Program Overview

Established in 1966, the School provides the highest quality training for social work practice and scholarship, in one of the richest and most diverse environments in the nation. Partially urban, partially rural, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, South Florida poses all the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century.

Our goal is to give you the opportunity to advance and deepen your knowledge of your profession and its values, theory-base, and research foundation, and to equip you to make a difference in people’s lives through practice-relevant scholarship and professional education.

Our Approach to Learning in the Doctoral Program

Barry’s Ph.D. in Social Work Program provides the opportunity to develop skills for the generation and dissemination of knowledge for the profession in the dynamic, multicultural communities unique to South Florida. Students are encouraged to identify their research interests early in the program and to pursue them throughout the curriculum, with strong multi-discipline faculty and advisor support. Hands-on research and teaching experiences are built in to the curriculum, in addition to classroom learning. Students have additional opportunities to teach and advise in the School’s BSW and MSW programs. Doctoral faculty members represent multiple disciplines: Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, Nursing, and others. The program appreciates the potential of online learning and many courses have elements online; however, in this program, classes continue to meet in traditional in-person contexts for the most part.

The faculty members of the School of Social Work, and our multi-discipline colleagues in the University, are committed to teaching and scholarship excellence. You benefit from the faculty’s attentive and collegial advisement, small doctoral classes, and creative responses to the intellectual interests of doctoral students. Because we believe that hands-on, practical experiences illuminate theoretical learning, our doctoral curriculum promotes your participation in faculty research and in teaching and advisement in our BSW and MSW programs. Barry has a well-earned reputation as a school that cares deeply about students in all of our programs – BSW, MSW, and Ph.D. – and continuously seeks to meet students’ needs.

The Ph.D. in Social Work program prepares experienced social workers to further the knowledge base of the profession through scholarship, to educate professional social workers, and to assume leadership roles within the profession. Graduates of the program are expected to advance social work theory and research, social work education, social work practice, and the effectiveness of social work services and interventions, with an emphasis on cultural relevance and cultural diversity.

The 49 – 58 credit curriculum entails 49 required credits, with an additional 9 elective credits, exclusive of dissertation credits, which vary according to the time students require to complete the dissertation. The program is time-intensive in the first and second years of study. However, with late afternoon and evening classes and some Saturday electives, it strives to accommodate practicing social workers with professional responsibilities, who have the flexibility and capacity to make doctoral study a high priority.

A 49-credit core curriculum of required courses is supplemented by a series of 1-, 2-, and 3-credit electives courses that expand the student’s knowledge and research skills in cutting-edge areas. The curriculum is designed to integrate and infuse, at all points, the history of our profession and social welfare as an institution, the values and ethics that drive our profession, and the culturally diverse context in which we practice, teach, and advance our knowledge base.

The program was established in 1983 under the leadership of its first director, Dr. Beulah Rothman. Dr. Rothman, a nationally and internationally recognized group work scholar, who instilled in the program an atmosphere of faculty- student collegiality, collaboration, mentorship, and support. That spirit of collegiality continues today.

On average, cohorts of a dozen or fewer students begin the program together and are able to complete all course work in 7 intensive consecutive terms, or 2 1/3 calendar years, and all degree requirements in about 3 ½ to 4 years. To date, over 80 doctorates have been awarded, and, at any given time, approximately 30 students are actively working on their degrees.

Social work practitioners who earn the Ph.D. at Barry are typically seasoned professionals who are ready to move into research and teaching. For some this means a total shift from practice into academe: these individuals join faculties in schools or departments of social work, where research, publication, and teaching will be their primary focus. Others continue in leadership roles in agency-based or self-employed social work practice, while teaching part-time in a school or department of social work and/or collaborating on research with academic colleagues. The program enthusiastically supports both of these career paths, as both venues contribute to the generation and dissemination of the social work knowledge base. However their career paths unfold, graduates are prepared to contribute to the advancement of social work theory and research, of social work education and training, and of social work practice.

In support of the preparation of advanced practitioners for leadership and social work knowledge building, the program:

• Admits experienced practitioners
• Defines scholarship broadly to include original empirical research, theoretical advancement, and the synthesis of secondary literature
• Emphasizes the importance of multi-modal research inclusive of qualitative and quantitative methods
• Affords an interdisciplinary context
• Provides didactic and experiential learning in applied and basic research
• Provides didactic and experiential learning in teaching and curriculum development

Core Performance Standards for Admission, Progression, and Graduation

All Barry University School of Social work students must meet essential standards of behavior for social work practice. This includes the NASW Code of Ethics that identifies the core values on which social work’s mission is based, and further summarizes ethical principles that reflect the profession’s core values, establish a set of specific ethical standards that guide social work practice, and provide the principles on which the public can hold a social worker accountable. These principles depict the scope of responsibility to which the student obligates him/herself from the time of entry into a Barry University School of Social Work program. In order to remain in good standing in the program, the graduate student, as stated in the NASW Code, “…must not allow their own personal problems, psychosocial distress, legal problems, substance abuse, or mental health difficulties to interfere with their professional judgment and performance or to jeopardize the best interests of people for whom they have a professional responsibility.” (p.23, NASW Code of Ethics). The School’s Core Performance Standards apply to doctoral students in role-appropriate ways: ethical practice in academic and leadership roles as set forth in the NASW Code of Ethics, critical thinking, time management, self-awareness, mutuality/collegiality, and communication.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

The School is committed to increasing cultural diversity among students and faculty. There is a strong commitment to expand social work teaching and learning opportunities to members of minority groups. The population of South Florida is represented by many diverse groups and offers a unique opportunity for the study of national and international social problems. Miami offers students the opportunity to experience the powerful impact of living, working, and learning in a community which represents one of the most diverse demographics in this nation. Students from other countries are encouraged to apply.