SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY

Transcription

1 SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK PROGRAM Advanced Standing APPLICATION INFORMATION ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017 A Council on Social Work Education Accredited Program Since 1991 Priority deadline for submitting applications is February 29, 2016

2 SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK MSW ADMISSION AND RETENTION POLICIES ADMISSION TO THE MSW PROGRAM Social work is a profession that is committed to serving individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities representing the fullest diversity of our society. This diversity may be evidenced on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, national origin, marital status, political belief, mental or physical disability, or any other personal characteristic, condition or status. In the interest of serving the diverse populations found within our society, the School of Social Work places an emphasis on recruiting students who reflect and value diversity. The School encourages applications from students representing people of color, historically oppressed groups, and sexual minorities. Thus, the MSW Admissions Committee not only uses the applicant s GPA as a criterion for admission, but also considers other factors including cross-cultural experiences, references, volunteer work, the personal statement, and the applicant s resume. Acceptance into the social work program will be based upon: (1) An assessment of the student s capability to achieve academic success; (2) The possession of a value base that is consistent with professional social work values and ethics (3) The student s interest in and commitment to the profession of social work (4) Personal characteristics which will enable the student to render effective assistance to those in need. Members of the Admissions Committee individually rate applicants, and subsequently make the recommendation of acceptance or denial. As professional social workers, the admissions committee renders not only an objective appraisal of the applicant based upon grades and courses taken, but also renders a professional judgment about the applicant s overall fit and suitability for the profession. APPLICATION PROCESS All applicants must submit a single electronic application for admission to both the NMSU Graduate School and the NMSU School of Social Work (there is not two separate applications.) This application can be found on the NMSU Graduate School website at the APPLY NOW button: or on the School of Social Work website: under STEP TWO. Please use the Graduate School website for all current information related to your Graduate School application. International students will find additional information and the international student application at the NMSU International Student & Scholar Services website: You may also contact the Graduate School by at gradinfo@nmsu.edu or by telephone at (575)

3 If you are applying to the dual MSW/MPH degree program please clearly mark your intention on the Graduate School application form. Your Graduate School/MSW Application packet must include one transcript from each college or university you attended. Unofficial transcripts may be uploaded to the Graduate School/MSW Program application, but Official transcripts (registrar to registrar) are required by the Graduate School if admission is granted. The Graduate School will not accept unofficial transcripts. Be sure that transcripts are sent under your current name. Transcripts may be lost if they are not identical to the name on the application. If academic work is in progress at the time of filing the application, request that a final transcript be sent upon completion of study. Admission to the program cannot be granted without an official transcript indicating receipt of a bachelor s degree. Allow plenty of time when requesting transcripts. Your Graduate School application cannot be reviewed until all transcripts are received. Step-One Review departmental application requirements in this MSW application packet which can also be found on the School of Social Work website: Step-Two All applicants must apply to the MSW Program through the Graduate School. The Graduate School application site will allow you to submit your graduate application, unofficial transcripts and required MSW application documents together. This application can be found on the NMSU Graduate School website at the APPLY NOW button: or on the School of Social Work website: under STEP TWO. 3

4 ADVANCED STANDING PROGRAM (FULL-TIME OR PART-TIME): The Advanced Standing program is for highly qualified applicants who have received their BSW degree within five years from the start of the Advanced Standing program. To be considered for admission, an applicant must meet the following criteria: 1. Completed a Bachelor of Social Work Degree from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) within five [5] years of your first semester of the Advanced Standing program. 2. Provide a copy of the last field practicum evaluation with the application packet. (if you are in a program with a block field practicum, a mid-term evaluation is acceptable) 3. An overall cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 with a minimum GPA of 3.5 in all required BSW coursework. There is no provisional admission to the Advanced Standing program based upon not meeting the GPA requirement. 4. Basic Statistics Course Requirement: Document on the MSW Application Form that you have taken a beginning statistics course at an accredited university (online or face to face). This requirement must be satisfied prior to the start of the MSW program. If you have not taken the course at the time of application please provide your plan to take the course prior to the start of the program. 5. Completion of all steps under Application Materials Required for the Advanced Standing MSW Program : ADMISSION APPLICATION MATERIALS: ADVANCED STANDING MSW PROGRAM (Full-time or Part-time: 34 cr. Hours) The following application materials are only for admission to the regular 34 credit hour MSW program. If you are applying for the regular 60 credit hour full-time or parttime program, please obtain a Regular Full-time/Part-Time MSW application packet. The following application materials should be included in the electronic application. Your application packet must include all of the following items at the time of submission: 1. A completed electronic MSW Program online application form 2. A current and complete resume. The resume should include the start and end dates for entries as appropriate and a full description of all paid social and human service employment, volunteer work, specify internship as a BSW student, service learning, and special awards and honors. It is important for you to be as complete as possible as you are evaluated in part on this information. Make sure you indicate the university where you received your current degree. *One year of experience in a Social Work related setting preferred. Experience may include employment, volunteer, or other service and leadership learning activities. 4

