OVERVIEW OF THE PH.D. PROGRAM

The mission of the University of Wisconsin-Madison doctoral program in social welfare is to develop scholars, leaders, and social work educators who will advance knowledge about social work, social welfare policy, and intervention strategies from a behavioral and social science perspective to improve the quality of life of individuals and families.

Since its inception in the mid-1960s, approximately 150 students have graduated from the doctoral program and are now among the leaders in the field of social welfare. The School of Social Work has a national reputation of academic excellence and is consistently ranked among the leading schools of social work in the country. In 2001, the School of Social Work faculty were the principal investigators for over a dozen externally funded research projects, with annual direct costs totaling more than $4 million dollars.

The hallmark of our Ph.D. Program in social welfare is the interdisciplinary and individualized nature of the research training. Students develop an individualized program of research under the guidance of a faculty member.

The School of Social Work faculty have diverse disciplinary backgrounds and all have affiliation with one or more interdisciplinary centers or institutes on the UW-Madison campus such as:
the Waisman Center on Mental Retardation and Human Development
the Institute for Research on Poverty
the Institute on Aging
the Wisconsin Center for Education Research
and the Center for the Demography of Health and Aging.

The requirements to obtain a Ph.D. in Social Welfare include a minimum of 39 credits of course work, completion of a preliminary examination, and completion of a dissertation. Course work typically spans four semesters of full-time study for students who have an MSW.

Students coming into the Program without an MSW will choose one of three options through our Joint Program. These options require additional full-time coursework. For information on the Joint Program options, please contact the department.

Once a student completes his or her course requirements, preparation for the preliminary examination begins. The preliminary examination consists of both a written and oral component. After passing the preliminary examination, the student is formally admitted to Ph.D. candidacy. The student then writes a dissertation under the supervision of his or her major professor and dissertation committee.

The objectives of the Program insure that upon completion, students are able to:

1. Improve social work and social welfare practices
2. Conceptualize, develop and analyze innovative approaches to ameliorating or reducing social problems
3. Identify the causes and consequences of significant individual, family and community outcomes
4. Apply advanced statistics, methodology, and data analysis for research purposes
5. Develop new approaches to the analysis of social programs and policies
6. Teach courses in a program or school of social work and
7. Translate research findings into policy and program practice.