School of Social Work | PH.D. Program

Program of Study	Financial Aid
Admission Requirements	Transfer of Credit
Admission Procedures	Curriculum
Requirements for Degree	Ph.D. Admission Application

PhD PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY & DESCRIPTION

We at the L.S.U. School of Social Work believe that doctoral education in Social Work must involve first and foremost a passionate commitment to learning, and a specific commitment to the pursuit of new knowledge that can improve the lives of our client populations. The Ph.D. Program at the L.S.U. School of Social Work prepares the next generation of social work educators, researchers, administrators, and policy-makers to contribute to the creation of the knowledge base of our profession. We prepare students above all else to conduct empirical research targeted at the pressing needs of our client populations and service systems. Social work practitioners must have the highest quality up-to-date knowledge to strengthen the evidence base of their work, and it is the job of doctoral-trained social workers to provide this. The major educational outcomes for our doctoral students are:

To learn about the historical and contemporary contexts of social work research, focusing on the nature of research questions posed and the methods used to address these
To learn to critically analyze the quality and merits of social work research in a variety of substantive areas
To produce original research relevant to the field of social work, including the framing of research questions, synthesis of the existing relevant literature, the use of appropriate methods to investigate answers to research questions, and the analysis, synthesis, and interpretation of data
To translate learning to practice, especially through preparation for teaching beginning social work professionals.

Our doctoral program is now the only Ph.D. Program in Louisiana. It is an interdisciplinary degree in which students are expected to explore diverse areas and traditions of inquiry and use a variety of research methods, all the while keeping a sharp focus on the need for information to inform social work practice. It is important to note that ours is not an advanced clinical program. The course of study in our doctoral program is completely oriented toward mastering the skills needed to design and conduct empirical social work research.

Our faculty is well-equipped to effectively mentor doctoral student research. Major areas of research and scholarship expertise that our current faculty mentors provide our doctoral students include:

Child welfare/child maltreatment
Children’s attachments to caregivers
Substance abuse/prevention
Juvenile justice
School truancy
Welfare/family support-related policies
The personal and social circumstances of welfare-receiving families
Social capital and poverty
Vulnerable families
High risk youth
Gay and lesbian youth
Gerontology
Domestic violence
Mental health/mental health interventions
International and comparative social welfare and social development, including opportunities for research at selected universities world-wide.

Our program is small, usually admitting 3-5 students per year. This means that all students work very closely with faculty mentors, oftentimes directly with them on their on-going research. We have a diverse student body that includes students from several foreign countries and we encourage international applications.
Doctoral studies in Social Work at L.S.U. are characterized by three major phases of work: coursework (completion of a minimum of 39 credit hours of coursework); the general exam (an intense period of self-guided study and examination directed by a faculty committee), and the dissertation (the student’s original research, guided by a primary mentor and 3 other faculty committee members). It is expected that the period of study for the doctoral degree in social work will be three to five years, but not exceeding seven.

It is a good time to pursue a doctoral degree in Social Work. The profession increasingly demands evidence-based knowledge and expertise in research and evaluation. Recently, the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work, a national/international consortium of Social Work Ph.D. Program Directors, completed a national study that found that Social Work Programs at virtually all levels in the U.S. face a tremendous shortage of doctoral-trained academicians in the coming years to fill the ranks of the social work programs in our colleges and universities. We need more social workers who are passionate about pursuing the answers to important questions affecting our client populations and eager to take on the challenges to improving social work practice and the well-being of our clients.

PhD ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The following are requirements for admission to the Ph.D. program in the School of Social Work at LSU:
•   A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with typical liberal arts, social sciences, introductory statistics, and human biology courses;
•   An acceptable grade-point average in undergraduate course work (as evaluated by the School of Social Work and the Graduate School);
•   A masters degree in social work from a CSWE accredited program or a closely related discipline. Preference will be given to applicants with the M.S. W.
•   A g.p.a. in graduate studies of at least 3.00.
•   Acceptable scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), traditionally at least 1000 combined on the verbal and quantitative sections.
•   Completion of a graduate introductory statistics course with a grade of “B” or better;
•   Completion of a graduate introductory research course with a grade of “B” or better.
•   Other materials as required in the application instructions.

ADMISSION PROCEDURES

Application to the Ph.D. Program in Social Work at L.S.U. consists of 2 separate applications, one to the L.S.U. Graduate School and one to the School of Social Work. For the application to the Graduate School, no later than February 1, applicants should submit credentials following the instructions on the official University “Application for Graduate Admission” form, available from the L.S.U. Graduate School website. (See these requirements below.) For the application to the School of Social Work, applicants should submit the application form and other materials as indicated on this web-site according to the following schedule: Applications received before February 1 will receive priority in admissions decisions; Applications received between February 1 and May 15 will be considered on a space-available basis; Applications received after May 15 cannot be guaranteed consideration for admission for the fall semester. Applicants submitting late applications should contact the Ph.D. Program Director, Dr. Tim Page, to discuss the time-frame for their submissions.