5 3. Three (3) letters of reference: a. Type the name and contact information for each reference in the electronic MSW application. ( Recommendations Add a Provider ). b. An will be automatically generated and sent to each reference. The will include a rating sheet as well as instructions on how to upload the letter of reference. c. In order to insure confidentiality, the applicant will not have access to the uploaded letters of recommendation. Applicants may contact the MSW Academic Advisor for verification of letters of recommendation received. We ask that you provide the following references: one academic reference one employment supervisor reference, and one community or volunteer program representative reference (We do not accept references from family members or family friends.) 4. Write your personal statement As part of the admissions process, we ask that you write a personal statement about your personal and professional history, your interest in and motivation for social work education, and your future plans. The Admissions Committee will also use this statement to assess your writing communications skills, a skill necessary for our program and for social work practice. In the personal statement, do the following: Write thoughtfully and clearly and address all 7 questions. Clearly number your answers to correspond to the number of the question being addressed. Repeat the question for ease in reading by the reviewer. Demonstrate your graduate-level writing skills by answering questions in a way that shows your ability to follow directions, write ideas coherently, use abstract thinking, and use proper grammar and syntax. Your personal statement should be 9-11 pages, use a size 12 font, and insert page numbers and double space. 5. Complete the Case Study (Please see following pages for Personal Statement Guide/Questions & Case Study) 5

6 PERSONAL STATEMENT GUIDE: 1) Motivation and Commitment for the Social Work Profession: (2 pages) Discuss your life experiences and other factors (personal, political, social, professional, therapeutic, and educational, etc.) that you feel have contributed to the development of who you are today. Discuss how you came to develop an interest in the profession of social work and to apply to the program at NMSU. Discuss your career goals after you complete the MSW degree program. 2) Critical Thinking/Social Issue of Concern: (1 2 pages) Identify a social issue of concern to you. Discuss your understanding of this issue and possible societal responses to it. 3) Personal Strengths, Skills, Knowledge, Qualities and Limitations:(1 2 pages) Assess your personal (physical, emotional, and intellectual) strengths and limitations? Give examples of your skills, knowledge and personal qualities that you believe would make you an effective professional social worker. Are there other issues you want to share about yourself that would give the admissions committee a better idea of who you are? 4) Ethics and Values: (1 2 pages) The National Association of Social Work s Code of Ethics promotes the value of respect for individuals regardless of age, culture, class, ethnicity, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Social work s core values are service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity and competence. How are your personal values compatible or incompatible with the social work profession s core values? How will you reconcile any conflicts between your personal values and the requirements of the profession? 5) Diversity of Experience and Volunteer and/or Work Experience (1 page) Give an example of a meaningful experience as a volunteer or employee in the human services 6

7 6) Cultural Diversity Experiences (1 page) Discuss your experiences with diverse cultures. Give examples of your experience with some if not all of the following: different age groups; people from different ethnic, cultural, religious and/or national origin backgrounds; people with different sexual orientations, people with disabilities, and gender. Discuss with which of these populations you are most and least comfortable interacting and working. 7) Social Support and Financial Plan (1 page) If you are applying as a Full-time Advanced Standing Student (one year program), you will be taking one 4 credit bridge course in the summer prior to the regular academic year. The following fall & spring semesters will consist of 15 credits each (3 classroom based courses and 1 field work course) to total 34 credits for the program. If you are applying as a Part-time Advanced Standing Student (two year program) you will be taking one 4 credit bridge course in the summer prior to the regular academic year. The year one fall and spring semesters will consist of two 3 credit classroom based courses. In your second year you will take one 3 credit classroom based course and one 6 credit fieldwork course each semester. Fieldwork will entail approximately hours weekly in a human service agency/setting (typically open during the day, Monday-Friday). MSW courses are generally scheduled on Mondays & Wednesdays, leaving Tuesdays & Thursdays for field practicum. As a result of the field practicum requirement, students who are working full-time will need to arrange for part-time employment, educational leave, or sufficiently reduced hours in order to complete the hours of field practicum each week. Based upon the above information, please answer the following questions: 1. Given both the classroom-based coursework and the field practicum placement requirements, please explain in detail how you plan to support yourself financially so that you can complete the Master of Social Work Program at New Mexico State University. 2. Specifically, how do you plan to arrange your work schedule? 3. What other forms of support do you have that will help you? 7

