Virtual Open House Master of Social Work Transcript

Joelle Patricio: Hello, everyone! Thank you for joining. As everyone’s getting their audio

connected, just wanted to say welcome. If you are here for the information session for the

Master of Social Work at George Mason University, you’re in the right place.

Joelle Patricio: And as we just give another minute, please go ahead and use the chat to

introduce yourself. We would love to get your first name, if you have a specific

specialization in mind, or a specific modality, as well as where you are joining us from.

Joelle Patricio: So if you can put that in the chat, that would be great.

Joelle Patricio: And I will pause for a few seconds.

Joelle Patricio: Yes, I can repeat that. If you could introduce yourself, your first name, the

specialization and or modality you’re interested in, as well as where you are joining us from.

Joelle Patricio: Alright, and as those come in, I’m going to move forward.

Joelle Patricio: So this is our agenda for the evening. We’re going to do introductions,

highlight what makes us unique, go over our curriculum, our different campus options,

practicum education, learning outcomes, our stipend program, talk a little bit about is social

work right for you, go over all of the admissions information, along with funding, and if time

permits, some Q&A.

Joelle Patricio: So in the meantime, if you have questions you don’t want to forget, feel free

to put that in the chat.

Daphne King: And we will try and get to it when we can.

Joelle Patricio: This is how to participate. You should have the chat control at the bottom of

your screen, and it looks like some responses are coming in, so I think everyone’s able to see

it. If you would like to raise your hand to participate, that will notify us, but we won’t be

taking questions verbally until the end. So again, please type your questions into the chat

box, and we’ll try to address as much as we can.

Joelle Patricio: Alright, so introductions. My name is Joel Patricio Chong, and I’m the

Graduate Admissions Coordinator for the college. Nice to have you all on tonight, and I will

pass it to Lisa.

Lisa Climer: Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us. My name is Lisa Clymer, and

I’m the Director of the Practicum Education Program here at Mason.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Hi, I’m Evelyn Tomaszewski. I’m the

Divisional Director of Graduate Programs, and I’m also an Associate Professor.

Daphne King: Good evening, I’m Daphne King. I am the Associate Divisional Director of

Graduate Programs and an Assistant Professor here in the Department of Social Work.

Daphne King: And at the bottom of this slide, there’s also a link where you can view more of

the bios from faculty within our department.

Daphne King: Alright, so this next slide features our social work competencies. We are

accredited through the Council on Social Work Education.

Daphne King: And the Council on Social Work Education, as our accrediting body, provides

schools of social work, departments of social work, with educational policies and

competencies that all programs have to ensure that students are able to meet once they

graduate from the program.

Daphne King: I am not going to read all of the competencies, but just wanted to highlight

that all of these competencies are embedded within our coursework.

Daphne King: within, our MSW program, these competencies are areas where you will, be

competent and practicing as ethical social workers once you leave our program. These

competencies also,

Daphne King: connect to our code of ethics, through the NASW, National Association of

Social Workers. These competing… competencies will also be present and encompassed

when you start your practicum, as Lisa will talk about a little bit later. But all of the

competencies, provide us with practice behaviors as we provide services to clients

Daphne King: And clients can encompass individuals, families, groups, organizations, and

communities. And so each of the competencies highlight a different, area of practice with

our clients. You will,

Daphne King: see these competencies again when you start your coursework. All of the

courses will feature this same infographic, and then within each course, when you click on

each of the numbers, more information on each of the competencies will be provided.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: The MSW program has this mission

statement. This guides our work, in the classroom, in the practicum.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And we commit that graduate students

will uphold social work values and principles and take part of collective responsibility for

each other and the environment as global citizens, lead as transformative social workers,

scholars and practitioners.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Really committed to ensuring that we

take action around economic, social, racial, and environmental justice.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: from a framing of human rights for all.

We believe in co-constructing knowledge with lived experience of people we serve to

deliver through evidence-informed policy and practice.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: We will identify, help you identify and

apply evidence-informed practices across individuals, communities, systems, and policies

which are anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and appropriate to local, regional, and global

environments.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And for you to learn and practice

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: public service, through creating

community partnerships, building capacity, and providing technical expertise, and to

collaborate with allied professionals to promote holistic human health and well-being. We

have a commitment to strengths-based practice, person and environment, and really

looking at a systems approach, and you’ll be learning more about that today.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: So, what makes our social work program

unique? We are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, we have renowned

faculty, and as Dr. King mentioned, please do check out the bios of each of the faculty

members.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: We’re named one of the best online MSW

programs of 2023 by Forbes, and one of the top 100 MSW graduate programs.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And we are… our design of our

curriculum is focused on licensure preparation. It’ll prepare you to apply to sit the LCSW or

the LCS… LMSW exam in Virginia.

Daphne King: So, this next slide just features a little bit of information so that you can

compare the two program options. We like to say that we have one MSW program, but two

different campuses, or two different program options, meaning online or in person. The

MSW program, whether online or on campus, has the same criteria and the same courses.

Daphne King: For our online campus, it’s primarily asynchronous, which means that you

will

Daphne King: participate in the courses and engage in the coursework and the courses on

your own time. However, there are set due dates for assignments that you still have to meet,

but you just don’t have to report to class at any set day or time.

