Greetings! Thank you for your interest in our doctoral program and our community of scholars. Doctoral education in our School of Social Work will be an exciting and rewarding intellectual journey for you. Our program has a legacy of a deep commitment to education and scholarship. Our graduates have made important scholarly contributions to the social work profession via various roles in the education, research, and leadership realms. Many of our graduates are highly regarded as faculty, deans, and directors in other Schools of Social Work, both nationally and internationally.
One component of our School, the Center on Race and Social Problems, offers exciting new research and learning opportunities for both faculty and students. In addition, we have faculty engaging in research studies examining issues in a wide range of social work related areas. These include health, mental health, substance use, gerontology, and a large training and research program addressing child welfare services, all of which offer opportunities for collaboration for doctoral students with faculty within our School and in the larger University community.
With a highly competitive admissions process, we typically admit between five to eight students each year. Each cohort represents a variety of geographical regions, countries, educational, and practice backgrounds. As a result of a committed faculty who work closely with our doctoral students, along with our program of funding support, our student program completion rate is extremely high. We encourage students, upon their entry to the program, to identify an area of research specialization which they can focus on and explore in their coursework and Graduate Student Assistant (GSA) assignments. Expertise in this area will grow and mature as the student moves through the program, usually becoming the basis for their comprehensive exam and, eventually, their dissertation.
We thank you for virtually visiting our School and please do reach out with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Christina E. Newhill, Ph.D., LCSW
Professor and Doctoral Program Director