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Home » Doctor of Philosophy Program » Ph.D. Program General Degree Requirements


Ph.D. Program General Degree Requirements

Requirements:

  1. All University requirements as stated in The University of Tennessee
    Graduate Catalog    .

  2. A minimum of 66 semester credit-hours beyond the M.S.S.W., including

    1. completion of 27 credit-hours of required course work,

    2. completion of 15 credit-hours of advanced electives, at least 12 of which are taken outside the College, with 9 of those 12 related to the dissertation, and

    3. completion of at least 24 credits of dissertation research.

  3. Successful completion of the qualifying and comprehensive examinations.

  4. Completion and defense of the dissertation.

Curriculum:

The curriculum of the Ph.D. program consists of foundation course work, electives, and dissertation research. The foundation curriculum consists of 27 credit-hours in the history and philosophy of social work, issues in direct service and administration and planning, research methodology and statistics, and the programs and legislation pertaining to disadvantaged children and families. The electives consist of 15 credit-hours in related social and behavioral science areas.

The foundation curriculum is usually completed during the first year of study. The elective requirement is completed and dissertation research is started in the second year of study. It is generally expected that the foundation curriculum will be completed on a full-time basis, but subsequent course work and dissertation research can be completed on a planned part-time basis.

The following is the required course work:

SW601, 602 Research for Social Work Practice I, II

3,3 hrs.

SW612, 613 Social Work Practice and Its Social Context I, II

3,3 hrs.

SW640 History of American Social Work

3 hrs.

SW650 Programs and Legislation for Children and Families

3 hrs.

SW670 Conducting Critical Literature Review

3 hrs

SW608 & SW660 Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences I, II
or other statistical courses approved by the Doctoral Program Chair

3,3 hrs.

A student working full time on the dissertation registers for up to 12 hours of Social Work 600 (Research and Dissertation) per semester after completing required and elective courses.

Examinations:

All doctoral students are required to pass the qualifying and comprehensive examinations after their first year of course work and an oral defense of the dissertation research proposal. The qualifying examination consists of a written test covering the foundation content. Its purpose is to test the student's knowledge of research methods, statistics, practice issues, and the history and philosophy of social work. The student may request a retake in case of failure, but the result of the second examination is final. The comprehensive examination consists of a major paper that demonstrates the student's knowledge of a substantive area and the student's ability to integrate that knowledge with the foundation content of the program. Finally, the student must pass an oral defense of the completed dissertation.