Daphne King: Some faculty will provide support, through optional, live class sessions that

occur via Zoom, as well as virtual office hours. But again, the program being asynchronous

means that it’s primarily self-directed.

Daphne King: As stated, many instructors will hold some optional Zoom sessions, as well as

office hours will occur via Zoom.

Daphne King: When it comes to your practicum seminars, those are synchronous via Zoom.

However, students have to report in person to their assigned agency during typical business

hours, and again, Lisa will discuss that when we get to, talking about practicum.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: The in-person campus is primarily

synchronous. You’ll engage in your courses on a particular day, a specific day of the week, a

specific time, and you will, of course, complete your coursework in your own time, and as in

the online program, also do group work.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: There are set due dates for assignments

and in-class discussions, again, including group work. The classes are on the Fairfax campus,

and it’s a full semester.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: You have the support of faculty, including

office hours, and the practicum seminars are the same, synchronous via Zoom.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: So let’s do a quick overview of the MSW

program. The on-campus program has several options.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Two-year, what might be considered

more traditional, full-time, two-year. Three-year and 4-year programs, which are a little

more part-time, advanced standing, which I noticed there are a couple students interested

in advanced standing, we’ll talk more about that. A dual degree, and a bachelor’s to

accelerated master’s, or BAM, MSW.

Daphne King: And our online program, has a little bit of a different option for course

progression than online, or excuse me, than on campus. One thing to note with our online

program option is that, our semesters are divided into two 8-week sessions.

Daphne King: So students will take classes in each of those 8-week sessions to make up a

full semester. So with the part-time option, that means that students are taking one class in

each of those 8-week sessions. For part-time, that is 6 credits a semester. The accelerated

option would be the equivalent of full-time. That will be 9 credits a semester.

Daphne King: or 3 courses, in a semester. So that does mean that in one of those 8-week

sessions, you may be taking two classes if you choose the accelerated option. And then we

also have advanced standing and the bachelor’s to Accelerated Masters.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: As an example, this is an on-campus

generalist year, fall start, full-time. So that’d be 15 credit hours a semester.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And in the fall, you would take these

classes, and in the spring, the classes that are listed. If you decide to do a 3- or 4-year

program in the on-campus option, you would take 9 credit hours. So you would take the

first 3, 600, 656, and 623 in the fall semester, and do your direct practice course and

practicum in the second

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: All semester. In the spring semester, if

you’re not full-time and you want a 3- or 4-year program, you would take the first three

courses, 644, 659, and 6…

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: 71, and in the second year, spring

semester, you would take psychopathology and your practicum. So the difference is, in full-

time, you will have a practicum in year 1 and 2, and in three or four-year program, you’ll

have your practicum in year one and year 3.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And one distinction that I want to make

between our part-time… our online campus and our in-person campus is, for online, we do

admit in all semesters, so we have an admissions for fall, spring, and summer semesters, as

you can see, on this slide. There was a question in the chat that asked, how fast or quickly

you can move through.

Daphne King: The online, option with the accelerated, pathway.

Daphne King: One thing that I will say is for our traditional part-time, where you’re only

taking two classes a semester, that is completed over 10 semesters.

Daphne King: The accelerated option can be completed over 8 semesters, for online, and

then for advanced standing, that can be completed over 6 semesters. So you can see, for the

accelerated option, it does,

Daphne King: have you completing it two semesters sooner than if you did the traditional

part-time. This slide features just a snapshot of what your course progression looks like if

you’re choosing the part-time option and you’re going to start, courses in spring semester.

Daphne King: You’ll have your first course, which is the Foundations of Social Work and

Social Welfare, during Session 1.

Daphne King: As well as, for Session 2, you would be taking Social Work 623, which is

Human Behavior. Again, our, sessions are 8 weeks in length, so your first session, would be

8 weeks, the second course will also be 8 weeks, and that gives you, a full semester.

Daphne King: For a summer semester, we only, have classes during Session 1, so that means

if you take two classes together, during summer, they will be occurring concurrently.

Daphne King: Since we don’t offer courses during Session 2. But these are the two courses

that you would take for Summer 26, again, if you are using the… doing the part-time option.

Daphne King: If you’re looking at the accelerated option, this is what the course progression

would look like. Spring semester, you would have, three classes. One class during Session 1,

which is the Foundations of Social Work and Social Welfare, and then you would have two

classes during Session 2, which is 623, Human Behavior, and 656, Poverty, Oppression, and

Inequity.

Daphne King: Again, for summer semester, if you decided to go the accelerated option, you

would be taking these three classes

Daphne King: at the same time during summer. However, since the courses move so quickly,

I don’t often advise students to take 3 classes at the same time, and

Daphne King: just because you chose the accelerated option doesn’t mean that you have to

take three classes every semester. There is some flexibility with, going down to 2 classes, or

even one during the summer if needed, and we have students that do that all the time, that

Daphne King: It may start off accelerated, and then, you know, life happens, or again, it hits

summer semester, and they opt not to take all three classes during summer, and that’s

totally fine. It just means that we adjust your course plan a little bit.

Daphne King: This next slide just really features,

Daphne King: samples of our coursework, as well as our electives. As you can see from the

slide, we have two specializations, children, youth, and families, or Adults in Healthy Aging.

Daphne King: And our specializations really just encompass working with certain

populations. One thing that I tell students is that regardless of which specialization you

declare, you’re always going to be working with multiple populations, because our children

and adults

Daphne King: Are in multi-generational families, and so you want to build those skills to

work, across those dynamics within families.

