We have nearly 130 individuals registered for our DSW open house, Friday, January 27th.  Registrants are from the states of Washington, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey.   Canada is also represented.  It will be a celebration event launching our new DSW and its innovative curriculum.  It is not too late to come if by some chance you see this post tonight.  You can RSVP and find out details at http://rutgersdsw.eventbrite.com

Many of you have been asking about the deadline for submitting an application for the fall 2012 cohort class.  We are doing rolling admissions.  Here is how it works.  As you are notified that your file is complete, then during February and March an interview will be scheduled.  When we decide on your application in late March and early April, you will receive a letter of acceptance.  Then you will be asked to accept or decline (the letter will specify a timeline).  Once we have 15 applicants accept, then admissions is closed for the first cohort.  Thus, the sooner you apply the better, but we will take your applications and process them as they come along.  If your application hits too late after we have admitted 15, then we can ask you if you want to be considered for the 2013 cohort.  Any questions, just drop me an email at jfloersch@ssw.rutgers.edu

I have had several inquiries regarding the personal statement.  Some have wondered about the length and others about the clinical vignette.  In another blog, I had suggested a page length of 15-20 pages, double spaced.  This was an estimate only.  Shorter personal statements are fine.  The important task is to answer each section fully.   An admission decision will not depend on an applicant having the precise length that was suggested.  Reflect on a question and in writing an answer, the length should be determined by your particular circumstances.  We decided to include a personal statement and not a GRE score, for example.  We felt that reading an applicant writing sample is the best way to evaluate writing and reflective skills.

The instructions for number (4), the short clinical vignette, has also evoked some questions.  Some applicants are working as clinical supervisors, clinical directors, or in some clinical capacity, but are not currently seeing clients in 'traditional' therapy.  And you have wondered about the vignette.  I have suggested in several emails that the vignette could be a supervision vignette, which briefly discusses a particular scenario and how you think about supervision.  Some are conducting groups in schools, but don't have a therapy caseload.  In the latter case, write about a group intervention vignette.  Some work with families.  Case management, when taken seriously, is also a form of clinical work.  In sum, the description in the personal statement instruction implies an excerpt from a 'traditional' short-term or long-term clinical case.  It need not be.  But what it does need to do is demonstrate your use of clinical theory in your current work.  

The DSW website URL is:  www.dswrutgers.org
It has an 'org' extension and not an 'edu' extension because the RU SSW servers are full and we needed to park the site on a non-rutgers server.

You can also access the website from the RU SSW, DSW webpage; that URL is http://socialwork.rutgers.edu/Academics/DSW.aspx    At the very bottom of the page, there is a link to the www.dswrutgers.org site.

This is a bit clumsy for now.  Over time this will be solved.  We are working on the website.  But we had to go live so you have information.  Expect over the next several weeks that both websites will change, as we finalize design and content.

Keep in mind that the RU SSW, DSW website will always be the portal into the ancillary website, www.dswrutgers.org.

Later, Jerry

This post is the first in answering questions about the process of applying online. This week in New Brunswick and in Camden we held DSW open houses and I met several of you.  I learned that the apply online process is working.  Two applicants successfully filled out the online application form.

However, I heard from another applicant and they reported not being able to get beyond the second online application page.

Please use this blog and my email to keep me up to date on any problems.  The graduate school designed a new portal for the DSW online application and there are, and probably will be, several glitches.  If you keep me up to date, I will do my best to get any problems on our end solved as quickly as possible.   Post your questions as comments to this post; in this way, all applicants can have one internet site to go to and learn about any specific problems they may have that others have reported, and that I have hopefully solved.

Also about college transcripts.  You contact the colleges you graduated from, undergraduate, graduate, etc., and see if they will electronically transfer your transcripts to Rutgers; if not, then they will send paper copies to the graduate school, who will then upload them to your application site.

I also learned that once you fill out an application form online, then you will be emailed by the graduate school and sent an RUID.  [however, it says you will be emailed this within 24-72 hours; this is not true, there was a glitch and you will not receive an RUID until after October 26th.] After the 26th, then it will only take up to 72 hours.  With your RUID, you can check the status of your application; for example, have your transcripts arrived; have letters of recommendation arrived, etc.

About letters of recommendation.  When you fill out the online application form, it will ask you for the names and email addresses of the individuals writing your letters.  The graduate school will email these individuals and give them instructions for how to upload their letters.

Most important.  You do not have to finish the application form all at once.  You can start and stop and return.

Okay, that is all for now.  

Don't hesitate to report problems, or ask clarifying questions.

Best, Dr. Floersch

FYI:

Bloggers, and 'early birds,' can view the new DSW website before it posts next week on the Rutgers, SSW DSW webpage.  Next week there will be a link from the RU DSW webpage directly to the new site.

But, you can see the DSW website early if you go to the following URL:  www.dswrutgers.org

We will be editing, tweaking, improving the website, but the essential ideas are posted, so if you plan to apply for admission to the first cohort of 2012, then you now have all the information necessary to move forward.  You can apply online by clicking the 'apply online' button on the website and then follow the instructions carefully.

If you have any problems with the online application, do not hesitate to email me at jfloersch@ssw.rutgers.edu

Also, as you browse the new website, email any comments and feedback: is there missing information?; do we need to clarify information?  What is your feedback about the design: easy to navigate?  

This website will be developed over the coming years to be a new home for clinical social work resources.  We will be developing new pages for DSW students to publish their DSW portfolio products, for example.  We intend this webpage, over time, to become the go-to place for graduates.  It will become a central mechanism for the development of a socially networked organization of practitioner-scholars.

If you are near New Brunswick or Camden, there are two open houses coming up this week.  Check the website for dates, times, and places.  RSVP if you plan to come.  Thank you.

Best, Dr. Floersch 

We are testing links, editing narrative, finalizing tuition and fee estimates, securing the online application portal, and making final decisions on design.  If all the final work goes as plan, I believe the website will be posted early next week.

• An MSW from a CSWE accredited program, and if an international student, an MSW (or equivalent) from a comparable accrediting institution,
• 2 years post MSW experience,
• A license to practice social work is required (in some instances where states or countries do not have social work licensing requirements or bodies comparable to New Jersey, exceptions will be considered),
• A license to practice clinical social work is preferred,
• An interview,
• An essay. (Another blog will provide the essay instructions.)

• Application and application fee,
• Transcripts from all colleges attended,
• Three letters of recommendation (choose individuals who can write about your past clinical experience, your current work, and your intentions for pursuing doctoral education),
• Curriculum Vitae,
• A copy of current license.