Locate community providers within the new student insurance Anthem BC/BS network
SOS (Student Outreach and Support): Helps students succeed by connecting them to resources, developing a plan of action to meet their goals, and navigating challenging situations. Staff, faculty and students can submit a referral or reach out directly for connection.
If you or someone you know needs help in dealing with a suicidal crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Leave of Absence: At certain times in graduate school, a student may need to take a pause in their program. You will find information on personal and medical leave options at the following links:
Committed to supporting all eligible [campus-based] students, the DU Health & Counseling Center (HCC) offers a range of confidential individual, couples and group mental services, including Same Day urgent appointments, tele-connections, and online resources. Call 303.871.2205 for support.
The Graduate School of Social Work expects students in the Ph.D. Program to make consistent progress toward completion of their degree. As such programmatic milestones have been established and eligibility for certain types of financial support is tied to completion of programmatic milestones.
At the end of the first year of the Ph.D. Program, students are expected to have: a) Successfully completed approximately one-half of the course credits required for completion of their degree; a) Received feedback from faculty supervisor of satisfactory work as GSSW Pre-Doctoral Fellowship(s), Graduate Teaching Assistantship(s), or Graduate Research Assistantship(s) (if awarded) as indicated on Student Development Plan; and the departmental annual review; and, a) Developed and received approval for their Educational Plan; a) Successfully passed the Research Methods and Statistics qualifying examination; and, a) Selected a permanent academic advisor.
At the end of the second year of the Ph.D. Program, students are expected to have: a) Successfully completed all required course credits required for completion of their degree (75 credits beyond the MSW or 90 hours beyond their non-MSW master’s degree and no incompletes); b) Received feedback from faculty supervisor of satisfactory work as GSSW Pre-Doctoral Fellowship(s), Graduate Teaching Assistantship(s), or Graduate Research Assistantship(s) (if awarded) as indicated on Student Development Plan; and, c) Updated and finalized their Educational Plan d) Successfully completed and received approval on their comprehensive exam proposal by August 15th
At the end of the third year of the Ph.D. Program, students are expected to have: a) Successfully passed their comprehensive exam*; b) Been moved to final candidacy; c) Received feedback from faculty supervisor of satisfactory work as GSSW Pre-Doctoral Fellowship(s), Graduate Teaching Assistantship(s), or Graduate Research Assistantship(s) (if awarded) as indicated on Student Development Plan; and, c) Completed and received approval for their dissertation proposal. GSSW Doctoral Assistantships will not be awarded to students who have not completed their year three programmatic milestones by the end of the third academic year (see section on GSSW Doctoral Assistantships below).
Students are expected to have successfully passed their comprehensive exam by the end of their fourth year in the program. Failure to have done so will result in termination from the program.
Each year that a student is enrolled in coursework, they will be required to participate in an annual review process; in addition, those who are serving in GRA roles in the 3rd and 4th years may be asked to complete an annual review at the discretion of the Associate Dean and/or at the request of the student or their advisor. Further details are available in the PhD Handbook.
The Comprehensive Exam is a written and oral exam designed to evaluate the student's work at DU. The purpose of the exam is to provide a means by which the student demonstrates capacities for independent and systematic scholarship in keeping with the educational objectives of the PhD program at GSSW.
The dissertation requirement is designed to afford students an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to 1) do competent research in social work, 2) organize materials logically, write clearly, and make sound interpretations and conclusions from the facts presented, and 3) make a contribution to the field.