Daphne King: So again, this is just giving you a snapshot of what some of the coursework

can look like. The infographic also talks about, the importance of both specializations and

the importance of working with,

Daphne King: both populations and what that may look like as our society continues to

change and grow. And so, I won’t read what’s on here, but when you get the slides after

tonight’s information session, you can take a look at that a little bit more closely.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Thank you for that. I just wanted to add

something, one more, that’s unique, that makes Mason MSW program unique, is all students

take a course called Global Community Health 500, which was on the previous slide.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And this course is taken with students

from every discipline that’s part of the College of Public Health, and there is nothing like it

in any other MSW program. And it’s a really great opportunity to practice that part of our

mission that talks about interdisciplinary work.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And to, also help others understand the

role, and importance of social work in multidisciplinary teams.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Thanks, Joel.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: So, as Dr. King mentioned, the previous

slide had a few sample electives. Here’s the list of electives that we currently offer. Not all of

these are offered every semester. It’s pretty much the menu.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: So, students must take a minimum of one

macro course, which are the courses listed on the left-hand side, 3 credits.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: With a requirement of 12 credit electives,

or 4 courses, across, your specialization year.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: The macro electives and the clinical

electives, most of them, the clinical electives are available on both, both options, but not all

of them. For example, if you’re interested in advanced trauma theory and practice.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: That is currently offered in the on-

campus program only. If you’re interested in social work practice in schools, it’s currently

offered in the online program option only. Good news is, is that students can request to take

a course in the other program option. So all the courses are available to all MSW students.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Regardless of the campus of origin.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: So, the other thing I want to note with

electives is that we’re really trying, out some new ideas and new ways to present electives.

For example, the on-campus program, even though we’re a 15-week semester, we’re do…

we… and in person, we are, initiated a synchronous 15-week class, so one night a week.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Students meet synchronous online with

the instructor, and we find that students in the online option find this accessible as well,

because it’s still online. So we’re working to be creative, and we welcome feedback from

students on what could help make the program more accessible to them.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: The dual degree program is an MSW and

a master’s in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. This program is in partnership with the

Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, so you’ll receive two degrees. In the dual

degree, you can choose either Children, Youth, and Families, or Adults and Healthy Aging as

your specialization.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: It’s currently available through the on-

campus program, and it’s 3 years if you go full-time. But there are students who have done

this degree part-time. So, again, adapting, adapting your coursework, you can do it in 4

years.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: The other thing that I want to note, that

some of the Carter School classes are only held in person, not many, but a couple, and that

campus is in Arlington. So there’s easy transportation available through Mason to get to that

campus, but it is on a different campus.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Our on-campus classes are in the Fairfax

campus.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Advanced standing, again, I saw a couple

of students interested in advanced standing. There is specific criteria, which is on our

website, and we’ll be going over this in a little bit. While meeting the criteria, you will start

your specialization year as 33 credits.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: BSW students in your senior year, can

apply. Your degree must be earned within the last 5 years, so if you’re receiving your BSW

this year, or you received it last year, and you want to work, you have 5 years, before, you…

and within 5 years, you want to think about returning for your MSW.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Why 33 credits? Because all students are

required to take Social Work 674 Psychopathology before entering their, specialization year

as advanced standing students. On campus, that’s the summer prior, and it’s online

synchronous.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: In the online option, it’s the first

semester, online asynchronous.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And this is available, of course, on both

on-campus and online options.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Our newest addition is a Bachelor’s of

Accelerated Masters, or BAM.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And you can earn both your BSW and

MSW degrees at an accelerated pace. These are for students who are working towards their

BSW. They’re not sure if they will,

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: want to apply for advanced standing, or

they want to work, a little more quickly to get their… to get the credits towards their MSW

degree, and you can read the criteria here. There’s a little bit more information in a slide

later that’s much more comprehensive. But again, this is available in both the on-campus

and online program options.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: We’re not going to go into this chart. If

you’re interested in the BAM,

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: option, or the advanced standing option,

have a look at this. It has, we’ve thought through all the questions that might be asked, but

of course, you can reach out, and at the end, Joelle will give you her email if you have any

questions about BAM versus advanced standing.

Lisa Climer: Okay, let’s talk about practicum. So you may have heard the term field, or field

education for MSW programs. We use practicum education here at Mason, and that’s a

change that we just made in the last couple of years, because

Lisa Climer: We feel that, you know, that, that really is the term. Field is, a term that, you

know, that has been widely used, but really it is practicum education, which is meant to, you

know, signal the comprehensive nature of the learning experience and, the application of

theory and concepts that you’ll be getting through your coursework.

Lisa Climer: And your practicum is going to be, you know, a very structured experience, that

offers a lot of opportunities for interaction, both at the site where you’re placed and through

the seminar course.

Lisa Climer: It offers comprehensive supervision of your skill development, and, you know,

obviously helps prepare you for professional practice beyond the MSW.

Lisa Climer: So, we like to say that practicum education is the signature pedagogy of social

work education, and what we mean by that is just that it’s the pivotal experience in your

transformation from, you know, a social work student to a professional social worker.

