Master of Social Work for West Kentucky

Our exciting program makes graduate social work education accessible for working professionals as well as recent college graduates throughout the western and southern regions of Kentucky. We also welcome many students from nearby areas such as northwestern Tennessee, southern Illinois, southeast Missouri, and beyond. We are fully accredited through CSWE and have been offering the MSW since 2003.

Graduates are prepared as integrated social work practitioners with the values, theoretical knowledge, and skills to function at many levels of intervention: individual, family, group, organizations, and community.

 

MSW Cohort Program

The MSW Cohort Program for West Kentucky was designed to meet the needs of working professionals who desire to earn an advanced degree on a part-time basis while remaining employed full time. The program is designed for a specific number of students (a cohort) to move through the program coursework together, taking the same classes and building peer relationships that will support each other.

As a student in this program, you will be able to complete the 60-hour MSW on a part-time schedule in 4 years (2 years for advanced standing students) by taking two classes each fall and spring semester. Typically, you will attend class only one evening per week.

This cohort program provides a concise and contemporary course of study that is unique and relevant to the changing needs of today's skilled and professional social worker. The program is characterized by:

• Curriculum that offers theoretical knowledge and practical application in order to create integrated social work practitioners who can function at many levels of intervention;
• Faculty who contribute formal education and personal experience;
• Courses that are offered in traditional face-to-face, online, and hybrid formats to offer more flexibility in scheduling; and
• Sequencing that outlines a sure path to degree attainment with guaranteed seating and additional admissions and registration services

 

Goals

The goals of the program are designed to provide a level of competence that includes quality leadership that is grounded in the historical roots of the profession. The needs of the community along with the purposes of the profession influence the four goals of the MSW program. These goals are:

• To produce competent practitioners within rural areas
• To increase the number of practitioners with professional values and standards of cultural competence who are creative and ethically accountable in their practice with diverse rural populations
• To apply critical knowledge that cultivates and synthesizes an understanding of the complex needs within the culture of rural communities, including research, training, continuing education, and other relevant projects
• To impact the social, economic, and political environments of rural areas in order to empower constituents and influence social welfare policies, practices, and services