Master of Social Work
MSW Specific Policies
Comprehensive policies and requirements for MSW students at the School of Social Policy & Practice, covering technical standards, academic requirements, and professional conduct expectations.
Technical Standards
The MSW program at SP2 prepares students for professional social work practice. Embarking on the journey to become a professional social worker involves commitment, the ability to accept constructive feedback, self-reflection, and resilience. Penn’s MSW program is fully committed to educating and supporting students as they prepare to enter the profession. In tandem with the ethical responsibilities of the Social Work profession, Penn’s MSW program has established Technical Standards, which focus on academic performance as well as abilities and attributes essential for the profession. It is expected that MSW students entering, progressing through, and graduating from the School of Social Policy & Practice embrace the School’s values of equity, inclusion, and social justice. It is required that MSW students abide by the NASW Code of Ethics.(opens in a new tab)
All MSW students must satisfy the following Technical Standards, with or without reasonable accommodations, for entrance to, continuation in, and graduation from Penn’s MSW Program. These requirements are not exclusive to the classroom; rather they also apply in practicum placements, in the School and University, as well as in societal context.
Core Technical Standards
MSW students must demonstrate competency in these essential areas throughout their program:
Communicate effectively, responsibly, clearly, and in a timely manner in interactions with other students, faculty, practicum instructors, staff, clients, and client systems, and other professionals with whom they might come in contact within their student role.
Use effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills, including the ability to listen objectively and to perceive and interpret nonverbal communication.
Recognize and respond to emotions. Convey information (verbal and written) about clients as needed to direct or counsel them or others involved in their care.
Communicate clearly through written work in the classroom or practicum at a level appropriate for the stage of education.
Think critically and apply problem-solving skills. Acquire knowledge and process experiences to inform practice.
Demonstrate a willingness to continually reflect on own values, attitudes, beliefs, emotions, biases, current and past experiences, and consider how these factors affect thinking, behavior, interactions and relationships.
Take responsibility for actions and consider the impact of these actions on others.
Be punctual and dependable, prioritize responsibilities, manage time, and attend class and practicum in accordance with relevant policy.
Observe deadlines and conscientiously arrange and keep appointments. Navigate transportation to attend practicum and classroom requirements.
Integrate new and changing information obtained from the classroom and practice environment.
Accept and integrate into practice constructive feedback received in both the classroom and practicum settings.
Manage and seek appropriate help to ensure that personal issues do not interfere with professional and academic performance.
Maintain respectful relationships with peers, faculty, practicum instructors, staff, clients, and client systems, and other professionals.
Show the capacity to successfully complete required practicum hours during the semester and meet the required social work competencies(opens in a new tab) in the practicum and classroom settings.
All MSW students must meet required standards of behavior for professional social work practice. The following standards, along with related skill areas and required behaviors for each, are delineated in the SP2 Student Handbook.
Corrective Action Procedures
Process for addressing professional performance concerns
Standard Procedure
The Corrective Action Plan is a written document that describes how a MSW student’s professional behavior violates one or more Core Professional Performance Standards, and identifies corrective action to be taken and time frame for completion. The problematic behaviors must be behaviorally described, using examples.
- Academic advisor or practicum liaison develops the Corrective Action Plan
- Plan is submitted to the Associate Dean of Student Affairs for review and signature
- Academic advisor or practicum liaison closely monitors the student’s performance and evaluates compliance
- If student improves satisfactorily, plan is signed by all parties and forwarded to Associate Dean
- Associate Dean may arrange consultation before rendering recommendation regarding student’s continued matriculation
- MSW Program Faculty Director reviews recommendation and makes final determination
- Associate Dean ensures all documents are part of student’s file
Immediate Dismissal
A student may be dismissed from the program without a corrective action plan in these circumstances:
- Behavior poses imminent danger to clients, other students, faculty/staff, and/or self (e.g., abuse of clients/colleagues, violence or threat of violence)
- Egregious breach of core performance standards and ethics (e.g., drugs on premises, theft, bizarre, dishonest, unethical, and/or disruptive behavior)
- Fails to receive minimum acceptable grade (B-) in required course after second attempt
- University places student on involuntary leave of absence due to psychological, psychiatric, or other medical condition that harms or threatens harm to health or safety of student or others
Termination Process
When a student fails to improve satisfactorily after implementation of the corrective action plan, the following procedures are followed to determine if the student may continue matriculating in the program:
- Associate Dean of Student Affairs arranges consultation with student, educational advisor, practicum faculty, and current teaching faculty
- Educational advisor forwards recommendation regarding student’s continued enrollment to MSW Faculty Program Director
- MSW Program Faculty Director reviews recommendation, makes determination, and informs Associate Dean of decision
- Associate Dean informs student of determination in writing and ensures all related documents are made part of student’s file
Degree Completion Requirements
All requirements for the MSW degree must be completed within five years of the date of the student’s first admission. Generally, the requirements are completed within two consecutive years (full-time) or three consecutive years (part-time). Students who leave the program for a year or more must contact the Associate Dean of Student Affairs, who, in consultation with the Associate Dean for Enrollment Management, will determine whether the student will need to reapply for admission before returning.
