Conversion to PhD Program

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Dr. Gina, Oct 12, 2003.

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  1. Dr. Gina

    Dr. Gina New Member

    Hello everyone!


    I have a situation that I need help with. My doctoral program is moving towards converting the DSW program to a PhD program in Social Work. In this conversion process, our program has asked the current students for their input. We need to provide this input by Monday, October 13 for the initial meeting on this process.

    My initial concern is how will this process affect my studies? Will this also make myself (and the current students) eligible for the PhD as well? There is some fear surrounding this issue that this may not be so.

    Has anyone experienced a similar situation such as this? How did you handle it? What was the process like?
     
  2. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    Hi Gina - I'm sure you're aware that the DSW is the Doctor of Social Work while the PhD is the Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work (in this case). They are both research-oriented degrees that require a dissertation. If you look at the credentials of any middle to large sized Social Work grad school program you will find both DSWs and PhDs working as tenured faculty. There is no distinction made between these degrees. In my experience, the reason some schools convert from "DSW" to "PhD" designations is that the PhD designation is more easily recognized (some people will say, "What the heck is a DSW?") Also, there are an increasing number of people who teach across departments and the feeling is that a PhD designation is more conducive to this. In short, many schools have found that their students simply would rather have a PhD than a DSW. The only example of which I am aware is when the DSW designation indicates Doctor of Social Welfare. In this case the degree is a bit more narrowly defined and may not convert as easily.

    It sounds as though your school has not done a particularly good job of explaining why this designation is being converted and describing the conversion process. I would not think that it would effect your studies at all but these are some of the questions that I would ask:
    Will there be a shift mission of the grad program?
    Will there be any change(s) in the curriculum?
    Will it effect the selection of dissertation topics?
    Will current students be given the choice of designations?
    Will alumni be given the option to convert designations?
    Good luck,
    Jack
     
  3. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    Hi Gina - How's stuff in Loooooooooooong Island? :D
    Clearly there's a lot of outstanding information about this conversion process and it's conceivable that there could be changes coming to your department that would make a substantial difference to you. That being said, if someone approached me and said, "I'll trade your DSW for a PhD..." I'd say "OK." In other words, with all things being equal, I'd take the PhD with a smile.
    Jack

    PhD (Social Work) candidate - University of the Free State

    (Hey, it happened again. My post of 10/13/03 12:10 appears before Ginas post of 10/13/03 5:55. I was replying to her second post but my reply appears above hers (the one to which I was replying - strange , no?)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 13, 2003
  4. Dr. Gina

    Dr. Gina New Member

    Thanks, Jack, for your imput.

    The program that I am currently in is a Doctoral of Social Welfare Degree Program, and Adelphi (the school I am currently attending) is the only university in the NYC area that offers this degree, so in addition to the recogniziability there is a financial motivatoras well (enrollment is down). The decision for this change came about on 9/15 and the school held a meeting today to obtain input from the students and alumni about the program before submitting the proposal for change to the NYS-BOE in November. Discussed was the mission (one of your questions) and the inner workings of the program itself. Not much else was discussed beyond this, and the Doctoral program plans on having several meetings before the November deadline.
     

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