Lisa Climer: And the purpose of practicum education is to, you know, provide you an

opportunity to apply

Lisa Climer: your knowledge, skills, values, and ethics to professional practice. It’s designed

and coordinated, so that you can demonstrate the nine social work competencies that were

referenced earlier. And so, it is a comprehensive

Lisa Climer: program, you always have a seminar course that goes along with your agency-

based practicum experience.

Lisa Climer: you know, you’ll be practicing using your skills with actual clients at all five

system levels, so again, that’s going to be individuals, families, groups, organizations, and

communities. You’ll have assignments that,

Lisa Climer: Bridge your practicum seminar course and what you’re doing, at your agency.

Lisa Climer: Sorry, when there’s a pop-up in the chat, it blocks my… it blocks my slide. You’ll

have clinical supervision, with a social worker at the agency where you’re placed, and you’ll

be evaluated, each semester as part of your practicum. You’ll be evaluated and receive

feedback

Lisa Climer: About your, your progress, and of course, you’ll be, you know, out in the actual

community, working with, working with clients, working with programs, working with,

alongside other social workers.

Lisa Climer: So, the structure for practicum, there are two,

Lisa Climer: two levels of practicum within the MSW, the traditional MSW program.

Lisa Climer: So students who are in the traditional MSW program, as opposed to the

advanced standing, will have both a generalist practicum and a specialization practicum. In

the generalist year, the practicum is 16 hours a week.

Lisa Climer: And that adds up to 225 hours each semester, fall semester and spring

semester, and students need to have completed 450 hours of practicum, by May, when they

complete spring semester.

Lisa Climer: During that time, students have one hour of dedicated supervision each week

with their practicum site instructor. That’s the social worker at the agency that’s providing

supervision.

Lisa Climer: Students will be working to demonstrate competency, in all nine of those,

competency areas.

Lisa Climer: And, students at the generalist level will be interacting, again, at all five system

levels, so with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. And then in the

specialization year, the practicum.

Lisa Climer: is 20 hours per week, so a bigger time commitment, 300 hours each semester,

600 hours total for the year. Again, there’s 1 hour of dedicated supervision time each week.

Lisa Climer: And students need to demonstrate competency in all areas and work at those

different… at those different levels. So, in other words, not just working with individuals or

families, but also bringing in groups and communities, organizations.

Lisa Climer: And placements for specialization year provide opportunities, you know, to

work with the population specializations, so children, youth, and families, or adults in

healthy aging, and also more advanced clinical practice.

Lisa Climer: It is important to keep in mind, as you’re considering the program, that most

practicums are taking place during, what we consider to be business hours, so weekdays

during the day. There are some sites that offer, alternative hour practicums, but

Lisa Climer: For the most part, students are completing their practicum, during the agency’s

business hours.

Lisa Climer: And then, in terms of how we, identify practicum, opportunities, we work

collaboratively with students. Sometimes students know about an agency, and, you know,

we’re always willing to develop new partnerships as long as they meet the

Lisa Climer: criteria. We partner with agencies in… throughout Northern Virginia, the DC

metro area,

Lisa Climer: all of Virginia and really all of the U.S, because we have students, in our online

program option who are, you know, all throughout the United States. There are a couple

different kinds of placements. A traditional practicum is when a student

Lisa Climer: is matched through the Practicum Education Program, and referred to one of

our partner agencies that we’re already affiliated with.

Lisa Climer: During that matching process, you work with a placement coordinator, and we

consider, you know, your interests and skills, and location, and other factors such as

transportation, and

Lisa Climer: details about the agency that may make them a good match for you. There’s

also employment-based practicum. This is when a student is already employed by an agency

in a role that allows them to demonstrate, the social work competencies, and to

Lisa Climer: Further develop skill in those areas.

Lisa Climer: And the agency also would be providing, social work supervision if it’s an

employment-based practicum.

Lisa Climer: So, in that scenario, the student and the employer submit an application for

employment-based practicum, and the employer does need to enter into an affiliation

agreement with Mason before that employment-based practicum can begin.

Lisa Climer: I think I’m passing this on to Dr. King.

Daphne King: Alright, so the next slide really just, provides a little bit of information

Daphne King: on the profession of social work and how fast we are growing. Data shows us

that the profession of social work is expected to grow by 16%. It says by 2026, but I think

we can extend that a little bit beyond 2026. The profession of social work is growing, and

that’s because as social workers.

Daphne King: We impact all facets of society. We don’t just work in social services or child

welfare, we work in a variety of settings that are too numerous to list on this slide, but this

slide does give you an opportunity

Daphne King: Or, excuse me, this slide does give you an idea of some of the areas that you

are able to work or practice in as a social worker.

Kathy Cornejo: Hello, good evening, everyone. My name is Kathy Cornejo, and I’m the

coordinator for the Child Welfare Stipend Program. The Child Welfare Stipend Program,

CWSP for short, is a workforce development program in partnership with the Virginia

Department of Social Services.

Kathy Cornejo: This program is housed in multiple universities in Virginia, George Mason

being one, Norfolk State, Radford VCU, and now Virginia State University, and we all work

very closely and partner together.

Kathy Cornejo: The purpose of this program, is to support social work students who are

hoping for a postgraduate career in public child welfare in Virginia.

Kathy Cornejo: For accepted students into the program, they received an educational

stipend of $10,000 per academic year.

