Middle Tennessee State University

M.S.W. in Social Work

The Department of Social Work in the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences at MTSU prepares students to serve as social work practitioners, scholars, and leaders who assist individuals, families, groups, and communities at the local, national, and international levels. Our faculty seeks to develop culturally informed, community-engaged students who promote social justice and respect for diversity and human rights through research, coursework, fieldwork, and public service.

The Social Work program is designed to fulfill several goals:

• To prepare a competent, diverse student population for advanced generalist social work practice based on professional values and ethics to serve client systems within each level of practice;
• To provide the knowledge and skills necessary to promote the development of and advocacy for social policies and services that reduce the impact of poverty, oppression, and discrimination, and ensure social, environment, economic justice, and social justice across systems;
• To provide a teaching environment that ensures the development of analytical skills and critical thinking as part of social work practice;
• Support knowledge acquisition through active participation in the development, evaluation, and improvement of social work knowledge and skills via research aimed at advancing social work practice;
• To promote the development of a multiple theoretical orientation applicable across systems and levels of practice that supports competency as advanced generalist social work professionals;
• To provide an understanding of diversity and cultural competence, from a lens of cultural humility and with an emphasis on social justice, empowerment, and improving the well-being of people, and
• To instill in students the history, purpose and philosophical underpinning reflected in the profession of social work and develop professional leadership skills across service delivery systems.