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19 Master's degree programs of Western Carolina University
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work offers a distance education program that enables students to complete the first half of the program (32 hours, the equivalent of the first year of the full-time program) on the UNC Asheville campus.
The program is designed for students who live beyond a reasonable daily commuting distance to Chapel Hill, who are employed in a helping/service position in social welfare agencies, and who cannot take off from work the two academic years needed to complete a full-time program of study.
In the distance education program, students complete the Foundation courses and two of the elective courses for the Advanced Curriculum over a two-year period. Classes are generally scheduled in a sequence similar to the classes in the full-time program.
During the first year of the program, students take two classes, one day a week (Friday) each semester. During the second year of the program, students continue to take two classes on Friday each semester and also complete two semesters of field practica (two days a week for 60 eight-hour days) on a concurrent arrangement or in a summer block placement. The elective courses scheduled to meet Advanced Curriculum requirements are selected to complement student learning goals and concentration interests. Students are expected to complete all of the Foundation requirements and the two elective courses in the distance education program unless they exempt Foundation courses by passing proficiency exams and substitute more advanced courses, or they transfer courses to meet selected requirements.
When the 32 hours of Foundation courses are complete, students are required to attend classes in Chapel Hill as full-time students. They join students from the full-time two-year program, the Triangle distance education program, and students with advanced standing in the second year of MSW work.
Because the distance education MSW program in Asheville operates on a cohort model, students are admitted only every other year. The most recent class entered in fall 2007.
Link to the Chapel Hill School of Social Work
Dr. Kelly Reath, director of the Asheville Distance Education MSW program
828.251.6725
e-mail: reath@unca.edu.