The MSW degree is awarded to candidates who:
- Hold a bachelor’s degree from a recognized institution of higher learning
- Have been duly admitted to the School of Social Policy & Practice
- Have satisfactorily completed the prescribed program of study according to the regulations in force at the time of the student’s completion of the program, within five years of the date of their first admission to the School
- Have been admitted to the program as a MSW transfer student from an accredited program and has completed eight credits at this school
Credit Requirements
MSW degree credit requirements vary by program track:
Credits
Full-time and Part-time students
Credits
Advanced Standing students
Important Note: Some courses in other schools at Penn may only be .5 credits, or may translate to less than 1 CU (e.g., Law School courses that are 2 SH translate to .67 CUs). Students are responsible for registering for additional partial-credit courses to ensure they have the required number of CUs to graduate.
Federal Student Loan Eligibility
In order to be considered for federal student loan eligibility, students must:
- Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen
- Successfully submit a current and completed FAFSA
- Be enrolled at least half-time in the term for which loans are being used (this applies to students taking classes in any term: fall, spring, or summer)
- Be registered with Selective Service(opens in a new tab), if you’re a male (you must register between the ages of 18 and 25)
- Maintain satisfactory progress towards degree completion
- Any deviation from the standard course of study for the student’s program should first be discussed with the student’s academic advisor, then discussed with SP2’s Office of Financial Aid for guidance regarding any financial aid implications
Academic Policies and Procedures
Practicum Evaluation
Practicum instructor evaluations for students in the MSW program use the following grading system: Pass/Satisfactory, Marginal Pass, or Fail/Unsatisfactory. The core practice instructor has final responsibility to assign a letter grade for the course.
Problems Securing Practicum Placement
In the event of three unsuccessful practicum placement interviews, the Practicum Department will reassess the student’s appropriateness for the practicum placement. Planning for another placement at that point is at the discretion of the Director of Practicum Education, in consultation with the MSW Program Faculty Director. Possible outcomes are:
- Recommend dismissal from the program if an appropriate graduate level social work internship appears unobtainable
- Student will postpone practicum placement and be withdrawn from practice class until the following year (re-entry review required)
- Student will be recommended to another practicum placement for interview
Termination of Practicum Placement
If a student is terminated from their practicum placement due to problems identified by the agency, the decision to provide another placement will be made at the discretion of the Director of Practicum Education and the student’s practice instructor. The Director of Practicum Education may request consultation with the Practicum Education Committee which consists of the Director or Associate Director of Practicum Education, the student’s practice instructor, practicum liaison, the student’s academic advisor, the Associate Dean of Student Affairs, and the Sequence Chair. If the student is subsequently terminated from a second practicum placement, the student will not be assigned to a third placement site until a review is conducted by the Practicum Education Committee.
Minimum Grades in Required Courses
The MSW required courses are SWRK 6010, 6020, 6030, 6040, 6140, 6150, 7130, 7040 or 7080, and 7140 or 7180. A student must receive a grade of C- or higher in these courses. A grade below a C- in any of these courses will be posted by the instructor as an “F,” and the student will not receive course credit for it and will need to retake the course. If the course is a prerequisite for another course, the student cannot proceed to the next course in the sequence until a grade of C- or higher is earned in the prerequisite course. If the student obtains a grade of F in one of the above-listed courses, they may retake that course once as long as their non-academic performance (see subsequent section) is acceptable. Students who earn a grade lower than C- in any two core practice courses (6040, 6140, 7040, 7140, 7080, 7180) will be dismissed from the MSW program.
Academic Advising
An academic advisor will be assigned to each student. The advisor is available to help plan the student’s course of study, assist in course selection, provide consultation on academically related concerns, and monitor academic performance and progress. Group advising conferences with students may be held during the academic year and students will be notified of the dates and times. Students may also request individual advising meetings.
Required Non-Credit Courses
Advanced Standing Integrative Practice Seminar
All advanced standing students are required to take the Integrative Seminar in the summer immediately preceding their first year of practicum placement. The seminar meets weekly during the second summer session. In order to enroll in the fall, students must achieve satisfactory performance in the Integrative Practice Seminar and summer practicum placement.
Macro or Clinical Concentration Supervision Class
In a limited number of cases, advanced-year students may be placed in agencies where there is no available MSW practicum instructor. In such instances, the student is required to attend the Clinical or Macro Supervision Seminar (depending on their concentration), which meets every-other week during the academic year. Students who are required to participate in the clinical or macro supervision seminars will be given two hours of compensatory time off from their practicum placement every other week.
