Partnership

To support the recruitment and retention of a quality behavioral health workforce by its member organizations, the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare has formed a partnership with the University of Southern California School of Social Work.

Ranked among the top 10 schools of social work, USC is the first prestigious research university to offer an accredited Master of Social Work degree on the web nationwide (MSW@USC), with classes held virtually and traditional internships available in local agency settings. Now students can have access to one of the best MSW programs in the country, no matter where they live.

National Council members can become a part of this revolutionary initiative by

• Encouraging staff to apply for the MSW@USC program
• Signing up to be a field instructor and/or field placement site to train future social workers.

University of Southern California’s MSW@USC
Just as technology has dramatically changed the scope of our work and lives, the MSW@USC has fundamentally changed graduate education for many future social workers. Through a Skype-like, web-based Virtual Academic Center, students can experience live interaction with faculty, watch dramatized cases, enjoy recorded lectures enhanced by special effects and even participate in university events virtually. To complete the experience, USC selects hands-on, supervised field internships in students’ hometowns, giving them an opportunity to “practice” in the real world.

The MSW@USC meets behavioral health’s most pressing challenges and

• Offers opportunities to earn a top-tier advanced degree that would not otherwise be available
• Develops new social workers in high-need and underserved areas
• Prepares practitioners to be more technologically savvy in a demanding job market.

Earning an MSW Degree
The MSW@USC gives students the opportunity to earn the same quality education on-campus students receive. A robust virtual environment provides the latest web-based technology for a highly interactive experience that mirrors the stringent curriculum of the onsite MSW program, often with the same faculty, many who teach in multiple locations. The MSW@USC admissions standards, graduation requirements and coursework are identical to the on-campus program.

MSW@USC students can choose from a variety of study concentrations taught by world-renowned faculty in:

• Families and Children
• Mental Health
• Community Organization, Planning and Administration (COPA)

Specialized coursework in military social work — the first of its kind in the nation — enhances any of these areas. This 60-unit program can be completed in just under two years in four consecutive semesters, a three-year (part-time to full-time) accelerated program or as a four-year part-time option.

• Curriculum Snapshot
• Master of Social Work Curriculum
• Admissions Criteria and Deadlines
• Tuition and Costs

To learn more about MSW@USC, call 1-888-700-4MSW or request information online today. 

USC Field Education Network
You can help shape the next generation of social work leaders by joining the MSW@USC national network of field placement agencies to facilitate quality social work education. The USC School of Social Work works with agencies and organizations across the country that represent the complete range of social services, to provide MSW@USC students the opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-life settings in the community.

As the national expansion of USC’s Master of Social Work program continues, the school seeks quality field placement sites that offer a range of experiences in a variety of practice areas in both urban and rural settings that will give students exposure to diverse populations.

Benefits of participating in the field education network include:

• Partnering with a prestigious research university.
• Working with an accredited MSW program ranked #8 by U.S. News & World Report.
• Gaining access to high-quality students to augment your services.
• Teaching talented social workers to work in your community.
• Hiring MSW graduates from a top-ranked school.

Join colleagues nationwide in contributing to the future of social work education and take part in a unique endeavor to deliver a top-ranked school of social work’s curriculum in your local community.

• Join the USC National Field Education Network
• Become an MSW@USC field education site
• Become an MSW@USC field instructor

If you’re ready to sign up today, download the Agency/Field Instructor Information and Letter of Affiliation forms and return them via fax at 213.289.4967 or email to fieldeducationvac@gmail.com. 

Jenn Pedde is the community manager for the online Masters Degree in Social Work program at the University of Southern California. The MSW@USC aids students in becoming a social worker nationally. 

The Role of Social Work
Social workers have a unique approach to problem solving. Rather than viewing a client’s problems in isolation, social workers think holistically about issues affecting the community as well as the client’s individual experience of illness or hardship. Because social workers are trained to think in this “big picture” way and they occupy a variety of roles where they have accountability to individual clients, larger institutions and the community as a whole, they often have a broader perspective than health care professionals or other service providers. This perspective makes the social worker’s role in the community particularly vital as insurance, health care and social service systems become increasingly complex.

A Landscape of Conflicting Interests
The social workers’ unique training and perspective position them to analyze and engage with changes in today’s dynamic culture and to help patients navigate complex insurance, health care and social service systems. In so doing, social workers serve as the client’s guide through a landscape of conflicting interests: insurance companies motivated by profit, medical professionals with limited time to care for each patient and public bureaucracies charged with distributing finite resources. In addition to navigating clients through these systems, social workers also look at how each client’s individual difficulties relate to patterns of illness and structural inequality in the society at large.

Social Work and Technology
One of the challenges social workers face in this rapidly advancing world is staying current with the technology they encounter in their daily work. Helping clients to navigate the interconnected web of available services requires a high degree of technological literacy, as well as information management skills. Learning how to access and interpret electronic medical records, insurance systems and mental health resources has become a fundamental part of social work. Keeping organized case files and other professional records has also changed with the computerization of social work. And with so much sensitive information being stored electronically and transmitted online, confidentiality issues have arisen that social workers must stay abreast of.

The role of the social worker in today’s complex health and human services system is pivotal. While many challenges present themselves in this evolving field, the satisfaction provided by aiding a client to access the services they need and helping a community to cope with the pervasive issues that generate need in the first place are not to be underestimated. After all, the social worker’s real mission is simple: to help people.


About the University of Southern California School of Work

View MSW@USC Video

The University of Southern California, one of the top research universities in the world, fosters a vibrant culture of public service and encourages students to cross academic as well as geographic boundaries in their pursuit of knowledge. The School of Social Work, one of the 10 top-ranked, accredited social work graduate programs in the nation (U.S. News & World Report), offers a rigorous, research-supported and mutually responsible learning process that nurtures innovative, principled and insightful leaders and practitioners.