Kathy Cornejo: Which goes directly towards their student account. I’m asked this question

often, so I will share that $5,000 is dispersed at the beginning of the fall semester, so

Kathy Cornejo: generally around mid to late August, and the remaining $5,000 is dispersed

in the spring semester, which, according to the calendar of how money is dispersed, is the

beginning of January.

Kathy Cornejo: There is a work payback requirement. So, essentially, for every academic

year in which a student receives

Kathy Cornejo: $10,000, they must work for a local department of social services anywhere

in the state of Virginia for one calendar year. So, for example, if I participate in this program

the last year of my MSW program, I received $10,000, which goes directly towards my

student account for tuition and fees.

Kathy Cornejo: Then upon graduating, I have 6 months to secure qualifying employment

with, a local agency within Virginia. There’s 120 agencies in the state of Virginia.

Kathy Cornejo: And I’m trying to think… there is the link right there to our webpage, as well

as the deadlines for the application. I don’t want to confuse anyone, so I will explain. There

are two different deadlines. The first is for current students who are rising BSW seniors.

Kathy Cornejo: and current MSW generalist students who are rising to their specialization

year. And then for those students who are applying to the university, prospective students,

and that includes.

Kathy Cornejo: anyone who is currently not a GMU student, applying for either, transferring

their generalist year or, advanced standing student, that deadline for prospective incoming

students is March 1st.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: So make sure you check that when you do

your application. On your application, it’s important to note that you’re interested in the

Child Welfare Stipend Program, so Professor Carnejo can reach out to you.

Kathy Cornejo: Absolutely. And if anyone’s interested, I know this is a lot to take in, and if

you aren’t receiving the answers to your questions that you have by visiting our website,

please feel free to reach out to me. I know that my information is on our website, and I’d be

more than happy to answer your questions or to schedule a meeting to chat.

Kathy Cornejo: Thank you.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Joelle, as we go to the next slide, there’s a

question I’d like to answer.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: I think it was Dina, asked about the dual

degree program.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And so, I’m going to put some

information in the chat. In the dual degree, you take all the same courses that a student in

the MSW program would take, except you are required to take two electives, not four

electives, because you have

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: electives in the Carter School. So, the

courses I put there are names of required courses, for the conflict, courses, and I would

encourage you to check out the Carter School elective list. It’s an amazing range, of

opportunities and options.

Daphne King: And Joelle, before we talk about the admissions, information, there are a

couple of questions in the Q&A. So, the first one, is for practicum, and it’s, have you seen

students who do their practicum while having a full-time job?

Lisa Climer: Yes, we certainly have. It’s just, it’s challenging, and, it definitely takes a lot of,

planning and excellent, you know, time management and.

Lisa Climer: Kind of self… self-care, and it also,

Lisa Climer: You know, jobs that are flexible in terms of the days and hours that you need to

be at your employment, are a little bit… that’s easier to pair with a practicum.

Lisa Climer: So it’s, you know, it’s just something that, really takes a lot of planning, but

there are students who succeed with that.

Daphne King: And then the second question is for dual degree. How many credit hours is the

dual degree program with the Carter School, assuming one completes it full-time?

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: That program is… I have to look it up

right ahead, I just brought that up because I don’t want to say the wrong number, is, $78.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Credits.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: So, typically, students take, do their

practicum in year one, and most of their MSW courses, except for one six-credit course at

the Carter School. The second year, it’s a mix of electives in social work and the Carter

School requirements.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: In your third year, you take your

specialization, your practicum.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Hope that got the questions. And I see

someone asked, will we get a set of the slides? Absolutely, you’ll get slides after tonight.

Joelle Patricio: Alrighty, with that, we will move on to all the admissions information. So just

highlighting some four, important materials you make sure you add to your application. It’s

going to be things like your transcripts, your resume, two letters of recommendation, and

then your personal statement, and I will go into more detail now.

Joelle Patricio: So, again, lots of texts. You will receive a copy of this presentation. I’m going

to go over the different requirements, for both the on-campus and the online campus, and

these are going to be based on the different types of MSW pathways we have.

Joelle Patricio: So for the 2-, 3-, and 4-year on-campus pathways, as well as the part-time

and accelerated online campus pathways, we’re going to require your resume, transcripts

from all institutions attended, two letters of recommendation, and your expanded goal

statement, and we will go over the prompts for the goal statement in a bit.

Joelle Patricio: And there is a minimum GPA requirement of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

Joelle Patricio: Next will be advanced standing. This is for both modalities, in-person and

online. Again, resume, transcripts, two recommendations. For advanced standing

specifically, we’re also looking for,

Joelle Patricio: recommendations that are professional or academic in nature. One of them

must be from the BSW program director or a full-time faculty member.

Joelle Patricio: And then again, the goal statement. And for the advanced standing pathway,

we do have a slightly higher GPA, it’s going to be a 3.2 on our 4.0 scale. And we calculate this

using the last 60 credits of your most recently completed degree.

Joelle Patricio: We are also going to request your BSW Practicum Education form.

Joelle Patricio: And you will be required to participate in a panel interview via Zoom.

Joelle Patricio: And then for BAM MSW, again, this is for current undergraduate BSW

students at George Mason, only open to that group. It’ll be your resume, transcripts,

recommendation.

Joelle Patricio: And the goal statement, and then that is the same GPA minimum there of 3.2.

