Social Work to launch part-time master’s program next fall

Many college students want to finish their degree and get a job as soon as they can after graduation, while others anticipate graduate school and earning a master’s degree or doctorate in their field.

UW-Madison graduate student Heidi Stringer wanted both — and is currently in her sixth year of pursuing her master’s degree in social work.

“When I graduated as an undergraduate, and went back several years after I had graduated the first time, I had a life, I had a kid, and a full-time job already,” Stringer says. “I couldn’t afford to quit my job, so I had to go to school around that.”

In September, the UW-Madison School of Social Work will offer a part-time MSW program that accommodates the needs of students such as Stringer. Offered at two sites, one on the UW–Madison campus and the other on the UW-Eau Claire campus, the program has been designed to offer a master’s program that can serve full-time employees, as well as others who are unable to pursue a full-time education, by offering Saturday classes throughout the year.

Madison and Eau Claire Social Work faculty have worked closely in developing the Eau Claire site. For students who received undergraduate degrees in social work within the last seven years, the program would take two years (those with BSWs older than seven years may have additional requirements,) for those with any other degree it would take four.

This new part-time program would allow people to pursue higher education without having to leave their jobs, if those jobs meet certain requirements. Had the new program existed when Stringer began her master’s degree, she would have been able to finish in four years or less.

“I definitely would’ve completed the program a lot sooner. I maybe could have finished in three to three and a half years,” Stringer says. “Frequently I found myself having to be on campus two to three times a week, and juggling that with a full-time job. I found it impossible.”

Faculty planners of the new program have been working to create something that will meet the increasing demand for social workers in Wisconsin, especially in the Madison area and the northwest region of the state. “We are very pleased that we are able to launch this program and grateful for the support we have received from the faculty and staff at all levels of the university system,” says Bill Heiss, assistant director of the School of Social Work.

The emphasis of this program in its initial years will be on child and family welfare. There is a strong need in Wisconsin for highly trained professional social workers in the areas of child welfare, school social work, and supportive family services.

By giving greater access to advanced education so that more professional social workers are available to manage Wisconsin’s human services needs, this new part-time program truly embodies the “Wisconsin Idea,” says Kristen Slack, co-director of the new program. Gloria Fennel, the Eau Claire site co-director, echoes those sentiments: “Our undergraduate social work alumni have been seeking such an opportunity for years. We are delighted that we have been able to partner with UW–Madison to bring this about.”

Some students do not have the opportunity to immediately enroll in a full-time master’s program following their undergraduate degree and like Stringer, enter directly into the full-time work force instead.

“I think it great that the school is willing to accept the changing student body,” Stringer says. “I know a lot of people in the human services that would have gone to school if they weren’t working full-time.”

A total of 48 open spots will be available on each campus: half for the two-year program, and the other half for the four-year program.

Funding comes from a mix of sources: UW-Eau Claire, UW–Madison College of Letters and Sciences, UW Division of Continuing Studies, and the State of Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.