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MSW Academic and Faculty Advisement

Please familiarize yourself with the MSW Student Manual, which covers school and university policies and procedures, program requirements, and other guidelines for academic success.

The Role of the Student 

It is the student’s responsibility to plan and make decisions about their academic pathway in order to meet their designated pathway requirements. In particular, the student should:

  • review the online curriculum guide [PDF] for their designated program pathway
  • verify for any holds in their Albert account (e.g., financial, university required training)
  • be aware of and adhere to the policies, procedures, and deadlines that guide their graduate study (ie. drop/add, pass/fail option, registration) 
  • initiate and be prepared for correspondence with their academic advisor for academic disruptions 

The Role of the Advisors

All students have two assigned advisors: 

  • The academic advisor assists in course sequencing and access to academic resources (e.g., when to take a medical leave of absence or when and why to withdraw from a course or program). 
  • The practicum faculty advisor provides support with practicum-related matters. The practicum faculty advisor acts as a liaison between the student, agency, and the Office of Practicum Instruction Learning and Community Partnerships.

Academic Advisors

Advisement in the Silver School of Social Work is organized by program pathway 

Practicum Faculty Advisors

The Practicum Faculty Advisor is your Practice instructor unless otherwise noted

  • Two-Year Students: The Practicum Faculty Advisor is the instructor for Practice I and  II. Please note: This is not the case for Practice III and IV.
  • Advanced Standing Students: The Practicum Faculty Advisor is the instructor for Practice III and IV.
  • Extended Students: The Practicum Faculty Advisor is the instructor for Practice I and II. Please note: This is not the case for Practice III and IV.
  • 16 Month Students: The Practicum Faculty Advisor is the instructor for Practice I and II. Please note: This is not the case for Practice III and IV.
  • OYR Students: The instructor assigned to your Practicum Instruction OYR-A and OYR-B.
  • 32-Month Students: For students enrolled in Practicum I, II, and III in their Generalist Practice placement year, an assigned Practicum Faculty Advisor oversees their work across these three semesters. For students enrolled in Practicum IV, V, and VI in their Specialized Practice placement year, a new Practicum Faculty Advisor oversees their work across these three semesters.

Registration

PhD Students

PhD students have mandatory terms for enrollment through their degrees as they need continuous matriculation in order to receive their doctoral degree. For registration, in their first two semesters, they will be administratively enrolled in their Fall and Spring courses. In their second year and subsequent semesters, they will enroll themselves in Albert SIS, but at the advice of the PhD Director, PhD Assistant Director, and their advisor per the course offerings and their interests.

All students born after December 31, 1956 are required to submit records indicating immunization against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR vaccine) to the NYU Student Health Center. Note that a student’s registration will be blocked until the student has complied with this requirement. In addition, New York State Public Health Law requires students to decide whether to be immunized against meningococcal meningitis and to provide formal confirmation of their decision. Failure to comply with this requirement, including completion of the Meningococcal Meningitis Vaccination Response Form, will result in denial of student registration privileges. For any questions, read more about the University’s health requirements or contact the Student Health Center (212-443-1000).

Registration is each student’s own responsibility. Prior to each semester, students will be sent information about registration. Failure to register in a timely manner at any point in the program, including throughout the dissertation phase, may result in dismissal.

Students who plan to register for either more or less than 12 credits for any semester during the coursework phase of the program should notify the Assistant Director of the PhD Program about the exact number of credits for which they will be registering in order to avoid problems with their account.

Money owed to the University from previous semesters must be paid in full before students can register for a new semester. Students who are in arrears with the Bursar on the day before they intend to register will be automatically blocked from registration. For inquiries regarding arrears, contact the Bursar  at bursar.studentaccounts@nyu.edu or (212-998-2800). Students are responsible for resolving problems with their account in a timely manner in order to maintain matriculation; failure to do so may result in dismissal from the program.

Students with any incomplete grade will be blocked from registering for the next semester. The faculty mentor will be responsible for assessing the student’s individual education plan and may approve registration for the next semester on a case by case basis. Incomplete grades are to be used infrequently and only for extraordinary circumstances.

Students who are considering withdrawing from a class must discuss it with the professor and faculty mentor. Upon withdrawing from a class students are subject to University policy and will be held responsible for related tuition and fees. Any questions about dropping a class should be directed to the Registration Services at silver.registration@nyu.edu, Students who withdraw from a class cannot audit the class; they must take the course at another time at their own expense.

Registration Holds: After the Office of Academic and Student Affairs has notified the department that a student is out of academic good standing, it will place a registration hold on the student’s record. It will also place a registration hold on any student that has been terminated.  