Joelle Patricio: deadlines. So for the on-campus program, since we only start students in the

fall, for Fall 2026, we are looking at January 15th, 2026. And after that date, we’ll continue

rolling on a space-available basis.

Joelle Patricio: For the two-year program specifically, that’ll be through April 2026 that we

will roll. For part-time and accelerated, which are online pathways.

Joelle Patricio: We have spring is just passed, the deadline was December 1st. Summer 26th

is going to be April 15th, and Fall 26th is August 1st, so a little closer to the start of the

program.

Joelle Patricio: Advanced standing on campus, again, fall only. The early decision deadline is

going to be December 15th, and it will continue to roll through April 2026, space available.

Joelle Patricio: And then for Advanced Standing Online, we only have Advanced Standing

Online for spring and… spring and fall, excuse me, not for summer. So for spring, that

passed, that was September 1st, and then for fall, that will be July 1st.

Joelle Patricio: And then BAM MSW, again, only for current George Mason BSW students. It

is going to be a deadline of July 15th for Fall 2026. And if you’re interested in our MPH

program, let me know. Happy to go over that with you, in a separate meeting or over email.

Daphne King: And just, a quick note with the, due dates for the, applications.

Daphne King: If you are looking, for… specifically for the online program option, if you are

applying for summer, or fall semesters, and you want to start your practicum.

Daphne King: in, fall semester of 26, you want to get your application in by April 1st. We

have a deadline that we need to get to practicum in April, and so if you are thinking that

you’re going to start, that you’re going to

Daphne King: apply for summer 26 or fall 26, and you’re thinking that you want to choose

the accelerated option and want to start practicum, you really do want to get your

application in early, and I would say by April 1st.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: So, Joelle mentioned the prompts. These

are part of the application packet for the entire MSW program. You can read these prompts

as I’m reviewing them, but what we really want to stress here is the first prompt is we want

to learn about you. Why

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: the MSW program at George Mason. Tell

us about the reasons that connect for you, maybe it’s your academic background, work,

volunteer experience, your professional career goals. This is your opportunity to help us

understand who you are and connecting to the program.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: The second prompt is equally important.

It has you looking at a social justice issue, a social issue that’s important to you.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Something that connects for you, and

how does that connect to the social work profession? We ask you to look at the Code of

Ethics, which you can find online, the NASW Code of Ethics, and looking at this social

problem, write us

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: a response, as outlined. There is two

reasons for this. It’s an opportunity for you to think about a social issue, to connect it to the

social work code of ethics and the profession, but also for you to show us your writing skills.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: And, so it’s really important to ensure

that you follow APA 7th in… when you submit that document. And please do…

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: do both prompts. One prompt will not

allow the, your application to go forward. You have to complete both prompts.

Joelle Patricio: And as a technical note, yes, please put both prompts in the same document.

It will only give you the option to upload one document in the application portal, and then

just separate them out when you’re writing it.

Joelle Patricio: Alright, back to me. These are the required materials that we went over

earlier. You do need to complete the online application, and there is a non-refundable

application fee that is $75. We do have fee waivers, available for specific groups of people,

so please click on that link, or do a quick Google search.

Joelle Patricio: Gmu fee waivers to see if you qualify.

Joelle Patricio: If you are applying for in-state tuition rates, there will be an option to select

that, and to fill out the details, in order to qualify for in-state tuition. As a note, this does not

apply to the broader DC, Maryland, Virginia area, this is just for Virginia residents.

Joelle Patricio: We require unofficial transcripts from all institutions attended. Unofficial

meaning if you have a copy of your transcript, that is considered unofficial, and you upload

it directly to the portal.

Joelle Patricio: If you are admitted and choose to enroll, that’s when we will need official

transcripts sent directly from your institution.

Joelle Patricio: Like we mentioned, the expanded goal statement covering both prompts,

two recommendations, depending on which pathway you are applying to, that’ll change

who we require recommendations from. And we can go into more detail on the website

here about requirements.

Joelle Patricio: More information if we have anyone here who was educated outside of the

U.S. We will require a detailed transcript evaluation from a NACI’s partner.

Joelle Patricio: A nice, tip here, if you are applying at least 6 to 8 weeks before the posted

deadline, you can opt for the internal evaluation, that’s done by George Mason.

Joelle Patricio: free of charge. Just a note that the evaluation won’t be released to you to use

for other institutions later. This’ll just be done for us.

Joelle Patricio: But that way, it will help you save some cost. And we will also require

English language proficiency test scores, depending on where you are educated.

Joelle Patricio: For all of our MSW applicants, we require a minimum of 30 credits of liberal

arts, and at least 3 credits in each of these following areas within those 30. So those areas

will be statistics, English composition, History, or government, and the social sciences. And

if you are shy of this 30 credit minimum, or the 3 credit minimum, in any one of these areas.

Joelle Patricio: You may be considered for provisional admission. Maybe not if you’re 27

credits shy, we’re looking for a little closer to that, full requirement there. If you have

questions, please feel free to contact us.

Joelle Patricio: And maybe you’re not ready to commit to a full degree program, or you’re

still trying to figure out if the MSW is right for you, we do have a non-degree application

option, and if you do this pathway, up to 12 credits earned in non-degree status can be

applied to a degree-seeking program here at Mason.