8 CASE STUDY: As part of the application process for admission to the Advanced Standing Program, the School of Social Work requires evidence that an applicant is prepared for entry into the MSW concentration-year curriculum. If you decide to apply to the Advanced Standing Program, you will need to review the case presented here and respond to the questions related to the case. Your responses will be used in the screening process to evaluate your practice framework, your critical thinking skills, your writing skills, your role and identity as a professional social worker, and your ability to use a social work perspective for ethical practice across all levels. Because we are reviewing your work, it is absolutely necessary that your responses be written solely by you. Do not ask for assistance from others, including faculty members, friends, co-workers, or other mentors. This analysis must be yours only. Please keep in mind that your responses should be thorough but concise. You should include references to professional social work literature, including the NASW Code of Ethics. You may use text books, professional web sites, and journal articles. Please use APA manuscript guidelines for your references. Information to use in your responses: You are a BSW level social worker at a YWCA in a moderate sized city in New Mexico. You facilitate a support group for women who are separated or going through a divorce. Your immediate supervisor has an LCSW. Your supervisor developed the program for this group, which meets weekly for 90 minutes for eight sessions. Sharing reactions with other women who are in similar circumstances can be an empowering experience. This support group is designed to help women who are divorcing cope with anger, loss and grieving, parenting problems, relationship issues, financial concerns, and ways to move on. There is a planned curriculum for each session in addition to a period of open discussion in which women can address the issues they are facing. Eight women are enrolled in this group; all were screened by both you and your supervisor. As the group gets underway, a number of situations develop. These include mental health issues, ethical dilemmas, cultural conflicts and policy issues. After the third week of the group, you are concerned that Sarah, one of the group members, is very reluctant to speak up in the group. She expresses to you that she is an introvert and unsure of herself and feels she has nothing to contribute. Other members try to include her and you have noted that her few comments are usually very well received by the group. 8

9 During the fourth session, the group process became mired in conflict based in religious and cultural differences. One of the participants is a devout Christian who is reluctantly getting a divorce because her husband has had an extra-marital affair. A second member has asked her to quit talking about her Christian values, since she is an atheist and is offended by Jesus talk. Yet another member, who is Hispanic, insists that including Jesus is part of her culture and cannot be left at the door. This group is scheduled to end just before Christmas. Several of the women indicate that this will be a hard time to terminate the group, since this will be their first holiday alone. You explain that the agency policies limit group sessions to eight. As the termination date approaches, several members become increasingly anxious and despondent. You realize that the timing of the group termination is resulting in additional stress for the members. Question 1 Identify the professional strengths you bring to this agency and to this support group. What practice experiences and knowledge have prepared you to work with this group and this agency? Question 2 Address the importance of assessing Sarah, the woman who is reluctant to speak up, from the strengths perspective. Provide and discuss a professional reference showing how the strengths perspective could be used in a situation such as this. Question 3 Examine and delineate your personal feelings towards the issues of culture and religion that are raised by this case. Be thoughtful and honest. What would you do as a professional social worker to help ensure that your perspective and biases do not interfere with your ability to facilitate this group? Question 4 Discuss cultural competence as it applies to this group. Provide a professional reference to support your discussion. Question 5 Discuss a group intervention strategy that may assist you in dealing with this conflict. Provide a professional reference to support your answer. Question 6 Discuss the role of agency policies for this case, especially as it pertains to holding a meeting after the holidays. Question 7 What ethical dilemma does the timing of the group termination raise for you? Refer to the NASW Code of Ethics to review the ethical principles are in conflict. How might you resolve this conflict? 9

10 FOREIGN STUDENT APPLICANTS must submit a Certificate of Support (GS Form 00) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score if the applicant is from a non-english speaking university. FIELDWORK (PRACTICUM) will require a commitment of approximately 15 to 18 hours weekly in a human service setting during regular business hours, in addition to a weekly scheduled field seminar and related seminar assignments. Students will likely need to arrange for part-time employment, educational leave or sufficiently reduced hours to complete the one year of field practicum required. GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIPS: There are a limited number of Graduate Assistantships available through the School of Social Work. Students eligible to apply for Graduate Assistantships need to meet the following requirements: Acceptance and subsequent registration in the NMSU Graduate School and the School of Social Work Classification as a full time graduate student (enrolled in a minimum of 9 graduate credit hours) A 3.0 grade point average Graduate Assistantship information, application form, and reference forms can be found at the bottom of this page: APPLICATION TIMELINE: Deadline for submission of Advanced Standing applications is February 29, Applications will continue to be accepted after February 29, 2016 although there is no guarantee they will be reviewed. Submission of application by this deadline is strongly encouraged. Please insure that all of your materials for both the Graduate School and School of Social Work have been submitted upon completion of your application. Incomplete applications will not be considered for review. 10