An Advanced Standing Social Work Program Tailored to BSW Graduates
An Advanced Standing option for the Online Master of Social Work (MSW) gives credit to students who hold a bachelor’s degree in social work from a university or college accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). It’s like a fast track to your master’s. You begin the program in the Summer semester and earn your degree in just 15 months.
Students are required to participate in weekly synchronous class sessions and attend two online residencies a year. Students will receive their residency schedules upon registration. Please reach out to our enrollment team with any questions at 516.619.2209.
This degree is characterized by:
- A 32-credit online program that can be completed in 15 months
- Two online residencies
- An optional health care specialization
- Hands-on instruction and personal advisement
- Experiential learning grounded in academic theory
- Engaging, interactive online coursework
Upon successfully completing the program, you not only hold a master’s degree, but also are eligible to apply for licensure as a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW). In order to prepare our graduates for licensure, we offer exam preparation courses that draw on questions from prior New York state exams. Students in these courses can take a practice exam as many times as they would like, and receive immediate feedback on their scores. Exam information is also integrated into the coursework for the online MSW, so our graduates will finish the program uniquely prepared to succeed in becoming licensed.
“Adelphi University’s School of Social Work is an excellent choice for many reasons. First, we offer flexibility and accommodation to meet our diverse students’ needs. This includes having five campus locations, an online MSW option and internship opportunities during the day, evening and weekend. Second, our instructors care deeply about their students’ success. They are accessible, welcome students’ questions and make a consistent effort to support their students as much as possible.”
—Dr. Roni Berger, faculty at Adelphi University’s School of Social Work
Health Across the Life Course Specialization
This optional specialization provides an overview of health care practice within the context of social work services. It prepares social workers to provide multifaceted care that incorporates a patient’s life experiences. All courses foster a stronger understanding of the cultural, socio-economic, religious and ethical contexts that inform both patients and providers.
This specialization consists of three courses (9 credits total). There is no need for students to take extra classes. Instead, they complete the specialization by aligning their three required elective courses with designated specialization courses.
Advanced Standing students will complete these courses in S1 Summer and in S4 Summer.
Specialization course options include:
- Social Work Practice in Health Care
- Practice in End of Life Care
- Contemporary Social Work: An Integrative Approach
- Social Work Practice with Older Adults
- Stress, Crisis, Trauma and Coping
- Social Work Practice with People Living with Dementia
Advanced Standing Course Plan by Term
| S1 Summer | SWK Elective |
| SWK 722 |
| 502 – Professional Development Seminar |
| S2 Fall | SWK 710 |
| SWK 780 |
| FIELD – SWK 790 (21 hrs/wk) |
| S3 Spring | SWK 758 |
| SWK 782 |
| FIELD – SWK 791 (21 hrs/wk) |
| S4 Summer | SWK Elective |
| SWK Elective |
| FIELD – SWK 689 (15 hrs/wk) **15 hr/wk students only |
Any student who opts for the 21-hour week field course will complete field in two semesters, fall and spring. Extended field students complete 15 hours/week in field for the fall, spring and summer terms.
Online Learning Environment
All Online MSW courses are delivered on the Moodle learning management system. It serves as a hub for faculty and students and is the portal through which students access all coursework.
Some courses have no live components, and students can complete assignments largely on their schedule. Other courses are fully or partially live, requiring students to participate online at scheduled times. Online MSW coursework may include reading, viewing video lectures, completing case assessments, participating in multimedia VoiceThread discussions and working on group projects.
Students typically devote 10 to 12 hours a week to coursework. Though the online format provides flexibility, most assignments must be completed on schedule.
All practice courses, the Professional Development Seminar and the Field Instruction Integrative Seminar are live, meeting between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. (ET) on Thursdays. Some of these live sessions are recorded and posted to Moodle for students to view at their convenience.
Before starting the program, students participate in a three-week, online learning orientation that provides an overview of the program and learning technology. The first on-campus learning experience also includes a brief orientation and technology training.
“Without even having set foot on campus, I’m already beginning to feel like Adelphi has a much more personalized approach; and the faculty and administration is more committed to their students’ success than I’ve experienced at other schools.”
—Laurie
Residency
“There is a sense of genuine investment on the parts of faculty and staff–they really care about their students and the residency provides a space that encourages relationship building. The first residency served as a foundation for meaningful relationships I now hold with the members of my cohort. We look forward to the start of each semester and to catch up, learn and grow together.”
—Courtney Oehl, First-Year Student, Cohort #6
Personal relationships are at the core of social work, and students in our online MSW program build professional connections with each other and their professors by attending required residencies.
These two to four-day virtual experiences take place twice annually in August and January. During the residencies, you’ll have the chance to collaborate with peers and faculty as well as participate in networking opportunities.
