Dawn Hemingway, Professor Emerita
Glen Schmidt, Professor Emeritus
Tammy Pearson, Associate Professor and Chair
Indrani Margolin, Professor
Bruce Bidgood, Associate Professor
Susan Burke, Associate Professor
Heather Peters, Associate Professor
Si Chava Transken, Associate Professor
Nancy Jokinen, Adjunct Professor
Master of Social Work
Indigenous Child and Youth Mental Heath Graduate Certificate
Website: www.unbc.ca/socialwork
The Master of Social Work program is available on a full- or part-time basis and can be completed by thesis or practicum. The MSW builds on the BSW by offering students an integrated research/policy/practice concentration in one of the key thematic areas: social work in northern and remote areas; Indigenous peoples; women and the human services; and community practice and research. The aim of the MSW is to provide students with advanced social work research, policy, and practice skills. It is designed to enable students to pursue independent studies that will help them undertake a variety of responsibilities in management, policy formulation, program consultation, planning, advanced social work, clinical practice, and research within the human services.
Admission
Enrolment in the MSW is strictly limited.
In addition to the admission application requirements outlined in General Admission of the Graduate Academic Calendar, all students in the Social Work MSW program are required to submit a Criminal Record Check search prior to the first day of classes in their entry semester.
Domestic applicants must supply a Criminal Record Check search result after receiving an offer of admission and before the first day of classes; the search result is not required with the application. International applicants must submit a Criminal Record Check search result provided by their local police authority upon application, and will also be required to submit a British Columbia Criminal Record Check if offered admission. The Office of the Registrar will provide instructions to domestic and international applicants who have accepted offers of admission on how to complete a British Columbia Criminal Record Check.
Completion of the MSW Supplementary Application form is also required in order to be considered for admission. The MSW Supplementary Application form is included with the application material for this program. Two academic letters of reference and one professional letter of reference must be submitted.
Application deadlines can be found online at www.unbc.ca/admissions/graduate.
The Social Work MSW Program accepts students for the September Semester.
The MSW program at UNBC emphasizes a pro-active orientation that aims to provide informed theoretical, empirical, and substantive choices for improvements in human service programs, policies, education, and social work practice. This approach to social work and social policy is known as social administration.
The key elements in this social administration approach as they relate to the thematic areas of the MSW at UNBC consist of the following:
- the description and analysis of the operation of human services in northern and remote regions;
- the study of social policies and social work practices, and their individual and social consequences for the people and communities in the interior and northern British Columbia;
- the examination of global, historical, social, and economic changes, and the way these affect the living conditions and the people served by human service agencies and organizations in northern and remote areas; and
- the recognition of the values central to the responsibility of human service professionals to work with socially disadvantaged and powerless groups, and to expand the power and resources of these groups through social work practice.
Within this social administration approach courses are arranged so students develop skills that integrate the research/policy/practice domains of social work. A major emphasis of the MSW is to foster critical intervention skills that link the domains of social policy, social work research, and social work practice. For example, if one chooses to develop a specialty in community practice and research, or social policy, the program of studies will emphasize the linkages between these domains or dimensions of social work.
Requirements
Human service experience is required before candidates can be considered for the MSW program. Please see descriptions for Entry Routes 1 and 2 (below). To be admitted, a grade point average of at least 3.00 (B) in the work of the last 60 credit hours (approximately the last two years) leading to the Baccalaureate degree is required. Letters of reference, as well as a written statement of the candidate’s research and practice interests and reasons for pursuing a MSW, are also required. A personal interview may be requested. Applicants who do not meet the above requirements may still be admitted under the provisions of affirmative action.
Taking a MSW at UNBC
There are two entry routes into the MSW.
Entry from a CASWE-accredited Bachelor of Social Work leads into the Advanced Year of the MSW program.
For full-time students entering from a BSW, this MSW program consists of 33 credit hours, including completion of a thesis or practicum report.
Thesis students are required to successfully complete a minimum 21 credit hours of five required courses and two electives, as well as a thesis to complete 33 credit hours in total. Practicum students are required to successfully complete a minimum of 24 credit hours of five required courses and three electives, as well as a practicum to complete 33 credit hours in total.
Entry with a Bachelor’s degree in a related field or discipline, and two years (24 months full-time equivalent) human service experience. Entry at this level begins with an MSW Foundation Year of studies.
For full-time students entering from a Bachelor’s degree in a related field, this MSW program consists of a minimum two-year (24 month) program of courses and practica. A thesis or practicum report is required following completion of coursework. An oral defense is required for the thesis. This route normally includes 66 credit hours, consisting of 33 credit hours in each of the two years.
