REQUIREMENTS FOR DEGREE OF MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK (for students admitted from Semester I, )

Transcription

1 REQUIREMENTS FOR DEGREE OF MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK (for students admitted from Semester I, ) Admission 1. For admission as a candidate for the degree of Master of Social Work, a candidate must have obtained and/or fulfilled: (1) (a) an NUS Honours degree (second class and above) or equivalent (e.g., a four-year Bachelors degree with at least an average grade of B) in the subject or related field; or (b) a good Bachelors degree (at least an average grade of B or equivalent) and an NUS Graduate Diploma in Social Work with at least an average grade of B+; or (c) a good Bachelors degree (at least an average grade of B or equivalent) in the subject or related field; good Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test scores, taken no earlier than 5 years before the date of application; and a minimum of two years of relevant work experience; or exceptionally, (d) such other qualifications and experience subject to approval by the Board of Graduate Studies; and (2) TOEFL/IELTS, where applicable. The minimum acceptable scores are TOEFL score of 580 for the paper-based test or 237 for the computer-based test; or IELTS score of 7.0 and (3) Additional departmental requirements and provide additional supporting documents, where applicable. Period of Study 2. The maximum period of candidature for the Master of Social Work is 36 months of full-time study or 48 months of part-time study from the commencement of the programme. The maximum periods include periods of leave of absence subject to the approval of the Head of the Department of Social Work. 3. The maximum periods of candidature are exclusive of any period of preparatory study that may be required by the Department of Social Work. Residency Requirement 4. All candidates must meet the residency requirement of 50% of the modular credit requirement for the degree. Residency requires: (1) payment of fees; and (2) satisfaction of all curricular requirements of the programme of study. Termination of Candidature 5. A candidate for the degree of Master of Social Work whose progress, in the opinion of the Faculty, has not been satisfactory, may be required at any time by the Faculty to terminate his/her candidature.

2 Registration and Fees 6. A candidate for the Masters degree must register as a student of the University during each academic year of his/her candidature and pay the fees prescribed. Curricular Requirements 7. (1) A candidate for the degree of Master of Social Work must offer no fewer than ten modules made up as follows: a. Master with Specialization (Family/Community or Health) 5 specialization modules (including 1 specialization related supervised project or practicum); and 1 general elective module. b. General Master without Specialization 5 elective modules from either of the specialization tracks; and 1 general elective module. c. Self designed Master without Specialization 6 elective modules including relevant cross faculty graduate modules as approved by the Department. Master of Social Work (without specialization) Four Essential Modules: SW5103 Family Therapy; SW5104 Management of Human Service Organizations; SW5106 Social Welfare Policy and Services; SW5107 Program Development and Evaluation; and, Six elective (level 5000 or level 6000) modules from the Department of Social Work OR six electives in a self-designed curriculum including cross faculty graduate modules as approved by the Department. Master of Social Work (with specialization) Four Essential Modules: SW5103 Family Therapy; SW5104 Management of Human Service Organizations; SW5106 Social Welfare Policy and Services; SW5107 Program Development and Evaluation; and, Five Elective modules from the following: Family/Community Specialization: Any five specialization modules SW5207 Working with Multi-Stressed Families; SW5215 Poverty and Asset-Building Policy; SW5216 Family and Interpersonal Violence; Health Specialization: Any five specialization modules SW5210 Post Traumatic Stress Disorders; SW5211 Risk Assessment & Management: Mental Health; SW5213 Practice with Persons with Disability; SW5217 Continuum of Care and Healthy