Residency Schedule
Fall 2023 Cohort – Residency Dates:
| Semester | Dates | Duration |
| Fall 2023 | August 26 & 27, 2023 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Spring 2024 | January 20 & 21, 2024 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Fall 2024 | August 24 & 25, 2024 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Spring 2025 | January 18 & 19, 2025 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Fall 2025 | August 23 & 24, 2025 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Spring 2026 | January 17 & 18, 2026 (virtual) | 2 days |
Spring 2024 Cohort – Residency Dates:
| Semester | Dates | Duration |
| Spring 2024 | January 20 & 21, 2024 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Fall 2024 | August 24 & 25, 2024 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Spring 2025 | January 18 & 19, 2025 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Fall 2025 | August 23 & 24, 2025 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Spring 2026 | January 17 & 18, 2026 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Fall 2026 | TBD | 2 days |
Fall 2024 Cohort – Residency Dates:
| Semester | Dates | Duration |
| Fall 2024 | August 24 & 25, 2024 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Spring 2025 | January 18 & 19, 2025 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Fall 2025 | August 23 & 24, 2025 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Spring 2026 | January 17 & 18, 2026 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Fall 2026 | TBD | 2 days |
| Spring 2027 | TBD | 2 days |
Spring 2025 Cohort – Residency Dates:
| Semester | Dates | Duration |
| Spring 2025 | January 18 & 19, 2025 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Fall 2025 | August 23 & 24, 2025 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Spring 2026 | January 17 & 18, 2026 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Fall 2026 | TBD | 2 days |
| Spring 2027 | TBD | 2 days |
| Fall 2027 | TBD | 2 days |
Fall 2025 Cohort – Residency Dates:
| Semester | Dates | Duration |
| Fall 2025 | August 23 & 24, 2025 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Spring 2026 | January 17 & 18, 2026 (virtual) | 2 days |
| Fall 2026 | TBD | 2 days |
| Spring 2027 | TBD | 2 days |
| Fall 2027 | TBD | 2 days |
| Spring 2028 | TBD | 2 days |
Students will receive their residency schedules upon registration. Please reach out to our enrollment team with any questions at 516.619.2209.
Field Education
Field education is a central component of graduate social work programs. It teaches students to apply the theory and knowledge learned in the classroom to social work practice in agency settings. You work at human service agencies–directly with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities.
You gain exposure to diverse problems and people including oppressed populations. Field work assignments consist of diverse practice opportunities. Assignments include conducting face-to-face interviews with clients both individually and in group settings.
As part of this training, students must also work with organizational and community representatives on behalf of clients. Your assignments may include community work, program development, social action or research. Students who elect to take the Health Across the Life Course complete their field assignment in a health care setting.
For more information about the comprehensive field education component of our program, visit the Field Placements page.
Advanced Standing Online MSW Courses
The Professional Development Seminar is designed to support students in the Online MSW Program. This non-credit course meets online (synchronously and asynchronously) until students start field and will be facilitated by the program director. Social Work faculty and administrators will be invited to present at the seminars on specific topics related to social work. This seminar is expected to guide students through the field placement application process and the transition from the classroom to a practice setting. Invited speakers will focus on advanced practice related topics that will help students make the connections between theory and practice.
The professional development seminar will include topics such as technology tools, networking, writing a literature review, understanding individual learning styles, adult learning and professional education (roles, behaviors, personal attributes), professional and personal values, professional goals and developing professional identity.
This course provides an understanding of psychopathology from a social work perspective. Concepts of mental health and mental illness are viewed from a historical and holistic perspective incorporating the impact of socio-economic, gender, racial, ethnic and cultural factors. The course discusses classification of mental illness, for example anxiety states, mood disorders, personality disorders, substance abuse, dementia and schizophrenia, as set forth in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (4th edition). Emphasis is placed on the explanatory power of theories to inform practice on behalf of people with mental illness.
Prerequisites: SWK 511, SWK 521
This course provides conceptual frameworks for understanding the role of professional social workers in organizational settings and expands students’ capacities to maximize their practice effectiveness in organizations, provide organizational leadership and contribute to constructive organizational change. Drawing on organizational sociology, social administration and students’ practice experiences, the course examines the organizational goals, structures, environments and processes that impact on service strategies, case decisions and the achievement of professional objectives.
Prerequisites: SWK 501, SWK 521
This course focuses on using and evaluating the knowledge base of social work practice. It applies concepts learned in Research I to the empirical evaluation of one’s own practice, the analysis and evaluation of empirical-based knowledge and its use in social work practice. The course stresses issues related to the conduct of research in a practice profession, including the relationship between research and practice, the application of principles of critical thinking to both research and practice and the ethical considerations crucial in research development.
Prerequisites: SWK 521, SWK 557
Building on the foundation year, this course focuses on development of the knowledge and skills needed for advanced clinical social work practice with individual clients. Relying on ecological systems theory, the course will present various models for advanced practice, as well as the integration of these models. Teaching of all models will rely on the strengths perspective and be case-based.
