Fort Lewis College and the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work are currently recruiting for a combined undergraduate and graduate degree program. The program allows FLC students to complete their bachelor’s degree as well as a Master of Social Work degree in five years.
Students are regular undergraduate students at FLC for the first three years of the program, Wanda Ellingson, Program Director of Four Corners MSW Program said. Liberal Arts Core requirements and major specific requirements must be completed, as well as at least 90 credits.
The fourth year of the program students would be in their senior year at FLC, but they are enrolled with DU Graduate School of Social Work and pay DU tuition. At the end of the fourth year, 30 credit hours are transferred back for the student to earn their bachelor's degree from FLC, Ellingson said.
In the student’s fifth year, the student is a DU graduate student. Upon completion of the fifth year, students are awarded with a Master of Social Work degree, she said.
Eligible undergraduate majors are Psychology, Anthropology, Public Health, Gender and Women’s Studies and Sociology.
Courses are taught by local professors in Durango, satellite professors in Denver and online courses ran by professors in Denver, Ellingson said. Denver professors will come to Durango a few times per semester, and the remaining lessons are taught via video conferencing. The online courses are optional, she said.
The graduate program is run by DU Four Corners out of the Commons Building on Camino Del Rio. They were established in 2002, and Master of Social Work is their only degree, Ellingson said.
“We wanted to really bring a professional program where we could train social workers to work in these agencies,” Ellingson said.
The program focuses on the needs rural and tribal communities that are found in Southwest Colorado and the surrounding areas. Rural communities face isolation, poverty and people live far from resources such as medical care and other services, she said.
Master of Social Work candidates are trained to work with individuals, with families and groups, and at the legislative level, she said.
“The MSW degree provides the broadest scope of practice in any of the professional degrees,” she said.
This partnership between the two institutions has been in place since 2010, and has seen 11 FLC students participate, Ellingson said.
Outside majors may be unaware of this program but word is spreading to undergraduate students as well as prospective freshmen, Megan Wrona, Assistant Professor of Psychology at FLC said.
“I think the advisors are doing a lot more talking about the program,” she said.
Only 25 students are accepted into the graduate program each cycle, including FLC students participating in the combined program as well as non-FLC students, Ellingson said.
The next cycle of the two year graduate program begins in the Fall of 2018. Current juniors at FLC can apply to the program, and begin graduate school next fall, she said. Applications for the 2018-2020 program are being accepted starting in October 2017 and ending May 1, 2018.
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