College Catalog: 2015-2016

Applicant must have a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution with a minimum 3.0 cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA).

To be considered for admission into the MSW program, an applicant must submit:

• A graduate application form with a non-refundable application fee of $60
• Letters of recommendation from two individuals who can attest to the applicant’s intellectual ability or potential, mailed to the Office of Graduate Admissions
• A copy of your curriculum vita or resume Official transcripts from all institutions previously attended by the applicant
• An interview may be required.
• A personal narrative of 3-5 pages that responds to the following:
  • Why are you applying to the MSW program at Ramapo College?
  • Discuss your personal values, philosophy, knowledge of social issues, and any professional and community experiences that have influenced your decision to enter the social work profession.
  • Comment on your skills, strengths, and weaknesses.
  • Discuss your plans for a career in social work including your reasons for choosing a particular focus of service in the field.

Graduate social work students need:

1. An ability to think logically and conceptually and to formulate mature judgments
2. Excellent writing and verbal communications skills
3. Knowledge of the social work field and readiness to be committed to it as a profession
4. Evidence of emotional maturity, concern for people, and capacity for self-awareness and personal growth
5. Demonstrated concern and commitment to the values underlying professional social work
6. Respect for diversity and openness to life-long learning about one’s self and others.

Offered through: School of Social Science and Human Services (SSHS)

RE: Program Accreditation The MSW Program at Ramapo College is working with the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) toward gaining candidacy for full accreditation. In this process, students are admitted and classes are offered under the guidance of CSWE. Once candidacy is attained, students may sit for the licensing exam in the last semester of their MSW studies. The earliest possible date for accreditation is 2018. Accreditation is retroactive to first in-candidacy class.

Attaining Professional Licensure Complete all academic requirements necessary to take the ASWB licensing examination for the LSW in NJ and LMSW in NY.

The MSW Program will be offered as a full-time hybrid program two nights a week and a part-time hybrid program one night a week. Two classes meet 2 hours each night – Monday and Thursday – with 30 minutes of online work weekly. Students enrolled in full-time program will complete in two years; students enrolled in the part-time program will complete in four years. 900 hours of field internship are completed during the week: 400 hours in year one, 500 hours in year two for full-time students. Field internship is completed years 2 and 4 for part-time students.

Program Mission:

The mission of the Master of Social Work Program is to prepare competent and compassionate social work professionals to advocate for social justice and human well-being, which includes caring relationships, access to social goods, and freedom from all forms of oppression, leading to empowerment. As advanced generalist practitioners, students will become effective leaders through planning and problem solving, multi-system and cross-professional collaboration, and excellence in service to individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations, practicing locally an internationally.

Program Goals:

• The goals of the MSW program are derived from the program’s mission as follows:

• To prepare competent social work professionals for advanced generalist practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in an ever-changing and diverse context, locally and internationally;

• To educate social workers effectively with the knowledge, values, and skills of the profession at the advanced practice level;

• To advance social justice by preparing leaders to effectively advocate for the development of social policies and social service delivery systems that improve the well-being of client systems; and

• To prepare social workers who are life-long-learners and who will advocate, personally and professionally, for the alleviation and eradication of social problems and the promotion of global social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

Preparation of students for advanced generalist practice is based on a person-in-environment perspective that is global and dynamic, respect for human diversity, advocacy for human rights, a strengths perspective, and scientific inquiry. The program’s aim is to equip students for practice in an ever-changing world fraught with infinite variation and persistent obstacles to justice. Excellent advanced generalist practice results from understanding and acknowledging the transitory nature of human interaction and the incremental development of services necessary to respond with a client-centered approach, whether that client is an individual, family, group, community, or organization.

The central means to accomplish the MSW Program’s mission and goals is through an integrated learning process that values classroom and field learning equally.  The classroom integrates on-site learning in agency field internships with knowledge, values, and skills. Field internships are arranged through the Social Work Office of Field Education. Each student completes 900 hours of field internship in qualified agencies under qualified field instructors to graduate.

Competency 1: Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly.

Competency 2: Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice.

Competency 3: Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments.

Competency 4: Engage in diversity and difference in practice.

Competency 5: Advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.

Competency 6: Engage in research informed practice and practice informed research.

Competency 7: Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.

Competency 8: Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services.

Competency 9: Respond to context that shape practice.

Competency 10: Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

The MSW Degree requires 64 credit hours to complete. The Foundation Year will be offered beginning Fall 2015 requiring 32 credits and 600 field hours for completion. The Concentration Year will open Fall 2016 requiring 32 credits and 500 field hours for completion. (Advanced Standing Program will be offered for qualifying BSW’s only beginning Fall 2016). Course requirements include 9 credits of electives, including a cluster that prepares you for the License in Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counseling (LCADC) in the State of NJ.

Subject & Course # – Title and Course Description