to be addressed through the teaching experience and potential faculty instructors to supervise the practicum. The faculty instructor who supervises the practicum works with the student to develop a learning contract that defines the learning objectives, the activities designed to meet the objectives, learning outcomes and criteria for grading the student’s performance. The final learning contract must be approved by the doctoral director. The doctoral director is the instructor of record and gives the final grade upon recommendation by the supervising faculty instructor.
SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH PRACTICUM
Students are required to complete a research practicum. The purpose of the research practicum is to develop competence in conducting research under the direction of an experienced faculty researcher. Students may complete the requirement for the research practicum in a variety of ways, depending upon their level of experience, learning objectives, the availability of opportunities to participate in research with faculty and in the community. The practicum may be taken for credit, or may be achieved through work as a research assistant. The means for fulfilling the objective of the research practicum should be agreed upon by the student, the student’s advisor and/or dissertation director.
ELECTIVES
Students must complete four electives as part of the approved Program of Study. These four electives include two substantive electives in departments outside of the College of Social Work and two electives in advanced research methods either inside or outside of the College of Social Work. The two substantive electives must be graduate level courses selected to form a subject or cognate area based on the student's individualized research interests. A student may also take electives at accredited colleges or universities with appropriate graduate level courses with the approval of the advisor or dissertation director. The Elective Review form must be completed.
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