Transcript:
Copies of an unofficial transcripts from each undergraduate and graduate institution attended must be submitted online as pdfs. (If you are admitted to the program and decide to accept the offer, you will then be required to provide official transcripts for the Graduate School of your master's degree institution.)
If you are enrolled in a graduate program at the time you submit your application, you must send updated transcripts or grade reports for computation of your grade point average upon completion of the degree.
Curriculum Vitae:
Upload a full resume that provides your relevant educational and employment history including the employer agency and address, your job title, and your dates of employment. If there is substantial discontinuity in your employment experience, please explain on a separate page attached to the resume. The resume should also list all scholastic or related honors (with dates received), significant volunteer activities, membership in professional organizations, and all published work. In addition, include theses, papers presented at conferences, and other professional writings, such as institutional manuals. Place your last name and first initial on every page of all documents.
Personal Statement:
The research and scholarship statement provides an opportunity for you to give your assessment of yourself as a suitable candidate for admission to the Social Welfare PhD Program. Since the program emphasizes both research and teaching, we are particularly interested to know your views about research in social welfare and about yourself in the role of researcher and scholar educator. Please be as specific as possible in answering the questions below. Use no more than five (5) double-spaced typewritten pages. Place your last name and first initial on every page of all documents.
Discuss your qualifications and readiness for pursuing doctoral studies in social welfare. Address (and provide examples of) areas such as prior scholarly accomplishments, academic ability, capacity for analytical thinking and research, ability to work collegially with colleagues of diverse backgrounds and perspectives, ability to express ideas, and capacity for self-direction.
Describe your view of the role of research in social welfare.
Describe the area of specialization around which you wish to concentrate your study and research. In specifying your area of research interest, please identify social welfare PhD faculty who might be useful to you in exploring your area. Indicate any special projects of research emphasis at the School of Social Work or within the larger University that you view as helpful resources. If your research interests are transdisciplinary, describe the linkages with other fields.
Describe the development of your interest in research and the relation of that interest to your professional area of specialization. Note how your research objectives demonstrate your commitment to social justice and human rights.
Illustrate how your personal history, professional and value commitments, and intellectual development have influenced your decision to pursue social welfare research as a career goal. As appropriate, note cultural and educational opportunities that you have had; any educational, social, physical, or economic disadvantages that you have had to overcome; and your experiences in diverse communities. Articulate the ways in which these combined life experiences inform your research interests and your commitment to social justice.
What are your career plans? Specifically, how do you expect to use the research and scholarly skills developed in the doctoral program to inform effective social work practice and/or policy and advance scholarship in social welfare for the promotion of social justice?
Recommendation Letter:
When you submit your application to the Graduate School, you will at that time identify at least three individuals (and their email addresses) who can provide letters of reference; four is the recommended number of letters and five is the maximum. The Graduate School system will then automatically send each person a notification of request for reference with individualized URLs for response. Those providing references can quickly and easily submit online in any of several formats.
At least two of the persons writing the references, should be academics or persons who can evaluate your capacity to perform independent scholarly study.
The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 permits admitted students to review all pertinent documents in their records, including letters of reference. When you submit your list of names to the Graduate School, you will be required to indicate whether you waive that right.
Writing Sample:
Submit one example of your scholarly writing that provides evidence of your capacity to think analytically and critically, and to express yourself clearly and concisely, and that shows your readiness to undertake doctoral level work that reflects a concern with the advancement of social justice. If you submit a co-authored article, please select one for which you had major writing responsibility and indicate in an attached note the parts of the sample that reflect your input and work. The following are examples of appropriate submissions of scholarly writing:
a. published article, chapter, book
b. master's thesis
c. unpublished research report, conference presentation
d. term paper written in a graduate course
e. training manual
f. grant application
g. legislative testimony.
