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PhD Program Overview

The PhD Program in Social Work is designed to provide advanced education and training in research and academic leadership. The program is tailored to meet the needs of students who wish to pursue careers in academia, research, and policy development.

Requirements

• Completion and defense of the three research articles that constitute the dissertation.
• All University requirements as stated in The University of Tennessee Graduate Catalog.
• A minimum of 67 semester credit-hours beyond the MSSW, including:
  • Completion of 34 credit-hours of required course work,
  • Completion of nine (9) credit-hours of advanced electives, and
  • Completion of at least 24 credits of dissertation research.
• Successful completion of the comprehensive examinations.

Featured Courses

The PhD Program includes a range of courses designed to provide students with a strong foundation in research and academic leadership. Some of the featured courses include:

• SOWK 601 – Research for Social Work Practice I: Epistemological foundations of, and methods for, quantitative and qualitative research for social work practice, including formation of research questions and hypotheses; basic measurement; sampling; research design; and introduction to the research proposal.
• SOWK 677 – Teaching Practicum I: Face-to-face classroom teaching experience under the supervision of a social work faculty teaching mentor. Demonstration of independent teaching, student assessment, and classroom management.
• SOWK 603 – Research III: Funded Research and Grant Writing: Funded research and grant writing. Sources of funding, including federal and private foundation, for social work research; writing a competitive grant proposal, including the narrative, budget, budget justification, and IRB review application.
• SOWK 604 – Community Engaged Social Work Research: Explores the theory and practice of engaging diverse communities, organizations, and relevant stakeholders in social work research. Students will explore community-based research models and learn skills relevant to centering participant research goals in the design and implementation of social work research.