Social Work

General Information

Mission Statement

The emerging vision of the School of Social Work in both its undergraduate and graduate programs commits us to social justice and anti-oppressive social work practices, and to promoting critical enquiry that respects the diversity of knowing and being.

Our educational mission within the Master of Social Work Program is to prepare social workers skilled in critical self-reflection and with an advanced analytic understanding of the social, cultural, political and practical implications of their work. In particular, we emphasize structural, feminist, Indigenous and anti-oppressive analysis within a context of interdisciplinary work in an effort to link policy to practice.

Contact Information

Department of Social Work

Location: Human and Social Development Building, Room B302

Mailing Address:

Courier Address:

Telephone Number: 250-721-8036

Fax Number: 250-721-6228

Email: socw@uvic.ca

Website: <socialwork.uvic.ca>

Director: Dr. Pam Miller

Graduate Adviser: Dr. Donna Jeffery

Graduate Program Adviser: Meg Thompson

Graduate Secretary: Jaime Ready

Degrees and Specializations Offered

The School of Social Work offers a graduate program leading to the degree of Master of Social Work that is fully accredited by the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work. BSW and non-BSW graduate students may focus on child welfare, health or international work (resources permitting).

MSW Degree

The program is designed to provide BSW graduate students and non-BSW graduate students, who have successfully completed their foundation coursework, with the opportunity to reflect on their practice experience in the context of the School's mission statement and to develop critical skills and their application to practice and/or research. Note: The terms Foundation Year and Advanced Year refer to a menu of courses, both required and elective, and do not specify a particular timeframe of completion. The School offers three options to complete a MSW:

BSW entry to MSW Degree: Qualified BSW degree holders enter the MSW Advanced program.

Non-BSW entry to the MSW degree: Qualified non-BSW degree holders undertake foundational coursework that prepares them for the Advanced coursework at which time they join the BSW degree holders who have entered the the MSW Advanced program. Those who are qualified may also apply to complete their Advanced Year of study with the MSW Indigenous Specialization.

MSW with an Indigenous specialization: The School of Social Work has a specialized program of studies leading to the Master of Social Work degree for social workers working in Indigenous social settings. This program is designed to provide social workers working in Indigenous communities with the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills within this context.

Objectives of the MSW degree include:

• Develop critical self-reflection and analysis of their role as social workers;
• Build on their experience and understanding of practice conditions and effective practice models;
• Analyze and critique social work theories and approaches to practice, using difference-centered theories;
• Develop skills for developing and applying critical social work theories and approaches to practice;
• Conceptualize, critique and develop their own practice framework;
• Develop and apply skills in research and critical inquiry within community contexts;
• Address the current impact of funding and program policies, organizational policies and structures and community dynamics on practice in their communities;
• Explore the challenges, opportunities and strategies for critical social work practice in inter-professional contexts;
• Cultivate practice approaches for working across differences of gender, age, race, ethnicity, class, ability and sexual orientation;
• Identify the leadership roles and distinctive contributions that social work can make to policy and practice in the human services and locate themselves as leaders in relevant practice and policy contexts within their communities.

Additional objectives of the MSW program within the Indigenous specialization:

• “centering” Indigenous culture, knowledge and understanding;
• building on students' own knowledge as experienced practitioners in Indigenous service settings;
• developing critical awareness and capacity for analysis and applying these skills to practice and policy development in Indigenous service settings;
• developing the capacity to conduct research and contribute to Indigenous knowledge building and transmission;
• identifying racism, colonization and oppression and contributing to liberating policies and practices;
• contributing to the development of culturally appropriate child welfare policies and practices;
• contributing to the development of healthy Indigenous communities;
• identifying international connections between Indigenous peoples and their knowledge and experience;
• developing leadership skills in policy development and administration in the context of Indigenous governance.

The MSW Advanced program will be offered through a combination of summer institute and web-based delivery of instruction and all of the courses will be offered through the School.

The MSW Indigenous specialization program will be offered every other year through a combination of summer institute and web-based delivery of instruction. Students within the specialization will begin the program in the summer session by taking SOCW 521 which has an on-campus component.

The Non-BSW MSW program will be offered on-campus. Foundation coursework begins in May. Intake to this program is every other uneven calendar year.

All students must complete a thesis or a social work Advanced Practice practicum and research project under the supervision of a faculty member of the School of Social Work, unless an alternate supervisor is approved by the Director. General student policies can be found on the online MSW Student Program Guide available at the School of Social Work website: <www.socialwork.uvic.ca/docs/msw/MSWprogramguide.pdf>.

Financial Support

All new applicants are evaluated for the University Fellowship. The minimum standard required for consideration is a first-class standing (A-). Grade calculations and equivalencies are determined by the Graduate Admissions and Records Office. The process is competitive and meeting the minimum standard for consideration does not guarantee that you will be successful in the competitition.

A number of awards, scholarships and bursaries are available to full-time students. The Faculty of Graduate Studies provides a list of available awards and necessary applications online at <web.uvic.ca/gradstudies/fund/funding.html> or through their office in the University Centre. Information on bursaries and scholarships can be found at the UVic Student Awards & Financial Aid Office, located in the University Centre, or through their website at <registrar.uvic.ca/safa>. In addition, the provincial, territorial and federal governments each offer student loans to full-time candidates who meet the requirements.

Students are encouraged to apply to postings that are advertised on the School's listserv, where additional opportunities may be provided.