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curriculum
Degree Requirements
To obtain the PhD degree, students must successfully complete the following requirements within the time limits specified by the SSW and the Graduate College:
| Requirement | SSW Time Limit |
| 1. A minimum of 86 semester hours of coursework, including a research and teaching practicum | All required coursework, except the Advanced Research Seminar, is completed by the end of the spring semester of Year 2 |
| 2. A comprehensive examination | This exam is completed during the summer and must be defended by the end of the fall semester of Year 3. |
| 3. A dissertation proposal hearing | Within 6 months of completing the comprehensive exam |
| 4. A dissertation and defense | End of the spring semester of Year 5 |
Curriculum for PhD Students: Sociology Minor
| Year | Fall | Spring | Summer | Total |
| 2009-2010 | ● Knowledge Building in Social Welfare Policy (3) ● Minor elective (3) ● Statistics level II (3) ● Proseminar in Social Work and Social Welfare (1) |
● Minor elective (3) ● Minor theory course (3) ● Statistics level III (3) ● Arrange research practicum |
● Social Work Research Practicum (4) | 23 |
| 2010-2011 | ● Knowledge Building in Social Work Practice (3) ● Minor research method (3) ● Focal area (3) ● Arrange teaching practicum |
● Social Work Teaching Practicum (3) ● Focal area (3) ● Statistics level IV (3) ● Write comprehensive exam proposal and receive approval |
Write comprehensive exam (0) | 18 |
| 2011-2012 | ● Comprehensive exam (last week of August) ● Advanced Research Seminar (3) ● Dissertation credit (3) |
● Dissertation credit (3) ● Dissertation proposal hearing |
9 | |
| 2012-2013 | ● Dissertation credit (3) | ● Dissertation credit (3) ● Dissertation defense |
6 | |
| Total Semester Hours | 56 |
Curricular Areas
This Table shows how credit hours are distributed across the five curricular areas.
Distribution of Semester Hours by Curricular Area
| Curricular Area | Number of Hours |
Core curriculum in social work (Includes 7 hours of research methods and statistics) |
17 |
| Social work focal area | 6 |
Minor discipline outside social work (Includes a 3-hour research design course) |
12 |
| Research methods and statistics outside social work | 9 |
| Dissertation | 12 |
| Total | 56 |
a. Core Curriculum in Social Work (17 s. h.)
Students are required to take the Proseminar in Social Work, two courses which cover the epistemology of practice and policy (Knowledge Building in Social Work Practice and Knowledge Building in Social Welfare Policy), Pedagogy or Social Work Teaching Practicum, Social Work Research Practicum, and Advanced Research Seminar.
b. Focal Area (6 s. h.)
Students work with their advisors to select 6 s. h. of 200 or higher level coursework related to their comprehensive examination and dissertation topics. Focal area courses help students further develop specialized knowledge and expertise on a particular social work problem. Consequently, practice and policy courses that focus on method or skill development, such as individual or group counseling or therapy courses, may NOT be used to meet this requirement.
Students may propose a focal area in many substantive areas.
Examples of Focal Areas:
Aging and End of Life Care – Social Work Faculty: Bern-Klug, Dorfman, Murty, Sanders
Child Welfare and Domestic Violence – Coohey, Hartley, Landsman, E. Saunders, J. Saunders
Diversity, Inequality and Social Justice – Butler, Landsman, Sanders, J. Saunders
Gender, Sexuality and Violence – Butler, Coohey, Hartley, Murty
Health and (Dis-) Ability – Bern-Klug, E. Saunders, J. Saunders
Substance Abuse and Mental Health – Coohey, Dorfman, Hall, Sanders, E. Saunders, J. Saunders
c. Minor Discipline (12 s. h.)
Students are required to take four courses in one discipline: Psychology or Sociology or Health Management and Policy. These four courses constitute the minor. Two of these courses (6 s. h.) are electives and should be related to the students’ focal area. One course must be a research design course (3 s. h.), and one course must be a theory course (3 s. h.).
d. Research Methods, Statistics and Data Analysis (9 additional s. h. for a total 21 s. h.)
12 s. h. of research methods, statistics and data analysis were previously counted under the Core Curriculum and Minor Discipline (see above). In addition, students must take a sequence of 9 additional semester hours in statistical methods and data analysis: select one course from Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 (below). This includes six semester hours in the first year and three semester hours in the second year. Students complete an introductory (Level 1) statistics course prior to entering the PhD program.
