The Smith BSW Advanced Standing program (AS) is designed for students who have completed their BSW from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. The BSW AS program allows students to complete their MSW in 18 months (June through the following December) rather than the full 27-month program for non-BSW graduates. The AS program includes two on-campus academic summer sessions (10 weeks each) and one ongoing 15-month internship. This unique design complements the skills gained in a BSW program, while at the same time providing opportunities for a rich clinical internship experience.

Yes.  If Smith is your first choice, by all means, apply for Non-Binding Early Admission.  If, however, Smith is one of several schools you are considering, it is not to your advantage to apply during Non-Binding Early Admission.  Because of our calendar, Non-Binding Early Admission candidates will receive their admission decision well before they hear decisions from other Schools for Social Work.  Once you receive our acceptance, you will be asked to accept or decline our offer within 2 weeks; you will not have heard from most other schools during this time period.

Not at all.  There is no financial advantage or disadvantage to applying Non-Binding Early Admission; all financial aid applicants are reviewed based on their need.

Yes! The Thesis is an independent or agency-connected research project that is both an exercise in research learning and a contribution to social work knowledge. It is begun in the required research courses and completed in the final placement year. Students often choose to examine unstudied or understudied topics that are at the cutting edge of social work and social services knowledge. Recent projects on racial and ethnic diversity, a wide range of women's issues, spirituality, trauma, practice innovations, culture-specific disorders and social work/social sciences theories have made invisible issues public and added to our professional knowledge.

Each student has a Research Advisor who is assigned to guide and support work on the Thesis exclusively.

Abstracts of all Smith Master's Thesis projects are published in the November issue of teh Smith College Studies in Social Work, a juried professional journal. In turn they are listed in paper and CD-ROM based databases of social work knowledge and are made known to other researchers. Several are published. The Smith Studies is available in most social work libraries and at many agencies.

Yes, the Thesis is a lot of work, but it allows you to learn about a topic of your choosing of relevance to social work. Our alumni rank it very high among the special aspects of studies at Smith.

Click here for a full listing of theses for the past few years. The winners and nominees of the Eleanor Clark Thesis Prize, awarded annually in memoriam to pioneer medical social worker Eleanor Clark, are noted.

Theses sinces the 1930s are located in the Neilson Library at Smith College.

Some theses are published in full in juried social work journals as well.

Annually, the proposal and human subjects review deadline is the end of October, the literature review chapter deadline is the end of January, and the deadline for the bulk of the Thesis is about May 10.  The final deadline for the completed Thesis is 12:00 NOON on the Friday of the fourth week of our summer session.  Exact dates are published annually in the Thesis Guidelines distributed to all students doing the thesis.

The Thesis Breakfast celebration is held Tuesday of the fifth week; graduation follows in mid-August.

For post-residency students the deadline for submission for a December degree is roughly December 10th; for an August degree the deadline is roughly May 10. Specific dates are published annually in the Thesis Guidelines.

Each year's HSR User's Guide is available online via Moodle under Research Course 997. (All second and third year students are enrolled in this course.) Forms are also available on Moodle.

Laurie Wyman is the Administrative Assistant for the HSR Committee. You may contact Ms. Wyman at lwman@smith.edu.

The full Research Guidelines and many additional thesis resources are available online via Moodle under Research Course 997. (All second and third year students are enrolled in this course.)

Smith College SSW students who are working on the Master's Thesis (and, in some instances, on the Doctoral Dissertation) can get consultation on all these issues from Marjorie Postal, staff research consultant.

To share the knowledge gained in your thesis work, students must disseminate their thesis work. This is usually a time to see how much you have learned and to gain recognition for your work. Students may elect to present their work a) in an on-campus professional colloquium, b) in the on-campus poster session, c) to a class which has relevant content (with permission of the instructor), d) discuss the work with a second reader selected from faculty and other appropriate professionals, e) do presentation to agency staff or at a professional social work conference. When the dissemination occurs away from Smith, a confirmation of dissemination must be sent to the Thesis Coordinator. This is a letter on agency letterhead signed by the moderator (who must hold an M.S.W. or Ph.D. in social work or a closely related field), your supervisor or agency directory; a copy of the conference schedule where you presented will also be acceptable.

Students can appeal their award if they feel there has been a misrepresentation or a miscalculation in the award. To appeal a financial aid award decision, students may write a detailed letter to the Financial Aid Committee stating the basis of the appeal. This letter should provide any supporting documentation and must be received at the school by April 15. Letters should be sent to:

Smith College School for Social Work
\Attn. Gina Zaikowski, Director or Fiscal Affairs & Financial Aid
Lilly Hall
Northampton, MA 01063