Joelle Patricio: And you do need a 3.0 GPA for eligibility, so we ask that you contact

Professor Tomaszewski prior to applying to make sure that the classes you’re interested in

taking have availability for you.

Joelle Patricio: And a note here, if you are… if you go through the whole process and you’re

admitted to the program, yay, congratulations! We do need you to go back into your portal,

we need you to read through your decision letter, and we do need your response through

the portal. As much as we love hearing from you via email, we need you to respond with the

form in the portal to either accept and confirm your intent to enroll.

Joelle Patricio: To defer, or to decline the admission offer.

Joelle Patricio: Emailing us will not change anything for your application status, so it won’t,

be able to set up your student account.

Joelle Patricio: And if you do need to defer, you can defer once per application to the next

consecutive, the next available semester. So, for example, if you apply to the on-campus

program, that is fall-to-fall.

Joelle Patricio: If you apply to our online program, that would be fall to spring, and so on

and so forth.

Joelle Patricio: All right, going over the dual degree program just a little bit more. So it’s

available through the MSW on-campus program only at this time, and it can be paired with

either specialization.

Joelle Patricio: A note about the application process, if you are applying to dual degree, and I

know we had some interest, you are still selecting the MSW program in the application

portal. You will go down, continue filling out the application. There will be an option for

program pathway or program type.

Joelle Patricio: You’ll hit that drop-down, and that’s when a very long list will pop up. You’re

looking specifically for the dual degree MSW, MS and Conflict Analysis and Resolution

program. It’s important you click the right one, because once you select the dual degree.

Joelle Patricio: That will generate the prompts for you, and that will make sure that your

application is reviewed by both the College of Public Health, Department of Social Work,

and the Carter School.

Joelle Patricio: And when you submit the one application to both programs, there are four

possible outcomes. It’ll all be in the same decision letter. You could be admitted to both,

admitted to one or the other, or denied to both. So it’s not an all or nothing.

Joelle Patricio: Very briefly, these are the tuitions and fees for the current academic year

that we’re in. I have graduate rates up top, and then we have undergraduate rates below,

only applicable if you’re doing the BAM pathway.

Joelle Patricio: And I will pass it back here.

Daphne King: All right, and so before we get into the next couple of slides, there is a

question in the chat for on-campus. The question says, for on-campus classes, what time of

day are the classes asking for when I work?

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: That’s a great question, and I was putting

something together to share, but I will also say that, the general sphere classes.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, because

you do, 16 hours a week in practicum, so you would do your practicum Tuesday, Thursday.

Your specialization year, you need… you do more hours in practicum, so you generally do

those Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and take classes Tuesday, Thursday.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: It’s possible in your general sphere to

align your classes on taking 2 of those three days.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Students talk with one another, they

figure out when they can share classes, and we try to have, the required classes at the… in

the 4.30 slot.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: For students, knowing that they… that

many students, or some students have to

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: work during traditional hours.

Conversely, students work in the evening, so they take the 10.30 or 1.30 classes.

Daphne King: And then there is a question, in the Q&A.

Daphne King: That just asks, are there any scholarships available for first-year students in

the MSW program? And I believe we are going to have a slide towards the end of the

presentation that has funding opportunities for you all.

Daphne King: To, look into.

Daphne King: So, the next couple of slides are not meant as a deterrent, but they are meant

to help you really think about the profession of social work, what it entails, and

Daphne King: you know, is the fit right for you? Especially before coming into the, you know,

program and spending the money on the degree. Now, social work is a very rewarding

profession. I have been a social worker for over 20 years and have thoroughly enjoyed

every social work position that I held, but the work can also be demanding.

Daphne King: I know when I worked as an investigative social worker, in the District of

Columbia, it was, rewarding, but it was also demanding work, especially with the hours and,

you know, some of the,

Daphne King: clients that we served and some of the issues and challenges that they came

with. So you really want to make sure

Daphne King: that you understand that, you want to understand the focus that we have on,

helping, you know, to enhance the functioning of the clients that we serve, whether it’s

individuals, families, groups, and communities. MSW, of course, is considered the terminal

degree to practice as a social worker. Some questions for you to maybe reflect on for

yourself.

Daphne King: and to consider is the commitment that social workers have to working with

people. And people that may have very different values, beliefs, and backgrounds from us.

This could not… this is not just clients, but it’s classmates, colleagues, it’s your professors,

and maybe supervisors. So you want to understand, your interpersonal skills, you want to

understand, how you communicate.

Daphne King: You want to understand and know whether or not you’re able to handle

multiple tasks.

Daphne King: at one time. This bullet point and the third bullet point connect for me,

because you also want to understand what your own, you know, biases are, and examine

those biases, and how those biases may impact your work as a social worker, and what you

can also do to challenge, your own biases.

Daphne King: Social workers sometimes work jobs that may have hours that are not

traditional, that may be unorthodox.

Daphne King: So, schedules can sometimes be unpredictable. Again, when I worked in Child

Protective Services, I worked, a shift that was, 3 days… 4 days on, 3 days off, and I worked

from 3 p.m. until 1.30 in the morning. So, you have to be mindful of that when it comes to

family responsibilities,

Daphne King: maintaining, you know, relationships, engaging in your community, or doing

things outside of work. So you want to be mindful of that as well.

Daphne King: Let me go to the next slide.

