Admission

Relevant application materials must be submitted to both the Graduate School and the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare and will be accepted for admission in the Fall semester only. All applications must be completed and submitted on or before January 2. Applications received after January 2 will be considered only if space is available after other applications are reviewed.

Students who apply and are accepted to the joint MSCJ/PhD program will be able to earn both degrees in the course of their studies and will not be required to apply to the PhD program after earning the MSCJ degree, assuming their progress is consistent with departmental, school, and Graduate School standards. Applicants who are not offered admission to the joint program will still be considered for admission into the MSCJ-only program.

All applicants must meet Graduate School requirements plus the following school requirements:

1. Have an undergraduate grade point average of 2.75 or better.
2. Have completed at least 21 semester credits in the social and behavioral sciences (i.e., psychology, sociology, political science, economics, anthropology, and/or their equivalents).

In the Personal Statement section of the Graduate School application form, applicants must indicate:

1. That, of the PhD program’s four areas of specialization (Criminal Justice, Addiction and Behavioral Health, Applied Gerontology, or Family and Child Welfare) they wish to pursue the Criminal Justice option.
2. Their reasons for seeking a doctoral degree.
3. Their goals as future scholars.
4. A topic or issue in the field that they consider to be particularly challenging and worthy of study.

In other materials submitted to the Graduate School, applicants must:

1. Provide a current copy of a professional résumé or curriculum vitae. This should contain information on:

• All post-secondary education, including institutions, degrees and dates of completed programs of study, plus institutions, dates, and types of study that did not lead to a degree.
• All employment by the applicant in criminal justice, social work, and related areas, including dates and employing organizations.
• Employment unrelated to criminal justice or social work within the past five years.
• Any past or current professional licenses held.

2. Submit scores from within the past five years on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test.

3. Submit three letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the applicant’s achievements and academic potential, including at least one current or former academic instructor.

4. Submit a sample of written work that demonstrates: the applicant’s knowledge of social welfare theory, practice, and research; ability to think analytically; and writing skills. The sample should be at least 1000 words in length and represent work for which the applicant was the sole author, or if it is jointly authored should indicate which sections were primarily done by the applicant.

Advisement

The school will assign each MSCJ/PhD student a major professor. This assignment is based on congruence between the applicant’s interests and the expertise of the major professor. In consultation with the director of the PhD program, the student may change major professors after beginning the program, but no applicant will be admitted unless a doctoral faculty member agrees to serve as major professor.

Financial Assistance

Through a combination of tuition remission, teaching assistantships, research assistantships, fellowships, and other options, the program will attempt to provide financial assistance to all admitted students during their first four years in the program. Applicants needing additional information on other sources of financial assistance, such as student loans, should contact the campus Department of Financial Aid.

MSCJ courses to be replaced by PhD-level courses are:

A minimum of 40 credits of PhD-level course work is required. At least 31 of these must be earned in residence at UWM. Required courses include:

Preliminary Examination

All students must pass a preliminary examination subsequent to successfully completing all required course work and prior to being admitted to doctoral candidacy (see http://uwm.edu/socialwelfare/preliminary-examination/). The examination assesses students’ ability to articulate their research interests, analyze and synthesize empirical knowledge and relevant theoretical concepts, explain how theory may affect the generation of knowledge, and show familiarity with relevant scientific methodologies. In keeping with Graduate School rules, the preliminary examination should be completed within five years of enrollment.