Make a Difference and Build a Career with a Master of Social Work from C.W. Post

For Joanna Contreras, a Master of Social Work degree will lead to a career helping others overcome alcohol and drug addiction

As a volunteer working with youths in the Nassau County Juvenile Detention Center, Joanna Contreras learned first-hand how alcohol and substance abuse damages individuals and communities.

“I became inspired to try to change things,” the Massapequa Park resident said. That drive to improve the lives of society’s underserved and vulnerable is at the heart of the Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) program at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville. Contreras is in the second year of the program.

Recently accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, the premier accrediting agency for college social work degree programs, the Master of Social Work program at C.W. Post is advancing and expanding to meet the needs of its students and the society they serve.

• In addition to the full-time program for traditional students, C.W. Post now offers a part-time M.S.W. degree designed for working adults. The eight-semester, 60-credit degree, which includes 900 hours of field work, carries the same accreditation as the full-time program – a credential that is highly valued by prospective employers.

• A new addition for students who need flexible schedules is a full day of Saturday classes, conducted at C.W. Post by teleconference from Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus. Most courses in the M.S.W. program are offered at both the Brooklyn and C.W. Post Campuses of Long Island University.

• Students who have completed an accredited bachelor’s degree in social work and meet academic standards may qualify for advanced standing status – allowing them to complete the Master of Social Work in just one year.

• A new bicultural M.S.W. initiative is being developed for students of social work whose primary language is Spanish, and for those whose primary language is English but who wish to work with Spanish-speaking people. The program will feature bilingual professors.

The M.S.W. is offered with three highly specialized concentrations: gerontology, nonprofit management and alcohol and substance abuse. The liberal arts-based program takes an innovative, interdisciplinary approach. Graduates will have the skills, knowledge and values required to deliver direct care to a broad population as well as in the field of their chosen concentration. They will be prepared to manage and administer social service programs and agencies within the fields of mental health, community service, social service, and case and care management.

Contreras, who earned her undergraduate degree in psychology at C.W. Post in 2006, said she appreciates the personalized education that distinguishes the C.W. Post M.S.W. program.

“The professors are always there whenever you need them, they’re easily accessible and classes are small, so you get individualized attention,” she said.

The faculty of the C.W. Post Master of Social Work program consists of accomplished and dedicated professors – including Elissa D. Giffords, D.S.W., honored as Social Worker of the Year for 2008 by the New York State chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Giffords is also Executive Committee chair of the Nassau County Department of Social Services Commissioner's Advisory Council.

To learn more about the Master of Social Work program at C.W. Post, visit www.liu.edu/socialwork or call (516) 299-3924.

Posted: January 30, 2008