MSW Program

Message from the Program Chair

Tyrone Chiwai Cheng, PhD  LCSW., PIP

The University of Alabama School of Social Work faculty and staff extend you a warm welcome! Our alumni are serving clients here in Alabama, across the U.S., and across the world. The school has been preparing MSW’s since 1965. Throughout this process we seek to increase our student’s knowledge of social problems and their solutions, to improve social conditions of the state and beyond, and to promote social justice and human dignity for all people.

The School of Social Work offers students the opportunity to begin their MSW coursework through Saturday classes, advanced-standing coursework during the summer, or through the two-year program. We offer both the two-year and advanced-standing degrees in Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Mobile, and Gadsden, Alabama. The school also conducts the first year of the MSW program through a formal agreement with Shue Yan University in Hong Kong. Faculty travel to Hong Kong to teach during the summer months; Hong Kong students complete their MSW in Alabama. The school also offers a dual degree (MSW/MPH) in Public Health, through cooperation with the University of Alabama, Birmingham, School of Public Health's Maternal and Child Development Department.

Students will choose to specialize in working with Children, Adolescents, and Their Families, or Adults and Their Families. All students enroll in nine semester hours of electives to complement their required courses. Some electives include Family Violence, Family Preservation, Psychopathology, Chemical Dependency, Spirituality, “Ism’s” and Advocacy, Forensic Social Work, and Advanced Clinical Skills.

Through partnerships with state, federal, and community agencies and organizations, first-year and concentration-year students complete their internships during the spring and/or summer months. Concentration-year students have internship opportunities in Washington, D.C. For over twenty years the school has arranged internships in the Washington-Metro area that complement the student’s choice of concentration. For example, students have been placed at the National Institutes of Health, and of Mental Health; Children’s Bureau; St. Elizabeth’s Hospital; Walter Reed Hospital; National Association of Social Work; United Way; and in senator’s offices and the office of the vice-president.

MSW students are active in decision-making regarding curriculum and program options through voting privileges at the MSW program committee level. Students also participate in organizations such as the Social Work Association for Cultural Awareness and NASW. Come and embark on our exciting, challenging, and rewarding professional social work education voyage. Your social work career advancement begins here!

Tyrone Chiwai Cheng, PhD, LCSW, PIP
MSW Program Chair