3 SW5245 Current Group Approaches in Social Work; SW5252 Community Organization and Development; SW5253 Volunteer Management; Supervised Project OR Practicum Ageing; SW5218 Practice with Persons with Addiction; SW5219 Palliative and End-of-Life Care; Supervised Project OR Practicum One General Elective: The general elective may be from the Health specialization OR the Family/Community specialization OR the following: SW5247 Social Prevention and Public Education; SW5880 Special Topics in Social Work (the module will highlight a contemporary issue in social work practice e.g. pathological gambling, social enterprise or end stage renal failure); Cross faculty modules such as from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS Business School, or the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine. Candidates on a specialization track are required to complete a Supervised Project (SW5112) or Fieldwork Practicum (SW5111). The Supervised Project will be an independent and original piece or work which involves innovative and original initiatives such as developing a new social service programme/policy or conducting an original piece of field research. The Fieldwork Practicum requires 800 fieldwork hours and field supervision under an approved supervisor. Field integration seminars are scheduled in conjunction with the Practicum. In addition, a candidate may be required by the Head of the Department of Social Work to undertake such work as may be deemed relevant to his/her candidature for the degree of Master of Social Work. (2) The total MC requirements must be at level 5000 or (3) A candidate may offer more than the minimum necessary number of modules but assessment of whether the candidate has met the degree requirements will be based upon the best ten modules. (4) Where a candidate has a particular need, he/she may pursue an undergraduate module on an audit basis, subject to the approval of the lecturers of the particular modules, the Head of the Department of Social Work and the Head of the Department responsible for those programmes. 8. (1) Unless otherwise indicated, each module shall be of one semester s duration. (2) The modules offered may be modified or added to from time to time by the Executive Committee for Graduate Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, on the advice of the Head of the Department of Social Work. (3) Not all modules are necessarily available in any one semester. (4) A full-time candidate must offer at least three modules in a semester and may offer up to a maximum of five modules in a semester. A part-time candidate must offer at least one module in a semester and may offer up to a maximum of three modules in a semester. (5) The Head of the Department of Social Work may, for any particular candidate, impose restrictions on the modules that candidate may read. 9. (1) Subject to clause 9(2) of these Requirements, a candidate on the self designed Master without Specialization track may, subject to the approval of the Head of the Department of Social Work, complete not more than

4 six modules from other graduate programmes of study in this University, in lieu of not more than six elective modules. (2) Admission to modules offered by other graduate programmes in this University is subject to the approval of the lecturers of the particular modules, the Head of the Department of Social Work and the Head of the Department responsible for those graduate programmes. 10. Unless otherwise stated, there shall be one examination for each module to be held at the end of the semester. 11. (1) The results of the written examinations will be submitted to the Board of Examiners and the Board may pass or fail a candidate or require him/her to be further examined in such manner as it thinks fit or refer him/her for further work. (2) Subject to clause 11(3) of this set of Requirements, each examination may be taken once only and the candidate must pass in all the papers of the examination. (3) (a) A candidate who fails an essential module must retake the same essential module in a subsequent semester. Should, for any reason the essential module not be offered in the following semester, the candidate may be permitted to replace the essential module with another module, subject to the approval of the Head of the Department of Social Work. A candidate who fails the same essential module twice shall be deemed as having failed two essential modules. (b) A candidate who fails an elective module may be permitted to either retake the same elective module, or replace the failed module by taking another elective module in a subsequent semester. A candidate who fails the same elective module twice shall be deemed as having failed two elective modules. (c) A candidate is allowed to fail a maximum of two modules. A candidate who fails the examination in more than two modules throughout the whole course, will be required to terminate his/her course of study. 12. A candidate who is prevented by illness from taking or completing the examination or whose performance in the examination is affected by illness may be permitted by the Board of Examiners to take the examination again in a subsequent period of the examination. In such a case, the candidate may be required, at the discretion of the Board of Examiners, to repeat the whole or part of the module before taking the examination again. A candidate may choose to replace this module with another module in a subsequent semester. If it is an essential module, the candidate may only be permitted to do so with the approval of the Head of the Department of Social Work. 13. A candidate who is required to take the graduate English course is required to obtain satisfactory grades (at least grade C) in the module at the intermediate level. 14. Candidates admitted with effect from Semester II, and who are required to take the graduate English course at intermediate level are required to begin with the Speaking and Listening module before proceeding to the Writing module the next semester. Students who are required to take the Graduate English modules must obtain satisfactory grades (at least grade C) in the modules. Continuation Requirements 15. A candidate s Cumulative Average Point should not fall below 2.50 for two consecutive semesters or 3.00 for three consecutive semesters. 16. Termination of candidature will result if a student fails to maintain the minimum Cumulative Average Point as stipulated in clause 15 of this set of Requirements. For any semester in which a candidate s Cumulative Average Point falls below that required for graduation (3.00 for a Masters degree), he/she will be issued a warning. If, in the following semester, the candidate s

5 Cumulative Average Point again falls below the graduation requirement, but not sufficiently to warrant immediate termination, he/she will be placed on probation. Award of Degree 17. A candidate may be recommended for the award of the degree of Master of Social Work if he/she Has paid all fees prescribed and has met the following requirements at the end of the course: (1) Completed and passed ten modules; (2) Obtained a minimum Cumulative Average Point of 3.00; (3) Not failed more than two modules; (4) Where applicable, obtained a satisfactory grade (at least grade C) in the graduate English courses conducted by the Centre for English Language Communication at intermediate level. 18. Recommendation for the award of the degree of Master of Social Work will be forwarded to the Board of Graduate Studies for consideration.