University of Michigan
MasterTrack® Certificate

Social Work: Practice, Policy and Research

In this 6-course program, you’ll build the skills and knowledge you’ll need to empower individuals, families, communities, and organizations to meet their needs and create positive change.

Enroll by March 4, 2024

Class starts the same day.

4 months

3-5 hours per week per class. Program duration alternates between 4 months and 6 months. See FAQs for more details.

$2000

In 4 installments of $500 or pay all at once to get 5% off the full tuition.

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+ Live session classes

No application necessary for the MasterTrack Certificate - enroll today.

#1 school for social work in the United States

U.S. News & World Report’s top-ranked school of social work.

Accelerate your path to a master's degree from the University of Michigan

If you apply and are accepted into the University of Michigan Master of Social Work program and meet requirements, your MasterTrack® Certificate qualifies you to complete your degree in 45 credits instead of 60 credits.

Live sessions

Interact with School of Social Work instructors and peers to help build your professional network.

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Program description

Learn practice methods, advocacy skills and social justice frameworks to create positive social change.

Overview

With this program you’ll gain a greater understanding of social work practice, the history and impact of policy on key social services, and the research that supports effective practice.

You’ll also have the chance to explore the social work profession from expert faculty. You’ll learn to apply key skills required to work with different stakeholders to promote positive changes and make a difference. Also, you’ll cover how to integrate social justice values into social change processes and actions as well as develop an understanding of the key knowledge bases and frameworks that social workers use to guide their work at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of practice.


Watch the program trailer

Get inspired by this program trailer featuring faculty from the School of Social Work. Watch it today.

UMich Social Work Trailer

You can watch these videos to learn directly from University of Michigan faculty and admissions counselors about social work practice and program pathways.

Required background

No prerequisites are required. However, some human service experience is required if you are interested in pursuing a Master of Social Work degree at the University of Michigan.


Webinars

Learn more about the MasterTrack curriculum from faculty and admissions counselors, discover the pathway to pursuing the full MSW program following the MasterTrack certificate, and gain insight into financial aid opportunities. Watch a past webinar recording!

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Skills you will gain

  • Advocacy
  • Social justice frameworks
  • Role of social work in inter-professional practice
  • Qualitative research methods
  • Quantitative research methods
  • Community organization
  • Interpersonal, organizational, and community level practice methods
  • National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics

6 courses in this 4-6 month program

Course 1 of 6

Social Work Practice: Advocating for Social Justice and Change

Overview

In this course, you will learn how social workers in the United States create change and support the resilience of individuals, families, and communities. You’ll have an opportunity to explore the social work profession, the different roles of social workers in a range of settings, the cross-cutting themes that guide social work practice, the history of social work, and current challenges.

Using a social justice lens, you’ll reflect on current challenges facing the lives of individuals, families, and communities, and examine ways to advocate for needed changes.

Course 2 of 6

Engaging Social Justice, Diversity, and Oppression in Social Work

Overview

In this course, you will develop a framework for engaging diversity and differences in social work practice, as well as advancing human rights and social and economic justice. Explore how societal power and diversity characterize and shape the human experience and are critical to the formation of social structures, cultural understandings, group and organizational processes, and identities.

Analyze how current experiences of privilege and oppression are shaped by historical forces, societal structures, social constructions, groups, interpersonal processes, and human understandings. You will also explore formulations of human rights, including positive rights and negative conditions that need to be eradicated.

Course 3 of 6

Essentials of Social Welfare Policy

Overview

In this course, you will explore current social welfare issues in the context of their history and the underlying rationale and values that support different approaches. Emphasis is placed on major fields of social work service such as income maintenance, health care, mental health, child welfare, corrections, and elderly services.

There are four main content areas for the course, beginning with the philosophic and practical basis for social welfare provisions. Your focus will then transition to the history of social work as a profession, as well as the emergence of specific policies and programs. Using this information, you will review critical analysis of current social welfare policies and programs in the U.S. and elsewhere. You will then focus on the understanding of theory, research, debates, and trends in social welfare.

Course 4 of 6

Essentials of Interpersonal Practice

Overview

This course integrates content on multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice issues. You will examine social work values and ethics as well as issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, religion, and ability as these relate to social work practice. You will build off of behavioral and social science theories to inform the practice concepts and skills presented.

During this module, you will learn about the transactional relationships between people and their social environments. You will learn social work practice methods to restore, maintain, and promote social functioning as it relates to individuals, families, and small groups.

Course 5 of 6

Essentials of Community and Organizational Practice

Overview

In this social science course, you will explore various methods, strategies, and skills within macro social work practice used to help identify and address needs on a larger scale. You will gain knowledge and skills in the areas of community organizing, management, and policy advocacy, and learn about the various roles social workers play within these areas.

This course will provide an appreciation of the historical and contemporary importance of these social work methods and the relevance of these methods for diverse populations and identities.

Course 6 of 6

Research Basics for Social Work Practice

Overview

In this course, you will begin to understand social work research through the critical examination of the methods and organization of the ever-expanding professional literature associated with social work practice.

This body of research is an essential source of knowledge to help you understand and solve complex social problems. However, utilizing this research effectively requires proper contextualization. In this course, you’ll learn to become an effective consumer of this professional literature by using the tools necessary to find and comprehend what the research does and, importantly, does not tell us.

Accelerate your path toward a master's degree from the University of Michigan

Enrolling in a MasterTrack® Certificate program means you can start learning job-relevant skills right away and give yourself a pathway to a full degree program.

University of Michigan

MasterTrack® Certificate

Social Work: Practice, Policy and Research

Social Work: Practice, Policy and Research MasterTrack® Certificate accelerates your path towards:

If you apply and gain admission to the Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan, credits earned from your MasterTrack® program will carry over as you pursue your full degree. This MasterTrack® Certificate reduces the credit hour requirement for the Master of Social Work from 60 to 45 - the equivalent to completing a quarter of the program. Upon successful completion of your MasterTrack® program, you will receive an official University of Michigan certificate, regardless of whether you elect to enroll in the full master’s program.

Instructors

Frequently asked questions

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Coursera does not grant academic credit; the decision to grant, accept, or recognize academic credit, and the process for awarding such credit, is at the sole discretion of the academic institutions offering the MasterTrack® Certificate program and/or other institutions that have determined that completion of the program may be worthy of academic credit. Completion of a MasterTrack® Certificate program does not guarantee admission into the full Master’s program referenced herein, or any other degree program.