If students drop a course or withdraw from the university completely, students’ tuition and registration fee charges are subject to the university Refund Schedule policy. If students were a financial aid recipient, refund will not be processed until a calculation is performed to determine the amount of financial aid, if any, students are still eligible to receive.

Upon returning from leave, students should then contact SSSW Registration Services to make sure that they are cleared to register for the following semester.

The requirements for the PhD degree are completion of a minimum of 48 credits in coursework beyond the master's level, receiving a passing grade on the qualifying exam (QE), and the successful completion and defense of a PhD dissertation. Students must also maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0 and meet the completion deadlines described below.

Regarding student registration, students are required to take 48 credits to complete the coursework phase of the PhD program. Doctoral students normally take 9-12 credits of coursework in the fall and spring semesters over two to three years, as indicated on the following schedules. Students, in consultation with their faculty mentor and the PhD program office, should plan their course schedules accordingly. In addition, students must successfully complete a supervised research practicum before the end of the coursework phase of the program. The common core curriculum consists of 9 courses for a total of 27 credits.

As part of Silver's efforts to enhance the research focus and training of doctoral students, all incoming doctoral students are paired with faculty mentors. The mentor pairing aims to foster the development of PhD students as independent researchers and scholars through greater attention to the development of specific research competencies. Students will be integrated in their mentor’s current program of research for 20-hour per week and evaluated with a pass/fail grade. This course is taken during the first two years and is known as the Research Practicum Course and Professional Development portion of the program.

Students will take a combination of five elective courses. Electives should help to advance students toward their dissertation; they should select courses that will add to their knowledge in substantive areas related to what will likely be their dissertation topic, or in methodological areas that are likely to be needed for their dissertation. Students should discuss their elective options with their faculty mentor prior to registration. Students need to submit the cross-school registration form along with the syllabus of the course to the PhD Program Office, preferably by the second week of the semester. The PhD The Program Director must approve all final elective selections. On some occasions (e.g., the level of the course may not be considered an advanced-graduate level), the PhD The Program Director will ask for a support letter from the student’s mentor indicating how the elective course may advance the student's substantive knowledge and/or skill-building, and if the content of the course is advanced-graduate level. Electives (whether for the student’s methodological track or substantive area of expertise) can be taken at Silver or other NYU schools, and all electives must be graduate-level courses. Some programs do not make a distinction between masters and doctoral courses; when distinctions are made electives should be doctoral courses. Students most often locate appropriate electives in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (especially in departments of Applied Psychology or Humanities and Social Sciences in the Professions); the Wagner School of Public Service; or in some departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (especially psychology and sociology). See Google Google Drive for a list of courses previously taken by students.

Lastly, the last 6 credits are for career preparation and scholarly impact courses.

Prior to registering for a course in another program within NYU, students should contact the course instructor to determine whether they will be permitted to register for it. After students have been granted permission from the instructor, they must complete a cross-school registration form (available on the Google Drive), have their mentor authorize the form along with course syllabus, submit to the PhD Program Office to have the Program Director   ’s approval, and then returned it to our School’s Registration Services office. Once this has been done, students can register for their desired course.

Our PhD curriculum is designed to go through the following steps:

  • Social Work CORE (foundation, research methods, statistics)
  • Methodological specialization
  • Mentored Research Practicum
  • Career Preparation (seminars, presentations, workshops)
  • Substantive Area of Expertise
  • Qualifying Exam
  • Dissertation Proposal
  • Dissertation

As far as the qualifying exam, the exam format is open book and take home. Students will be given eight (8) business days to answer questions written by the faculty to address the above expectations. Students can have access to any materials and resources they choose. However, the work must be the student’s own, meaning that students are not permitted to obtain editing or other support. The responses must be carefully and clearly written, with style and citations consistent with APA style.

Students taking the Qualifying Exam (QE) are expected to demonstrate a thorough understanding of 1) theoretical perspectives related to the etiology, treatment, and policy of a social problem, 2) core knowledge and skills related to qualitative and quantitative research design and methods and 3) knowledge of research and policy related to their substantive area.

As far as the dissertation proposal, a complete draft of the dissertation proposal must be reviewed and approved by the dissertation committee chair before a proposal defense can take place. Members of the committee should receive copies of the proposal to be defended no less than four to six weeks before the date of the defense in order to provide the committee with sufficient time to prepare. Proposal defenses may take place only on Mondays through Fridays, at the School of Social Work or via Zoom, during the academic year. They cannot be scheduled on holidays, weekends, or during intersession periods. Although the date and time are negotiated between students and their committee members, if the defense is in person, the actual scheduling of the defense and reservation of a room for it must be done by the Assistant Director of the PhD Program. If defense is via Zoom, the link is created by the student and sent to committee members and Assistant Director of PhD Program.