MSW
Requirements
Thesis students must take the following required courses:
| HHSC 703-3 | Qualitative Research Approaches in Health and Human Sciences |
| SOCW 602-3 | Indigenous Peoples: Advanced Social Work Practice |
| SOCW 609-3 | Advanced Quantitative Research |
| SOCW 700-12 | MSW Thesis |
| SOCW 704-3 | MSW Integrative Seminar |
Practicum students must take the following required courses:
| HHSC 703-3 | Qualitative Research Approaches in Health and Human Sciences |
| SOCW 602-3 | Indigenous Peoples: Advanced Social Work Practice |
| SOCW 609-3 | Advanced Quantitative Research |
| SOCW 704-3 | MSW Integrative Seminar |
| SOCW 732-9 | MSW Practicum II |
All students are required to take one of the following courses, and may take the other two courses as electives:
| SOCW 601-3 | Current Issues in Northern/Remote Social Work |
| SOCW 603-3 | Women: Policy/Practice Issues |
| SOCW 605-3 | Community Work/Politics of Change |
Electives
| SOCW 604-3* | Directed Readings |
| SOCW 610-3 | Wellness: Alternative Approaches |
| SOCW 613-3 | Clinical Social Work Practice |
| SOCW 670-3 | Indigenous Peoples in Canada: Past/Present/Future |
| SOCW 671-3 | Reflections on Practice: Indigenous Child/Youth Mental Health |
| SOCW 672-3 | Social Work/Counselling Skills with Indigenous Children/Youth |
| SOCW 673-3 | Mental Illness and Addictions Among Indigenous Children/Youth |
| SOCW 674-3 | Crisis Work With Indigenous Children/Youth: Restoring Balance |
| SOCW 675-3 | Community-Based Prevention with Indigenous Peoples: Creating Balance |
| SOCW 698-3 | Special Topics |
| SOCW 701-3 | Research Practicum |
Thesis students are required to take two electives. These electives may be taken from the two lists immediately above, and/or from other UNBC graduate programs, and/or from other accredited Canadian universities via approved transfer agreements (e.g., the Western Deans’ Agreement).
Practicum students are required to take a total of three electives, one of which must come from the two lists of courses immediately above. The other elective may come from the above lists and/or be taken from other UNBC graduate programs and/or from other accredited Canadian universities via approved transfer agreements (e.g., the Western Deans’ Agreement).
*Students may only take SOCW 604-3 Directed Readings once for 3 credit hours.
MSW Foundation Year
For those with baccalaureate degrees in related areas and two years of full-time previous human service experience, the MSW normally consists of 66 credit hours (two years) of study. The foundation year consists of six 600-level courses, two 600-level social work electives, plus SOCW 632-9 (MSW Practicum I).
The 600-level courses are:
| SOCW 630-3 | Communication Skills |
| SOCW 631-3 | Critical Social Work Practice |
| SOCW 632-9 | MSW Practicum I |
| SOCW 633-3 | Critical Social Policy |
| SOCW 634-3 | Social Work Research/Policy/Practice |
| SOCW 635-3 | Social Work Philosophy and Ethics |
| SOCW 637-3 | Advanced Practice |
MSW students in their Foundation Year must successfully complete SOCW 634-3 prior to registration in SOCW 609-3 and HHSC 703-3.
Indigenous Child and Youth Mental Health Graduate Certificate
The Certificate is designed for students who seek to practice in the area of Indigenous child and youth mental health in northern and remote communities, with a focus on working with children and youth who are experiencing significant mental health issues or who are at high risk. The certificate consists of 18 credit hours of 600-level coursework.
Admission
The Indigenous Child and Youth Mental Health Graduate Certificate program is open to Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Child and Youth Care graduates. Those with related Bachelor-level degrees may also be eligible to apply, subject to the approval of the Chair of the School of Social Work. Those with a Master of Social Work or related Master’s-level degree are also eligible to apply.
Graduate students in Social Work and other disciplines may take individual certificate courses as electives subject to approval of the Chair of the School of Social Work. Students wishing to audit coursework in the Certificate program may do so subject to the approval of the Chair of the School of Social Work and subject to UNBC admitting and auditing regulations and policies set out in the graduate academic calendar. Courses taken for audit only do not earn academic credit. Note: Students are required to undergo a criminal records search prior to being admitted as set out in the regulations and policies of the graduate academic calendar.
Admission into the Certificate program is limited and requires the recommendation of the Chair of the School of Social Work.
Standards of Professional Conduct
All students are expected to abide by professional standards as set forth by the Canadian Association for Social Work Education (CASWE) and the relevant Social Work Codes of Ethics. Violation of professional standards may result in suspension or dismissal from the program or the educational institution.
Qualification for Certificate
To fulfill the requirements of graduation, the student must:
- attain a minimum Cumulative GPA of 2.67 (B-) on courses for credit towards the Certificate; and
- complete all course requirements for the Certificate.
Required Courses
| SOCW 670-3 | Indigenous Peoples in Canada: Past/Present/Future |
| SOCW 671-3 | Reflections on Practice: Indigenous Child/Youth Mental Health |
| SOCW 672-3 | Social Work/Counselling Skills with Indigenous Children/Youth |
| SOCW 673-3 | Mental Illness and Addictions Among Indigenous Children/Youth |
| SOCW 674-3 | Crisis Work With Indigenous Children/Youth: Restoring Balance |
| SOCW 675-3 | Community-Based Prevention with Indigenous Peoples: Creating Balance |
Updated: July 29, 2024