Graduate Diploma in Critical Leadership in Social Services and Communities

This Graduate Diploma is designed for people who have an MSW or an MA and who are currently providing formal or informal leadership in social services or communities. It offers critical analyses and conceptual frameworks about changing conditions in social services and communities (with particular attention to evidence-based practice, audit and accountability); a range of models for progressive and transformative leadership, and opportunities to reflect on leadership practice with respected local leaders; opportunities to share knowledge with people who are engaged in the daily work of leading and sustaining progressive public services.

Candidates are enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis. Full-time students will complete the program in twelve consecutive months of study, beginning in September. Part-time students will normally be expected to complete the diploma in two years.

Admission

To be eligible for admission to the Critical Leadership in Social Services and Communities diploma program, applicants must have:

A completed M.S.W. or M.A. degree with an average of at least an A- on whole degree. In exceptional circumstances, applicants with a B.S.W. or B.A. and an A- average on senior level undergraduate courses may apply if they have extensive leadership experience;
Community or social service leadership experience.

Curriculum

Students take one of three courses that consider specific contexts of social work practice: institutional contexts (SOC WORK 740 ), community contexts (SOC WORK 721 ) or community-based research (SOCSCI 708 ). They take two courses focused explicitly on aspects of leadership: a theory and praxis course, and a course focused on leadership specifically in the contexts of contemporary social services and communities. Their final course considers critical approaches to evidence and evaluation, a key feature of contemporary leadership.

Students will be required to complete four (4) half courses; three required and one elective which include:

Three Required Courses:

One Elective Course:

One of:

SOC WORK 740 / Changing Social Service Organizations: Implications for Workers and Service Users
SOC WORK 721 / Changing Communities: Tensions and Possibility for Citizenship and Social Justice
SOCSCI 708 / Critical Approaches to Community Based Research
OR

a graduate level course linked with the student’s program of study offered by Social Work OR by another department or academic unit (provided that permission has been obtained from those departments or academic units, and School of Social Work’s Graduate Chair).

Additional Comments

Students entering the Critical Leadership in Social Services and Communities diploma program who have already successfully completed SOC WORK 721 in their previous master’s degree, must take either SOC WORK 740 , SOCSCI 708 or an elective (in the School of Social Work or in another department) approved by the School of Social Work’s Graduate Chair.
Students entering the Critical Leadership in Social Services and Communities graduate diploma program who have already successfully completed Soc Work 743 may receive advanced credit if approved by the School of Social Work’s Graduate Chair.