There are two areas of concentration, Analysis of Social Welfare Policy and Analysis of Social Work Practice, each with its own admission and professional requirements. The program is accredited by the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work as a graduate program in social work. Adjunct M. Susan Watt, B.A., M.S.W., Adv. Harry L. Penny, Dip. The aim of the program is to prepare graduates for policy analysis and decision-making roles that have the potential for changing services and practices.
Emphasis is on the critical analysis of existing policies and the design of new policies.
An objective of fundamental importance is to assist students to ask the right questions, and to appreciate the differing contribution of values and empirical evidence in policy making. This area of concentration prepares graduates for careers concerned with policy analysis, design, and evaluation in the public and private sectors. The Analysis of Social Work Practice focuses on the development of analytic skills concerned with direct social work practice. Students have a choice of studying professional practice within the context of either health care or families. Students will be afforded opportunity to build on their knowledge base to increase their ability to identify and analyze social work practice theories and examine how they are utilized within a changing social, political, and economic context.