The School of Public Administration and Policy and School of Social Work offer a joint degree program leading to the degree of Master of Social Work and Master of Public Administration. This is one of the few joint degree programs in these fields offered in the United States
The program is intended to prepare students for positions in public, private and non-profit human service organizations which require both social work and management knowledge.
Social work majors must choose the Social Services and Administrative Practice Track, with a concentration in administrative practice.
Each student must complete a final applied public policy research paper as well as a social work internship.
Admission
Students will complete an application for admission to the Joint Degree Program, and file it with the Office of Graduate Admissions. The application and Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores should be sent to both the Askew School and the School of Social Work.
Admission will be considered both for new students and for those currently enrolled in either the MPA or MSW curriculum who have not yet completed 24 semester hours at the time of application.
Each school must separately admit the applicant before admission to the joint degree program.
MPA Requirements (9)
PAD 5035 Policy Development and Administration
PAD 5050 The Profession of Public Administration
PAD 5227 Managing Public Financial Resources
PAD 5106 Public Organizations
PAD 5700 Research Design
PAD 5701 Quantitative Analysis in Public Administration
PAD 5826 Intergovernmental Relations and Management
MSW Requirements (5)
SOW 5238 Advanced Policy Analysis
SOW 5369 Advanced Seminar
SOW 5377 Personnel Administration
SOW 5435 Social Policy & Program Evaluation
Two selective courses out of three (Budget & Finance, Legislative Advocacy, Advanced Social Services Administration)
Internship
The student will complete a social work internship (12 credit hours),
meeting the internship requirement of both degrees.
Professional Paper
The student will prepare an applied public policy research paper in PAD 6908 Action Report.
General Electives
The student will complete coursework as necessary to fulfill a total of at least 60 semester hours of study appropriate to the joint degree.