Daphne King: This slide, again, just continues, building on the previous one. There is a link

here to, a resource that you may want to read. It’s called, Getting Your MSW, How to Survive

and Thrive in a Social Work Program. I know that, the book Spell Yours

Daphne King: old. It’s from… written in 2006, but I think the concepts still apply today to

give you some reflection

Daphne King: on the profession, and you’re pursuing the social work degree. One thing that

I think is really important for students to understand is being able to accept feedback. And

sometimes the feedback isn’t necessarily always what we want to hear, especially from a

supervisor or from a faculty member, and you want to ask yourself, how you can accept the

feedback.

Daphne King: take it in the spirit that it is given, and use it as a way to grow, and as a way

for self-improvement. Again, some of the things that we do as social workers can be

emotionally challenging for us, so you want to look at how you’re taking care of yourself,

what things we encounter that may

Daphne King: elicit or trigger a certain response from you. I would highly recommend

checking out the website for the National Association of Social Workers, as well as for the

Council on Social Work Education. Their links are provided on this slide to help you, you

know, really continue to form your view of the profession of social work, and how you will

engage, in the profession, as well as with obtaining the MSW.

Joelle Patricio: All right, like promised, details on funding, we have a lot of different

opportunities here. So the first thing that we want to point out is that it’s a separate process

from the application itself. You will need to go ahead and apply for these on your own.

Joelle Patricio: The first opportunity is going to be our child welfare stipend program. We

have a link there. We do have CPH scholarship page that is updated every semester. They

are not available to all students for every scholarship, so just be sure to read the description

and who, is eligible there.

Joelle Patricio: We have graduate assistantships within the Department of Social Work, as

well as across the university. You are not limited to just the department.

Joelle Patricio: When you’re applying to assistantships, we have more details and resources

on funding and financial support for graduate students at Mason, along with links here for

the NASW scholarships, fellowships, and awards, and then the CSWE scholarships and

fellowships.

Joelle Patricio: And we wanted to highlight some research opportunities. We do have the

Swirl Lab, Social Work Investigate… Integrative, I’m sorry, Research Lab, and you can read

more details there, as well as our current faculty directory, showing what research they’ve

done, or what research they are currently doing.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Joel, could I just jump in here and also say

that, we are all work and some play, and what I mean by that is.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Your MSW degree is

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: all that you may get. And in addition to

these opportunities, we… there’s an MSW student association. You’ll have access to

professional faculty… faculty advisors. You’ll also… there are workshops and briefings on

licensure, for example, or career building, career development.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: There are Social Work Month activities

you can engage in, engage in. A diversity and social justice committee, which students can,

can collaborate with. And there’s, series, like human rights series, that students put together

across the semesters.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Many opportunities in addition to the

academics, the classes, and the practicum that you’ll, that’ll be part of your education, and

that we welcome answering questions about and talking more, about.

Daphne King: And just to elaborate on that a little bit, just because you’re in the online

program option, or you are taking courses in the online program option, doesn’t mean that

you can’t ever come to campus. We had students in our online program option that came to

campus for all kinds of activities and events, and some even lived,

Daphne King: further down in Virginia, and even, you know, outside of the Virginia area. So

we welcome our students in the online program option to come to campus as well. Before

Joel closes us out, there is one question in the Q&A, and this is for practicum.

Daphne King: So, besides for the hours, how does practicum on the master’s level look

different from bachelor’s?

Lisa Climer: That’s a great question, and

Lisa Climer: So the, both the BSW practicum experience and the first-year master’s

practicum experiences are considered generalist, practicums, so that just means that it’s

laying a foundation of skills,

Lisa Climer: you know, learning to, engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate at those different

system levels that we’ve been talking about.

Lisa Climer: And so, because someone who graduates with a BSW has had a generalist

practicum experience, that’s what enables them to apply for the advanced standing program

and bypass the generalist year of the… of the master’s program.

Lisa Climer: Students who aren’t applying for advanced standing.

Lisa Climer: And who are gonna do the traditional two-year master’s.

Lisa Climer: You know, there may be some

Lisa Climer: overlap between the generalist practicum experience you have in your first

year of the master’s program, and what you did as a, you know, as a BSW. Or there could

be… there are some agencies that we partner with who will work with either a BSW student

doing their practicum or a first-year master’s student. So those…

Lisa Climer: Those generalist practicum experiences at the bachelor’s and master’s level can

look… can look similar,

Lisa Climer: I hope that answers the question.

Joelle Patricio: Alrighty, and as our last slide.

Joelle Patricio: This is how to get in touch with us if you have follow-up questions, if

something comes up later. I think we’re all putting our emails in the chat right now, so Dr.

King, Professor Tomaszewski have put their emails there. If you have questions about

admissions requirements, the process, your materials, deadlines, timelines, any of that.

Joelle Patricio: Feel free, to call us in the phone number ending in 1901. Honestly, the best

way to get in contact with us will be email, because we have our whole team available via

email. That will be cphgrad at gmu.edu.

Joelle Patricio: And if you would like to meet with us during our drop-in hours, we have that

weekly, throughout the semester. Those are Tuesdays in the afternoon, or Thursdays, right

before the lunch hour.

Joelle Patricio: And you can register online.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, Department of Social Work: Thanks, everyone.

Daphne King: Alright, thank you, everyone.

Joelle Patricio: Thank you, thank you! Have a good evening!