As far as the dissertation and dissertation defense, a complete draft of the dissertation must be reviewed and approved by the committee chair before a defense can take place. In addition, the assent of all committee members should be obtained before scheduling the defense. The student also must provide the title of the dissertation and abstract to the Assistant Director of the PhD Program no later than two weeks before the defense date.

The purpose of the defense is to determine how well the student can present orally (rather than in writing) the methods, findings, and significance of the study, and to provide an opportunity for the members of the committee to decide whether any further work is necessary before the dissertation is approved and the degree is awarded.

PhD students have two choices for the format of their dissertation. The first option is a traditional dissertation consisting of one long paper (roughly 150-250 pages) on a single topic. The second format option consists of three papers of publishable quality, which should be closely interrelated. Students should discuss the format for their dissertation with their dissertation committee while in the proposal phase. Students cannot include their previously published papers as part of the dissertation proposal dissertation.

DSW Students

The DSW program has mandatory fall, spring, and summer terms and is designed to complete in three years. DSW students will register for courses during the designated registration periods in Albert. Students will enroll themselves in core classes through Albert SIS at the advice of the DSW Program.  

In addition to the core classes, students are required to register for two electives or independent studies. Students may register for DSW electives in Albert. All other electives require Director approval. The student should reach out to silver.dsw@nyu.edu to discuss other elective options and specifics. For Independent Studies, students will need to identify a full-time Silver faculty member to sponsor their independent study and submit a proposal for Director approval. Once approved, the student is enrolled in the independent study by the DSW Program and Silver Registration.

The requirements for the DSW degree are completion of a minimum of 56.5 credits in coursework and the successful completion of a Capstone Project. Students must also maintain a passing grade for all courses and meet the completion deadlines described in the DSW Student Manual.

Each term is 6-9 credits. Students who plan to register for either more or less than the credits outlined in the curriculum should notify the DSW program about the exact number of credits for which they plan to register for in order to avoid issues with their account.

Students are encouraged to view the NYU registration webpage and the University Academic Calendar for important registration dates and instructions.

MSW Students

Registration for Practicum Instruction

Students must register for Practicum Instruction each semester that they are in the Practicum . Please note: It is advised that students of all program pathways do not enroll in courses prior to 5 PM Eastern Time on Mondays as Mondays are typically assigned as a Practicum Instruction day.

Please find programs below with instructions. Further instructions and Class Numbers for registration may be found on the School’s website.

Registration for First-Time Practicum Instruction Students

Two-Year Program, Extended Program, and 16-Month Program

Register for Practicum Instruction I, MSWFD-GS 2100 (or Practicum Instruction II, MSWFD-GS 2200 in the second semester of Practicum). The section number (the last three digits after the course number) should match the section number of the Social Work Practice I course. So, for example, if one registers for SW Practice I, MSWPF-GS 2001 005, then he/she/they should register for Practicum Instruction I, MSWFD-GS 2100 005. The Practicum Education Office may sort students into a different section at the start of the semester.

Advanced Standing Program

Register for Practicum Instruction III, MSWFD-GS 2300 (or Practicum Instruction IV, MSWFD-GS 2400 in the second semester of Practicum). The section number (the last three digits after the course number) should match the section number of the Social Work Practice III course. So, for example, for Practice III, MSWAC-GS 2002 010, students should register for Practicum Instruction III, MSWFD-GS 2300 010.

One-Year Residence (OYR) Program

Register for Practicum Instruction OYR-A, MSWFD-GS 2500 (or Practicum Instruction OYR-B, MSWFD-GS 2600 in the second semester of Practicum), section 001. The Practicum Education office may sort students into a different section at the start of the semester.

Two-Year Program, Extended Program, and 16-Month Program

Register for Practicum Instruction III, MSWFD-GS 2300 001 (or Practicum Instruction IV, MSWFD-GS 2400 in the last semester of Practicum). The Practicum Education office will sort students into their Faculty Advisor’s section at the start of the semester.

32-Month Program

Register for MSWFD-GS 3200 001 in the second semester of Practicum, MSWFD-GS 3300 001 in the third semester, MSWFD-GS 3400 001 in the fourth semester, MSWFD-GS 3500 001 in the fifth semester, and MSWFD-GS 3600 001 in the sixth semester.

Non-Academic Related Questions

During your matriculation at Silver, you may have questions pertaining to other areas. Please refer to the appropriate office contact information below.