Master of Social Work (MSW) and Master of Public Administration (MPA)

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Graduate Study at USI >> College of Liberal Arts

Master of Social Work/Master of Public Administration (MSW/MPA) dual degree program

The Master of Social Work and the Master of Public Administration programs at the University of Southern Indiana offer the University’s first dual degree program. Students will have the opportunity to complete a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree in two years. Refer to the Master of Social Work (MSW) section and either the Master of Public Administration, Nonprofit Administration (MPA) or Master of Public Administration, Public Sector Administration (MPA) sections of the bulletin for specific admissions requirements and curriculum guidelines.

Students must be admitted to both graduate programs before beginning the dual degree program. Below is the curriculum for the joint MSW/MPA degree programs. Non-BSW degreed students enroll in the full-time liberal arts track; the two-year advanced standing track is for BSW-degreed students. A minimum of two years is needed to complete the MSW/MPA dual degree program.

For more information about the MSW program, visit www.usi.edu/liberal-arts/master-of-social-work. For more information about the MPA program, visit www.usi.edu/mpa.

MSW Curriculum: 54 hours (31 hours for advanced-standing, BSW-degreed students)

Two-year advanced-standing MSW students (those with a BSW degree) are exempt from taking the 500-level foundation courses. The 600-level courses are required for all MSW students.

Students without a BSW degree (Liberal Arts track) must complete the following courses (23 hours):
SOCW 503 - Social Welfare Systems and Policy Advocacy Credits: 3
SOCW 504 - Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE) I Credits: 3
SOCW 505 - Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE) II Credits: 3
SOCW 506 - The Foundation of Social Work Practice Credits: 3
SOCW 508 - Micro Systems: Practice with Individuals, Groups, and Families Credits: 3
SOCW 509 - Macro Systems: Institutional and Community Systems Credits: 3
SOCW 511 - Graduate Field Placement I Credits: 2
SOCW 512 - Integrated Field Placement Seminar I Credits: 3
All students seeking the MSW degree (both the Liberal Arts track and the Advanced Standing track) must complete the following courses (31 hours):
SOCW 601 - Clinical Assessment and Psychopathology in Social Work Credits: 3
SOCW 602 - Clinical Planning and Treatment Process with Individuals and Families Credits: 3
SOCW 605 - Practice Evaluation Credits: 3
SOCW 608 - Theories of Clinical Practice Credits: 3
SOCW 610 - Human Diversity in Social Work Practice Credits: 3
SOCW 611 - MSW II Graduate Field Placement Credits: 2-4 (taken twice, 2 hours each)
SOCW 612 - MSW II Integrated Field Placement Seminar Credits: 3 (taken twice)
SOCW 660 - Clinical Practice with Groups Credits: 3
SOCW 664 - Crisis Intervention and Trauma Informed Care Credits: 3

MPA Curriculum (24 hours + shared coursework)

MPA Core for dual degree students

PA 601 - Organizational Behavior Credits: 3
PA 606 - Public and Nonprofit Personnel Administration Credits: 3
PA 609 - Budgeting in Public and Nonprofit Administration Credits: 3
PA 617 - Statistics in Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 632 - Introduction to Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 644 - Policies and Processes in the Public Sector Credits: 3
PA 645 - Program Evaluation in the Public and Nonprofit Sector Credits: 3

MPA Elective for dual degree students

Choose one of the following:

PA 605 - Foundations of Nonprofit Administration Credits: 3
PA 611 - Leadership Skills in Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 614 - Interpersonal Communications within Organizations Credits: 3
PA 631 - Fundraising and Volunteer Administration Credits: 3
PA 655 - Project Management in Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 663 - Strategic Planning Credits: 3
PA 664 - Nonprofit Leadership Credits: 3
PA 684 - Grant Writing Credits: 3
PA 689 - Independent Study in Public Administration Credits: 3
PA 690 - Special Topics in Public Administration Credits: 3

MSW/MPA Shared Coursework

The Master of Public Administration degree is a 36 credit hour program. Dual degree students complete 24 hours of PA coursework outlined above. The remaining credit hours are satisfied by SOCW coursework that applies to both the MSW degree and the MPA degree:

MSW coursework (13 hours)	Applies toward MPA program as:
SOCW 602 - Clinical Planning and Treatment Process with Individuals and Families	Additional MPA elective
SOCW 605 - Practice Evaluation	Substituted for PA 616 - Research Methods in Public Administration
SOCW 610 - Human Diversity in Social Work Practice	Additional MPA elective
SOCW 611 - MSW II Graduate Field Placement (taken twice, 4 hrs total)	Substituted for PA 697 - Capstone Seminar in Public Administration

For the MSW degree, both the field placement (SOCW 611 ) and the capstone (SOCW 605 ) must include administrative practice experiences.

Total MSW/MPA Hours

Non-BSW degree students complete a total of 78 hours (54 hours of SOCW coursework + 24 hours of PA coursework).
Advanced standing (BSW-degreed) students complete a total of 55 hours (31 hours of SOCW coursework + 24 hours of PA coursework).

Dual degree students should contact their graduate program director(s) for assistance with determining an appropriate semester-by-semester schedule that incorporates requirements from both degree programs.