MSIL Curriculum, Standards, & Time Commitment Agreement

Students understand that full-time Master of Arts in Social Impact Leadership (MSIL) students at the University of Michigan School of Social Work (UM-SSW) must be available for class during daytime hours each week, as well as at other times/hours as indicated below.

Students understand that the majority of classes for full-time MSIL students are held on weekdays (a combination of day and evening). A limited number of classes may be available on the weekend. Some online part-time and on-campus full-time students may be required to complete evening or weekend courses to meet degree requirements.

Please contact the UM-SSW MSIL Program Director at [email protected] with questions or to discuss this.

The University of Michigan School of Social Work (U-M SSW) is preparing students for careers as social impact leaders. Becoming a professional social impact leader is a gradual process and involves a commitment to lifelong learning and self-reflection. The U-M SSW is fully committed to supporting and educating students as they prepare for careers as social impact leaders. Given the ethical responsibilities of social impact leadership to drive meaningful transformation across public, nonprofit, and private sectors, the U-M SSW has established standards for students that not only focus on academic performance but also emphasize the abilities and attributes essential to the social work education profession. This document describes the Standards each student must satisfy with or without reasonable accommodations to enroll in, fully participate in, progress through, and graduate from the U-M SSW Master of Arts in Social Impact Leadership program. These requirements apply in the classroom, in our school, the university, and in the broader community and societal context.

1. Communication

Students must be willing and able to:

• Communicate effectively, responsibly, and in a timely manner in interactions with other students, faculty, staff, clients, client systems, and other professionals they may encounter in their student role.
• Demonstrate the capacity to use effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills, including the ability to absorb information objectively and interpret unspoken cues through various modalities such as visual observation, auditory, and/or other adaptive measures.
• Communicate clearly through written products at a level appropriate for their stage of education.

2. Intellectual and Cognitive Skills

Students must have the ability to:

• Think critically and apply problem-solving skills.
• Acquire knowledge and process experiences to inform practice.
• Demonstrate a willingness to continually reflect on their own values, attitudes, beliefs, emotions, biases, current and past experiences, and consider how these factors affect their thinking, behavior, interactions, and relationships.
• Take responsibility for their own actions and consider the impact on others.
• Be punctual and dependable, prioritize responsibilities, manage time effectively, and attend class in accordance with relevant policies.
• Observe deadlines and conscientiously arrange and keep appointments.
• Navigate transportation to attend to classroom requirements.
• Integrate new and changing information obtained from the classroom and practice environment.
• Accept and integrate constructive feedback received in the classroom into practice.

3. Emotional and Behavioral Readiness

Students must be willing and able to:

• Seek appropriate help to ensure that personal issues do not interfere with professional and academic performance.
• Demonstrate the ability to tolerate demanding workloads, adapt to changing environments and situations.
• Maintain respectful relationships with peers, faculty, field instructors, staff, clients and client systems, organization personnel, and other professionals.
• MSIL students must demonstrate positive progress in classroom settings, including signature project courses.

In the interest of a fair and inclusive admissions process, the School of Social Work does not ask MSIL applicants to disclose previous conduct, including felony charges or convictions. We strongly support applications from all interested prospective students. The School endeavors to be transparent about challenges that social impact leadership students and alumni with criminal convictions have experienced in public, nonprofit, and private-sector leadership. Please review additional information regarding this issue on the Felony Disclosure & Criminal History Information webpage.

Once offered admission, and as a condition of enrollment, MSIL students are required to complete a Conduct Disclosure Form as a condition of enrollment if they have any felony convictions in the past 10 years or pending felony charges or if they have been expelled, suspended, or placed on probation by any secondary school or college attended within the past 10 years, for reasons of academic dishonesty or because of an offense that harmed or had the potential to harm others.

MSIL students will also be asked to disclose other criminal history as a condition of enrollment, as students with criminal histories may be precluded from participating in leadership opportunity project experiences, which are required to graduate.

Students understand the MSIL program time commitment is significant and varies by term, depending on the program the student is in. The time commitment during terms when students are enrolled in courses they will typically average 3 hours per week for each credit hour. Students are strongly encouraged to plan accordingly to accommodate this time commitment, taking into account other life responsibilities.