Prerequisite: SWK 521
Students examine group work practice in depth with application to social work within an agency context. The course creates a link with the foundation practices courses taught in the first year, as well as content taught in the foundation human behavior and social environment courses. Emphasis will be on addressing conceptual understanding, analytical process and interactional skills necessary for group work practice.
Prerequisite: SWK 521
SWK 790, SWK 791, and SWK 792 comprise a three semester, 900-hour field instruction internship for students in the OYR program. Students are assigned to a field agency or complete a work/study field placement under the auspices of their human service employment during which they engage in supervised advanced direct practice with individuals, couples, families and small groups. Students are responsible for completing 21 hours per week of In-Field Placement.
Prerequisite: SWK 521
SWK 790, SWK 791, and SWK 792 comprise a three semester, 900-hour field instruction internship for students in the OYR program. Students are assigned to a field agency or complete a work/study field placement under the auspices of their human service employment during which they engage in supervised advanced direct practice with individuals, couples, families and small groups. Students are responsible for completing 21 hours per week of In-Field Placement.
Prerequisite: SWK 780
Electives
Students complete three electives as part of their MSW degree:
- Students who are completing a general course of study (no specialization) can choose any electives they wish from the General or Health Across the Life Course lists.
- Students who want to fulfill the Health Across the Life Course Specialization must choose three courses from the specialization list. At least one of those electives must be an integrative course (marked with an “I”) and a clinical course (marked with a “C”).
General Social Work Electives:
This course is designed to prepare students for practice with immigrants and refugees. One in five clients of social workers is likely to be foreign-born or have a foreign-born parent. This is a result of growing trends of relocation and increasing numbers of immigrants, refugees and asylees relocating for political, economic, familial and personal reasons. Social workers are required to be knowledgeable about and capable of developing strategies to address immigration-related issues. Building on knowledge acquired in the foundation-level courses, this course focuses on the application of this knowledge. The theoretical underpinnings of the course are stress, acculturation and trauma theories, the ecological approach and the strength perspective. The nature of immigration is discussed from a global and national perspective, deepening and expanding content on immigration taught in the undergraduate level course on the culture of ethnic and immigrant groups.
This course is aimed at developing the knowledge and skills necessary for working with individuals with a diagnosis of serious mental illness, using recovery-oriented, evidence-based practices. It is designed for MSW students and MSW mental health practitioners. Students will become familiar with evidence-based practices within a recovery-oriented paradigm as a general approach to practice. They also will learn about specific evidence-based interventions to use for individuals with a diagnosis of serious mental illness. Though it is assumed that students will have a basic knowledge of serious mental illness as a prerequisite or corequisite, a review will be provided. Students will learn to examine research literature to determine the various levels of support for specific interventions and essential principles for translating research into practice. Additionally, they will identify the appropriate treatment outcomes that reflect effective, quality mental health practice. Each evidence-based practice presented will also be examined for its utility with diverse groups. Providing assessment and treatment to a diverse group of individuals with a diagnosis of serious mental illness is the focus of this course and will be discussed in detail. The prerequisite for this course is completion of the foundation year in the MSW program or equivalent, along with completion of SWK 710, Social Work Assessment and Diagnosis.
Health Across the Life Course Electives:
This course examines critical issues in social work practice in health care. Building on core knowledge common to all fields of practice, the course explores advanced practice skills and strategies for work with individuals, families, groups, interdisciplinary teams and service providers in a variety of health care settings. Social work practice is examined in the context of psychosocial consequences of illness, current health care delivery systems and technological advances, as well as changing regulatory approaches and organizational structures.
This course investigates the social, psychological and emotional issues of separation and loss and subsequent grieving. It examines the impact that cultural diversity and one’s own values, attitudes and fears have on the grieving process. Legal, political, medical and ethical issues will be analyzed to heighten students’ ability to empower their clients.
This course examines critical issues related to social work practice with older people and their families. It encompasses individual counseling and therapy, support group, psycho-education, research models, service delivery systems and relevant policies. Topics include biological, psychological, sociological, economic and spiritual perspectives with emphasis on contemporary problems.
This course is designed to integrate all aspects of the curriculum in order to prepare students to address practice concerns that are linked to social problems and policies. Students will be able to address these issues in a knowledgeable, professional and rational manner. They will learn to analyze and synthesize theory and research concerning a social problem experienced by their clients. They will be able to utilize both domestic and international information to develop relevant, informed solutions and interventions. This comprehensive process provides a template for students to address any social concern in the same manner, moving from “Case to Cause,” reflecting social work’s most salient mission.
This course focuses on understanding stress, crisis, trauma and coping as well as their short- and long-term consequences along the life cycle in diverse socio-cultural contexts. Students develop evidence-based knowledge and skills for best practices when working with affected individuals, families and communities.
This course prepares students for effective practice with diverse individuals living with neurocognitive disorder, or dementia, and their families from across practice settings. Students will apply and integrate the competencies necessary for effective clinical social work practice with this population.
