The St. Thomas DSW is the first online DSW program to focus on preparing social work faculty and practitioners specifically for university-level teaching and leadership. Experienced social work educators and practitioners with an MSW degree will gain the skills and credentials to teach and lead in the social work profession and become stewards of the discipline. The online delivery format makes this program accessible to working professionals throughout the country and graduates will be prepared to:
Engage in transformative teaching
Develop an identity as a scholar practitioner
Pursue social justice through service and leadership
Write for publication
The expansion of bachelor’s and master’s programs in social work has created a strong demand for faculty who hold doctorates. Strong practitioners, adjunct faculty and clinical faculty need teaching skills, writing and publication skills, a full understanding and integration of the roles of the professoriate, and credentials to confidently teach and lead in university settings.
Students in the Doctorate in Social Work program must complete a banded dissertation - a series of three written works of scholarship that are linked by issue, theme, pedagogy, or population. This work is done during the second and third years of the program.
The DSW program kicks off with a four-day in-person orientation for incoming students. This is the perfect opportunity to get to know your cohort of DSW colleagues and to be introduced to the philosophy, structure, and technology of the program.
Students should plan to bring to orientation their own laptop computers with camera capabilities, high-speed internet connectivity and a web browser that supports Zoom to participate in the technology training and to test for system compatibility.
Faculty
Our faculty are recognized scholars, researchers and engaged practitioners, committed to mentoring relationships and community engagement.
Dr. Catherine Marrs Fuchsel
Dr. Marrs Fuchsel is the DSW program director and a professor. An experienced social work practitioner and scholar, her research focuses on supporting Latina women who experience complex trauma, and on the development and implementation of prevention programs with immigrant communities.
Dr. Chigbu is an assistant professor who teaches in the MSW and DSW programs. His research focuses on the individual, familial, group, social, and environmental factors that enhance the prevention and mitigation of organized violence, mental illness, substance abuse, and human/sexual trafficking and abuse. His backgrounds in law and diplomacy and social work inform his interest and belief in interdisciplinary approaches to human problem-solving.
Dr. Robin Whitebird is a professor and researcher with expertise in mixed methods, qualitative research, and clinical trials. Much of her research is in health care, where she consults on studies focusing on patient reported outcomes and strategies for organizational change.
The DSW is an advanced practice degree, and in the case of the St. Thomas DSW, the form of practice is education. Our degree is designed to prepare experienced social work educators and practitioners to teach and lead in higher education. The St. Thomas DSW has a strong emphasis on teaching pedagogy, curriculum development and the type of scholarship that faculty in teaching-intensive universities will be expected to produce throughout their careers.
The Ph.D. is a research degree and Ph.D. students are trained in rigorous research methods and pedagogy. Research-intensive universities (generally considered "Doctoral Universities" with moderate to high research activity as detailed by the Carnegie Basic Classification Description) will likely require tenure-track faculty to have a Ph.D., as this is the standard research degree, and the expectation of their faculty is that they will be doing large-scale research.
If there are specific schools you are targeting for employment, it is best to explore their specific hiring requirements before choosing which type of doctoral program is the best fit for you. Some universities will hire a combination of Ph.D.s and DSWs (or other practice doctoral degrees) depending on their areas of expertise and needs at the program level, while other universities will require a research focused (Ph.D.) degree only.
Latest DSW News
Spring 2023 Professional Notes
DSW students and alumni share their accomplishments of spring 2023.
Congratulations to the Doctor of Social Work students, alumni and faculty who presented at the 2022 Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Annual Program Meeting (APM)!
The St. Thomas Doctorate in Social Work program has been approved by our institutional accrediting organization, the Higher Learning Commission. At this time, doctoral programs - both DSW and PhD programs - are not accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). However, in June of 2020 CSWE approved accreditation standards for practice doctorates. For further information about the piloting of the accreditation process, please review the CSWE website.