The following items are to be sent to the Graduate School, 114 David Boyd Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803-3920:

The completed “Application for Graduate Admission” form;
The required application fee and any applicable late fee;
One official copy of all transcripts in sealed envelopes (all transcripts are required, whether or not credit was earned or is desired). Official transcripts of work taken at LSU are not required;
A satisfactory score on the aptitude portion of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). The LSU code for GRE reporting is R6373-5. LSU is an approved testing center. The GRE is administered electronically on a daily basis at testing centers in this country and abroad. Test applications may be obtained from the Graduate School at LSU; GRE Web site at www.gre.org; graduate schools at most colleges and universities; or by writing to Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 955, Princeton, New Jersey 08540. The completed test application form and examination fee must reach Educational Testing Service approximately one month in advance of the test date. At least six weeks should be allowed for the examination results to reach LSU (less if the test is taken electronically);
For international applicants whose native language is not English, scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL);
Financial statement (required only from international students without assistantships paying at least $7,700).

The following items are to be sent to the School of Social Work, Office of Student Services, 311 Huey P. Long Fieldhouse, LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-3920:

The completed School of Social Work “Application for Admission to PhD Program”
A completed “Plan of Doctoral Study,” a 500-word typed statement that describes:

a. the applicant’s career goals in social work;

b. the applicant’s purpose(s) in seeking a doctoral degree and what interested the applicant in pursuing doctoral education;

c. the applicant’s special areas of interest and plans for dissertation research, identifying which faculty member(s) share the applicant’s area of interest;

d. the strengths and deficits as perceived by the applicant;

One official copy of all transcripts in sealed envelopes (all transcripts are required, whether or not credit was earned or is desired);
Three letters of reference on forms provided by the School of Social Work

The decision to admit is conditioned upon the applicant providing accurate and current information and updating this information as circumstances change. The act of application constitutes agreement that LSU may investigate the accuracy of the statements and data provided. Falsification, misrepresentation, or omission in application answers and supporting data may result in revocation or denial of admission.

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CURRICULUM

The doctorate program course work is divided into the following four areas:

1. Foundation Courses in the School of Social Work (15 hrs.)

SW 7200 Integrative Colloquium in Social Work I: Broad-ranging analysis and discussion of problems and issues in the social work profession.

SW 7201 Integrative Colloquium in Social Work II: Broad-ranging analysis and discussion of problems and issues in the social work profession.

SW 7202 Issues and Research Problems in Social Policy: Issues and problems in social welfare policy; research focus on policy formulation.

SW 7204 Issues and Research Problems in Social Work Intervention: Social work intervention with individuals, families, groups, and communities; formulation and development of problem-solving research agendas.

SW 7207 Integrative Seminar: Development of research questions and hypotheses, and initial drafts of the dissertation proposal, including introduction, literature review, and methodology sections.

2. Research Methods and Statistics

7203 Data Analysis for Social Work Research I Prereq.: admission to the PhD program in social work orconsent of instructor. Introduction to data analysis for social work doctoral students, including: organizing and presenting data, descriptive statistics, correlation, simple linear regression, inferential statistical methods for one and two samples, and one-way analysis of variance.

SW 7206 Research Practicum: Hands-on supervised research experience; demonstration of collaborative and/or independent research.

7435 Data Analysis for Social Work Research II Prereq.: SW 7203 or consent of instructor. Advanced data analysis for social work doctoral students with emphasis on multivariate techniques.

One additional research course from a cognate department, chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor, directly related to dissertation needs.

3. Interdisciplinary Courses (12 hrs.)

Students, in consultation with an adviser, will choose an additional 12 hours of required course work incorporating one or more of the following academic disciplines:

Anthropology
Economics
Educational Leadership, Research, and Counseling
Finance
History
Human Ecology
Management
Philosophy
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology
Social Work

4. Dissertation (9 hrs.)

Dissertation (nine hours) students may not enroll in dissertation hours until after they have successfully passed the General Examination. Dissertation hours cannot be taken to fulfill the Graduate School’s residence requirement.

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REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE

To obtain the PhD degree, students must:

Successfully complete 48 semester hours of study, including nine hours of dissertation, which must be completed within seven years from being classified as a doctoral student;
Spend one academic year (comprised of two consecutive semesters) in residence in full-time study (nine hours);
Maintain an overall grade point average of 3.00, with no grade less than “C” in any course offered for the degree;
Demonstrate mastery of a broad major field (i.e. social work) as evidenced by passing the General Exam;
Satisfactorily complete the exit requirement: the dissertation and the dissertation defense.

TRANSFER OF CREDIT

Six hours of credit may be transferred if the following criteria have been met:

The course(s) were taken as part of another PhD program;
The course(s) were taken in the last five years;
The student’s major professor gave approval;
Grades in the course (s) were “A” or “B.”
Other criteria as set forth in the LSU Graduate School Catalog.

FINANCIAL AID

The school makes every effort to obtain financial support for doctoral students to the extent that funds are available. Applicants are advised that financial support cannot be guaranteed to all students admitted to the PhD program. A limited number of graduate assistantships may be available for full-time students, depending on department funds. Preference will be given to students who are best able to commit to the academic demands of the program and fulfill the duties of the assistantship according to faculty needs. Dissertation fellowships are available through the LSU Graduate School and are awarded to students working on dissertations. Huel D. Perkins Fellowships along with a cash stipend are awarded to qualified African American applicants. More information on fellowships and scholarships, as well as deadline information, can be obtained by visiting the LSU Graduate School Web site at www.gradlsu.gs.lsu.edu. Some applicants may be eligible for federal work study stipends and/or loans, and are encouraged to apply to the Office of Student Aid and Scholarships, 202 Himes Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, 225-578-3103.