MSW Program Goals

The MSW curriculum has been developed to enhance both breadth and depth in professional education and to respond to changing social work practice needs. The curriculum reflects the faculty’s commitment to a set of core MSW Curriculum values and principles.

The program’s curriculum is framed by a set of core values, which flow directly from its mission. Primary among these is the School’s commitment to social justice. 

Corollary values include commitments to multiculturalism, to social change, and to collaboration and empowerment. Further, the program is dedicated to bringing these commitments to life in its curriculum through pedagogical strategies that recognize the essential synergy between knowledge and action, and that provide opportunities for generative learning.

The MSW Program has three over-arching goals:

1. To prepare students for generalist practice including basic knowledge and skills for understanding and solving complex social problems within the values of professional social work.
2. To prepare students for advanced professional practice in an area of concentration in a way that fosters social work leadership, effective social interventions, a commitment to a just and humane diverse society, and a commitment to public service.
3. To provide access to social work education to residents of the south Puget Sound region.
4. The MSW curriculum is organized around these core principles and builds upon the Curriculum Goals.