A new online part-time Social Work Master’s program is coming to the University of Connecticut this fall with hopes of providing a more accessible way to obtain a degree.
The three-year program, according to Dean of the School of Social Work Laura Curran, will include a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous classes that will allow students to focus on their internships, work and family responsibilities while working towards a master’s degree. She explained that the program is very similar to the in-person master’s program UConn offers, as it has the same number of required credits, the same curriculum and the same faculty. However, the pacing of the curriculum is different, as it is a part-time program compared to the in-person full-time program. This may be subject to change.
“We’re offering the online option right now, on a part-time basis to start, and if we see demand, we will move to a full-time option as well,” Curran said.
Curran explained that talks for the project have been in the works for a while and that plans took off after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic taught us that we can teach online. We’ve been offering online classes in our regular master’s program for a while now, and they’ve grown increasingly popular,” Curran said.
Over the years, students have increasingly expressed interest in a more flexible program and Curran remarked that this interest drove the program forward.
For the first semester, class sizes will start small. According to Curran, this will allow students to get to know their classmates better while ensuring the program’s ability to support all its students. However, depending on the demand, things are subject to change.
Curran believes the program will also help UConn’s social work master’s program stretch its outreach and impact. She recognized the fact that UConn is the top social work master’s program in the state, as well as ranked 36th nationally, and that it has done a “wonderful job serving the community at Hartford and around.” However, she feels that the current master’s program hasn’t been able to serve students in other parts of the state.
“We want to be able to reach out to everybody, and this allows us a further reach and impact. There’s a shortage of social workers right now, and we’re in the middle of a strong mental health crisis. We have lots of social welfare issues that we’re attempting to address, from child well-being issues, to issues around aging and health equity issues. All these issues demand a strong social work labor force, so this is our attempt to grow the capacity of our MSW programs so that we can offer it to more students,” Curran said.
The online program is set to start in the fall of 2024, and the MSW program is accepting applications through the spring.