An Inside Look at Southern's MSW Degree Program

What it Means to Be a Modern Social Worker

Social work has changed rapidly over the past several years, becoming much more at the forefront of our communities than ever before.

In fact, more than 60% of the nation’s mental health providers are social workers.

Today, we find social workers in many more areas than we may have 10 or 20 years ago: in law enforcement, humanitarian organizations, and schools, for example. In many cases, social workers may have been present already, but they were called something different. But now, the public perception of social work as a career has changed.

We’ve even seen the Department of Education play a part in refining the required certifications needed to work as a school social worker. This represents an incredible shift in acknowledging the value that social workers bring to the school systems and are officially recognized as an essential part of this environment.

Yet, with all of this growth and change, many things remain true: social workers are people who want to make a difference in the world around them.

There are many “soft” skills that the best social workers have in common:

• Compassion and empathy
• Being a problem solver
• A sense of awareness
• Being moved to take action
• Being able to connect with people
• Understanding that there’s often more than one solution to a problem

What’s important to understand, however, is that you don’t already have to have these skills mastered in order to earn a degree in Social Work. Southern’s MSW program will teach you all of these skills and, paired with the technical knowledge you’ll learn in these courses, you’ll be prepared to thrive in a social work career.

So, no matter your personal type or whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, there’s really only one thing you need in order to be a successful social worker: a deep desire to help others.

How the MSW Program Works at Southern

The first thing you’ll notice about Southern is the welcoming, nurturing environment that you’ll get to be part of. Our MSW program is student-centered, flexible, accessible, and personalized.

Our faculty is committed not only to teaching you, but to becoming mentors, sharing faith, and creating lasting relationships. It’s quite common for our MSW team to celebrate birthdays together, write handmade cards, share meals, and get to know each other well. It’s truly a community in every sense of the word.

We invest in our students, not only academically, but personally and spiritually.

As a faith-based social work program, we bring God’s teachings to the way that we seek to understand and empower others, practice compassion, and pursue service-based careers. Our students learn in a nurturing, encouraging, relationship-based environment and are taught to bring those virtues to their everyday practice.

While the courses for Southern’s Master of Social Work (MSW) are taught within a Christian framework, we welcome students of all backgrounds and beliefs.

Southern offers an advanced generalist degree to equip you to make an impact in all three levels of social work:

• Micro (family, individuals)
• Mezzo (communities, churches, schools)
• Macro (government, legislation/policy)

So, whether you want to help people one-on-one or influence change on a grander scale, you’ll have the skills and knowledge to succeed. The generalist approach will also prepare you well for exploring new fields if you ever wish to pursue new career opportunities down the line.

There are two enrollment options, with different timelines for graduation based on your previous education:

Advanced Placement

With a bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW) from a Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)-accredited institution, qualifying students can typically complete the master’s program in 12 months (three semesters) on a full-time basis.

Foundation Placement

With a bachelor’s degree in another discipline (or from a non-accredited BSW program), full-time students typically can complete the program in six semesters.

Whichever track you’re on, you’ll enjoy the flexibility that the program offers. You won’t need to worry about attending evening classes every night—classes are concentrated on Sundays so that you can shift your focus to your other responsibilities during the week.

In our MSW program, you’ll have the opportunity to choose from three different emphases (click to jump ahead to the emphasis section):

1. Mental Health Practice in Social Work
2. School Social Work
3. Crisis and Emergency Management

Field Placement

A huge part of the MSW experience is getting to apply what you’ve learned in the field. Through our field placement program, you’ll have the opportunity to get real experience while helping others.

Here’s how it works: each student meets with our Director of Field Education one-on-one. The director will get to know your personal interests and work to match you with an agency that’s in line with your aspirations.

This one-on-one matching program is really quite rare but something that we believe is critical. We know that pursuing a career in social work is a deeply personal decision and we want to make sure that you are getting to do work that motivates and inspires you.

And, many of our MSW students get hired by their internship agencies when they graduate!

In this guide, we’ll explore these three emphases in depth by looking at what you’ll learn, the career options you’ll have to choose from, and how Southern’s program will prepare you for a successful career as a social worker.

Whatever your career goals are in the field of social work, we want to help you accomplish them.