1) What is the enrichment Fee?

The fee is cover costs associated with field and workshops. It is a one-time fee.

2) Who decides registration appointment times and how is this done?

It works a bit like a lottery. The registrar’s office has a formula within the university. The entire master & doctoral student body grades and completed credit hours determine your appointment time.

3) Why was my schedule dropped?

Fee must be paid on time. You must commit your financial aid or pay your fees on time. If you do not, classes will be dropped for non-payment of fees and you will lose your schedule. Please pay your fees on time.

4) Can I get an override to get into a certain section?

The section is closed and professors do not give overrides. Sections are carefully designed not to overload any one professor. This will keep all sections of a class equally balanced.

5) What do I do for graduation?

All students must complete an application for graduation and a program of courses. These forms will be placed in your mailbox. Please complete and submit in a timely manner.

6) How are registration appointment times assigned?

When a class size is limited during registration, how do so many extra's get in the class?

1) If I choose the part-time program, can I get all my classes in the evening or on Saturdays?

Detailed information is about the part-time program is available in the admissions package mailed to students. In short, students will not be able to take all of their classes in the locations outside Columbia. Only five or six courses are offered by satellite. However, students might want to stay where they live and not move to Columbia. They can do their field placement work there and come to Columbia a day or two each week to take their coursework.

2) Has the college received all the paperwork required for my file to be complete?

Students may check the Graduate School website to see if they have received the Graduate School application, fee, transcripts and letters of recommendation. They may call the Admissions Office in the College of Social Work at any time to see if their file is complete (803-777-3599).

3) When will I know if I have been accepted for admission?

The deadline for Advanced Standing admissions is February 1st and letters of admission begin going out about a month later.

The deadline for Fall admissions is March 1st and letters of admission begin going out about the first of April and continue to go out as needed.

4) I have been accepted to the MSW program. What do I do now?

Advanced Standing students will receive another package in the mail shortly after their initial letter of admission. This package will have instructions about registering for courses and about orientation.

Fall students will come to one day of advisement in June where they will receive instructions about registering and about orientation. This meeting lasts about 1 ½ hours.

5) How do I get a GA (graduate assistantship)?

On the third page of the Social Work application there are instructions for requesting a GA in the College. However, students need to know that there are not many GA's in the College and that, along with requesting one in the College, they must look elsewhere around the University. Like looking for a job, a student must go to the other departments, libraries, housing offices, etc. and fill out applications, take their resumes, and search.

If a student obtains a graduate assistantship in the College of Social Work, the student will work one day a week in the college with staff or faculty or in the field placement agency. The student will be paid for that day and will also receive a tuition reduction.

The College of Social Work does not know until July how many assistantships it will have or who those students will be. Letters will be mailed in July to those students selected for a graduate assistantship in the College. It is not necessary to do anything to obtain one of these assistantships other than to send in the information requested on the application.

1) What is field placement?

Field placement is the time that is spent at a human services agency where students integrate classroom theory with the practical experiences that are provided at the agency. Since field placement is part of the curriculum and a grade is received (either Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory), students must register as it is a class and pay fees. Students complete an application for field placement, interview with potential agencies, and must be accepted into field placement.

2) How do I complete field placement?

Students take field placement 2 full days a week concurrently with their other classes. Students spend two semesters in the same agency the first year for Foundation field instruction (SOWK 781, SOWK 782). In your second placement or advanced year, students also spend two semesters in another agency which specializes in your area of concentration (SOWK 783, SOWK 784: Individuals, Families and Groups) or (SOWK 785, SOWK 786: Organizations and Communities.) The College of Social Work requires that a certain number of days (hours) be completed at the agency each semester. This requirement is listed in the Field Manual Calendar.

There is also an option of a summer block field placement. Students must have two years of paid social work experience before they are eligible for this option. Students are placed in an agency for 5 days a week for 14 weeks from May – August and must also register for summer sessions and pay summer tuition.

Some students are also eligible for an Employment Based field placement at their place of work.

3) Who is a field instructor, a field liaison and a preceptor?

A field instructor is a MSW with a two years post degree experience who supervises and provides the learning experiences of the student at the field placement site. In the event, that the agency has no direct MSW, the student will have a preceptor who works at the agency and who will direct the daily learning experiences of the student. However, even with a preceptor situation, the student is always assigned a MSW field instructor. A field liaison is usually a faculty or adjunct faculty member who is assigned to the student and field agency. The field liaison’s primary duties are to provide open communication and educational consultation between the agency, and the college and student.

4) When do we begin field placement and how many do we have to do?

The majority of field placements begin in the middle of August. Summer block placements begin in May. Advanced standing students do one internship. All other students do two. For more information visit: http://www.cosw.sc.edu/field/calendar/index.html

5) How are field placements determined?

Students are provided with a list of agencies. Each student independently arranges to interview with the agencies she/he is interested in. If both the student and the agency agree to placement, they each notify the field office which provides final placement approval. For detailed information visit: http://www.cosw.sc.edu/field/placementprocess.html

6) Do I have to complete my placement in Columbia?

No. About fifty percent of the placement sites are in Columbia. The others are spread throughout South Carolina and parts of North Carolina and Georgia. The school tries to find placements near the student’s residence whenever possible. For more information on agencies and their locations visit: http://www.cosw.sc.edu/field/agencies.html

1) Who can take the waiver exams and when are they offered? Which courses offer waiver exams?

Waiver exams are offered for SOWK 712, SOWK 716, SOWK 741, SOWK 742, and SOWK 791. To be eligible for SOWK 712 and SOWK 716 waiver exams, a student needs to have a BSW from a CSWE accredited social work program. This does not apply to the other three waiver exams. There is information about waiver exams on the web, along with application required to take the exam(s). (This form cannot be transmitted electronically at this time.) We post information about upcoming waiver exams on the web, put information in students' boxes, and make announcements in classes where there are students for whom this information would be relevant (e.g. in 712 and 741 about upcoming 716 and 791 exams). We mail information about waiver exams to newly admitted students who would not have access to this information through their classes or their mailboxes in DeSaussure.

2) What classes (electives) will help me with or are required for SC liscening laws?

To take the LISW-CP exam, a 45 hour course in psychopathology is required. Our SOWK 760 meets this requirement. To take the LISW-CP exam a 45 hour course in psychodiagnostics is also required. As of right now, the licensure board grants 21 hours of credit towards this 45 hour requirement to someone with an MSW from USC. Neither of these requirements apply to the LMSW, which is the licensure level our graduates would be applying for upon graduation. I have had some people tell me that our psychopathology course is helpful for taking the LMSW exam.....but all I know is what they tell me about this.

3) Is there an advantage to the IFG or CO sequence? Do you have suggestions for how to decide?

I think the first consideration is where is one's interests and passions lie in relation to social work practice. This is what I think should be the guiding force in making this decision. Then I think it's useful to think about where one's current strengths lie. If someone has had experience in IFG related work prior to coming to our program and wants to balance this with CO work, then perhaps the CO concentration is a good decision. However, I can also look at this in reverse. If someone has a strong foundation in OC work, then s/he might want to go even further in depth in this area through the OC concentration. I also suggest that, when schedules permit, students take their electives in the methods courses from the other concentration than they are in. Finding electives in other departments that complement a student's chosen concentration (e.g. something on grant writing for an IFG student) may also be useful. It might also be helpful to look at sample syllabi on the web to see the content in both concentrations as this might help them better understand what is actually taught as a way of focusing or confirming their interests.

4) What is the difference between the IFG and CO sequence.

Three methods courses (723,724 & 725 or 733, 734 & 735), SOWK 747 or 748, and the field placement.