MSW EDP Curriculum

Like the MSW Day Program, the MSW Extended Degree Program provides a rich combination of field practicum and classroom learning and is designed to provide both breadth and depth in professional education. The curriculum encompasses two distinct but interconnected areas: the beginning content (professional foundation curriculum) and opportunities for advanced content.

MSW EDP Foundation Curriculum

The MSW EDP foundation curriculum provides an opportunity for students to gain the knowledge and skills needed for entry-level practice across different levels of social work practice (i.e., practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, social networks, institutions, and policy arenas). The curriculum also socializes students to the social work profession, its values, ethics, and history.

All foundation courses must be passed to begin the advanced curriculum. The foundation curriculum encompasses the following linked, required areas of study:

- Foundation course introducing the intellectual and historical foundations of social work practice
- Foundation core practice sequence, which includes course content on human behavior in the social environment, generalist social work practice, diversity, and micro, mezzo, and macro practice skills
- Foundation practicum
- Social policy
- Social work research

Required Courses in the MSW Foundation

The Advanced Curriculum MSW Extended Degree Program

The School of Social Work has developed two new innovative advanced specializations for EDP students within the Interpersonal/Direct Practice concentration:

Multigenerational Practice with Children, Families and Elders

This advanced practice specialization prepares MSW practitioners to work with, and advocate for, children, families and elders across the life course within diverse communities. This groundbreaking approach integrates cross-generational issues with topics such as resilience, trauma, family violence, disparities and cultural relevance. This specialization prepares practitioners for a range of settings including, but not limited to, child welfare, schools, mental health, juvenile justice, assisted living, and elder and family services.

The specialization is family and community centered in its approach. Grounded within life course and human development perspectives, this specialization insures that social workers acquire the knowledge and skills to build upon crossgenerational strengths and resilience in the delivery of services. A number of practice frameworks and models will be utilized, including: brief crisis interventions, solutions-focused social work practice, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, family support interventions, play therapy, and case management. Given the wide range of related practice and organizational settings, social workers will need skills, knowledge and values to analyze critique and advocate for policies and programs that support culturally diverse multigenerational families. This approach is aimed at strengthening reciprocity across generations and reducing risks experienced by vulnerable children, families and elders.

Integrative Health-Mental Health Advanced Practice

This advanced practice specialization prepares MSW practitioners to work across diverse health and mental health settings, to gain particular expertise in environmentmind- body-spirit-cultural integrative practice (mind-body complementarity). Utilizing an interdisciplinary, multicomponent framework for health-mental health practice, this specialization integrates key perspectives of trauma/ crisis/loss, stress-coping, bio-ecological-environment interaction, and resiliency and recovery in order to introduce MSW practitioners to cutting-edge, culturally relevant interventions, empirically supported interventions, and promising practices for diverse populations in diverse health and mental health settings.

The courses in this specialization deepen advanced practice skills in preparation for health and mental health settings, including multicultural engagement, assessment, intervention selection, treatment design, ethics, practice monitoring and evaluation skills. Critical cross-cultural and social justice issues will be addressed throughout all courses, including but not limited to stigma, racism, ableism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, xenophobia, and other forms of oppression and discrimination leading to health inequities, inequalities, and disparities. Courses will integrate feminist, multicultural, transcultural, decolonizing, and liberatory approaches to practice as well as resiliency and recovery-oriented frameworks. Specific to this specialization, courses will also integrate issues related to historical, intergenerational, social, and cultural determinants of wellness as well as practice and policy issues related to dual diagnoses, addictions, adherence, infectious, chronic, and acute illnesses.

Both specializations will be offered on a weekend schedule, with four required advanced curricular core courses offered on Fridays. It’s likely that one specialization, yet to be determined, will also be offered on an evening schedule.

The Advanced Curriculum consists of the following courses:

• Policy/ Services (3 credits)
• Advanced Practice Methods I and II (6-credit two-quarter sequence)
• Assessment of Mental Disorders (3 credits)
• 6 credits of electives (up to 3 credits of elective coursework may be taken outside the School of Social Work)
• Advanced Practicum (18 credits -> 720 hours)

Students consult with their faculty mentor and practicum coordinator to determine electives and a practicum appropriate to the student’s career goals. Electives offered by the Extended Degree Program are limited relative to electives offered by the Day Program, though Extended Degree students may take Day Program electives on a space-available basis. Some Day Program electives are offered on an evening or weekend schedule.