Waiting Lists
We do not maintain waiting lists for courses that have reached their maximum enrollment (excluding global study abroad courses). If a course is closed, students may monitor Path@Penn to see if a seat becomes available due to an enrolled student dropping the course. If a seat is available, students may register for it on their own at any time while the registration system is open.
Taking Courses in Other Departments
SP2 MSW students are permitted to take up to two electives in other Penn schools and departments. Courses taken in other schools or departments may not be counted as practice electives. Courses must be approved by the student’s academic advisor as relevant to the student’s educational plan and must have a value of one credit unit. Courses in other degree programs at the School of Social Policy & Practice (e.g., MSSP and NPL programs) are not counted towards the two-course limit.
Joint Lectures
Several sequences in the MSW program schedule sequence-wide lectures for all sections. These lectures feature experts in the field and all students are expected to attend. Joint lectures are scheduled on Wednesday evenings (6:30 – 8:30 PM) and students are expected to attend. Students who have extenuating circumstances that prevent them from attending joint lectures must make arrangements with their course instructors to receive the lecture content in another way.
Additional Academic Policies
Read the policy on Transfer Credits.
Independent studies provide a flexible opportunity for standing faculty and students to work together in pursuing a topic of special interest that is not sufficiently covered by other courses in the curriculum. The content of independent studies is highly specialized and, as such, requires a plan of study developed jointly by the student(s) and the supervising standing faculty member. Part-time faculty members are not eligible to offer independent studies.
Plans for independent study should include: a statement of the issues(s) to be studied; a rationale for why the identified issue(s) should be pursued via an independent study; a statement of how the independent study fits into the student’s overall educational plan; a summary of the independent study’s major learning objectives; the methods to be used in carrying out the study; a workable plan; the educational “products” that will result from the study (normally a written report or paper); and the expected date by which the independent study will be completed.
The process for arranging an independent study requires approval of the student’s academic advisor, a standing faculty member who has agreed to conduct the independent study, and the MSW Program Faculty Director. The procedures to be followed are:
- The student discusses interest in doing an independent study with the academic advisor
- If the advisor concurs with the student’s submission, the advisor and student will discuss potential standing faculty sponsors
- If a standing faculty sponsor can be located, the student and standing faculty sponsor craft the specific plan, including learning objectives, content, and structure for the course
- The academic advisor informs the registrar that an independent study for the student has been approved
- The Independent Study Course Approval Form(opens in a new tab) must be signed by student, faculty sponsor, Academic Advisor, and MSW Program Faculty Director and then returned to the Registrar
All students are eligible to take waiver examinations for SWRK 6010: History and Philosophy of Social Work and Social Welfare, SWRK 6020: Human Behavior in the Social Environment, and SWRK 6150: Introduction to Social Work Research prior to enrolling in those courses. The waiver exams are designed for students with prior coursework in these subjects; they offer an opportunity to students who believe they have already mastered the foundation content covered in these courses to demonstrate this. Students who place out of SWRK 6010 or SWRK 6020 by successfully passing the waiver exam must take an elective course in its place. Students who place out of SWRK 6150 must take another advanced research elective in its place (all students are required to take a total of two research courses).
Waiver exams are offered once per year. SWRK 6010 and SWRK 6020 waiver exams are offered in August. The SWRK 6150 waiver exam is offered in October. There are no makeup opportunities to take the waiver exams at other times. Advance registration is required for the waiver exams and details about the registration process for SWRK 6010 and SWRK 6020 are emailed to incoming students over the summer. Information about the SWRK 6150 waiver exam is communicated to all students early in the Fall semester.
The waiver exam cannot be used to place out of retaking a course. Students who do not receive a satisfactory grade in SWRK 6010, SWRK 6020, or SWRK 6150 after completing the semester-long course must retake the course and cannot substitute the waiver exam for a satisfactory course grade.The school does not provide study guides or review sessions for these exams, but students may wish to review the most recent syllabi of the corresponding course to understand what content is covered. Syllabi are available with a PennKey login on the SP2 website. Students may choose to review required readings listed on the syllabus in order to prepare.
Courses meet once a week. Classroom learning is a fundamental component of professional education. If a student is unable to attend either class or practicum for other reasons, they should notify their class instructor(s) and/or practicum instructor.
Most instructors have a strict absence policy; excessive absences can result in a lower course grade or course failure. Students who need to miss classes due to medical or family emergencies or other extenuating circumstances should contact their Academic Advisor as soon as possible.
Students notify the SP2 Registrar sp2reg@sp2.upenn.edu with the request to return to their studies.
For a fall semester return, requests should be made before the end of March. For a spring semester return, requests should be made in September. Late requests to return from leave may result in limited course selection.
Students must contact their academic advisor prior to registering for courses. MSW students who need a practicum placement should notify the Practicum Office well in advance to assure placement options.