School of Social Work

Student Forms

Student handbooks

Common Student Handbook (Policies for both Undergrad/Grad)
Undergraduate Handbook
Graduate Handbook

Advising forms

Concentration and specialization or graduate certificate survey

Every MSW student is required to select a concentration prior to registering for concentration (advanced) courses. This survey alerts our office to give you access to those courses in registration. Specializations or Graduate Certificates are optional ways to tailor your education to a particular area of interest, but they are not required. Please complete this survey to make your selections, and then discuss how those choices impact your program plan with your advisor.

Complete the survey

Transfer credit forms

KCC Associates transfer credits
WMU and KCC have established an articulation agreement, which means we have mutually agreed on a list of classes that WMU has approved to transfer into our BSW program. This list includes general prerequisite courses and human services courses that qualify for transfer.
Request for departmental credit approval
Use this form to request departmental approval for courses you completed outside the WMU School of Social Work that you want to count towards your required coursework.
This form is not necessary for the approval of electives. Electives that meet level and grade requirements, per WMU transfer credit policies, can be approved by your advisor and indicated on your program plan. Additionally, students need to have the credits transferred onto their transcript through the registrar's office. Undergraduate students can learn more about the process here. Graduate students will need to fill out this form from the Registrar's Office in addition to the above departmental form.

Incomplete grade form

Incomplete grade form
This form is to be completed by the student and sent to the course instructor for review. Instructors do not automatically grant nor are they obligated to give an incomplete in a course. There must be extenuating circumstances that lead to the decision to request an incomplete and the opportunity to complete this course. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that all course work is completed in agreement with the instructor.
University policy: A student has one year from the time the incomplete is given to make up the work and have the grade of I replaced. After one year the incomplete grade will be converted to an E for undergraduate students and an X for graduate students. The instructor can designate a shorter time than one year if desired.

Independent or one person section course request forms

All independent study courses should be proposed to the curriculum committee chair. Please contact SWRK-admi@wmich.edu to identify this year's committee chair and their contact information.

Leave of Absence

If you need to take a break from the program for any reason, please fill out this Leave of Absence form and email a copy to your academic advisor and SWRK-admi@wmich.edu.

Graduate students will also need to include:

A Graduate College Leave of Absence form found on the Graduate College's Forms page under the "special circumstances" dropdown
A signed adjusted program plan with anticipated return semesters included

M.S.W. program plan forms

The below program plan forms are a tool for you to help track your progress towards graduation. New students should fill one out with their advisor and submit to the Office of Admissions and Student Services at swrk-admi@wmich.edu. Not sure who your advisor is? Email SWRK-admi@wmich.edu. Most required courses are offered only in the terms they are recommended to be taken, so please check with your advisor before planning on taking a course in an alternate term to make sure it is offered.

In order to be eligible for graduation, a program schedule must be completed, signed by your advisor, and sent to the registrar before the deadline (you also need to apply to graduate). You can take a hard copy of the form in person to their offices in Seibert Administration Building on main campus, mail a hard copy to Western Michigan University, Attn: Registrar's Office, 1903 W. Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo MI 49008-5256 USA. For more information about graduation, please visit the Registrar's Graduation website.

The below hyperlinks will download an editable pdf with drop down lists for each of the fillable fields. For a blank, print-friendly version without the drop downs, select the "printable version" option.

Clinical concentration

Policy, Planning, & Administration concentration

School of Social Work assessment measures

The School of Social Work uses two primary measures to assess, monitor, and improve the quality of our external curriculum and school, along with several tools to assess the quality of our school environment and the experiences of students in our programs. We provide this data routinely to our accreditation body, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Prior to the 2024-25 academic year, the School of Social Work utilized the SWEAP exam to assess student learning at the BSW and MSW foundational levels, while using the Advanced Competency Compendium (ACC) assignments and related portfolio to assess student learning at the concentration level. Currently, we are in the process of revising and improving our assessment process and will be replacing the SWEAP exam and ACC portfolio with more focused and effective assessment tools that are in line with the 2022 CSWE Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). Once these tools have been developed and implemented, the school will update the website with the necessary information regarding the assessment tools.