Transfer Students

Before you apply, you must:

• have earned at least 32 hours of college credit;
• meet a minimum cumulative GPA requirement of 2.50 (Developmental courses will not be included in calculating GPA. For students who have earned more than 45 semseter hours, GPA is calculted on the last 45 hours earned. If required support courses and major courses are not included in the last 45 hours, the grades of those courses will be included in calculating the GPA);
• complete SWK 210, SOC 131, PSY 200, ENG 101, and ENG 102 earning a minimum grade of "C";

You must supply the following to the program director:

• Verification that Social Work courses beyond the introductory course (SWK 210) were taken at a college or university which has a program that has been accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (accreditation must have been active at the time courses were taken).
  If you have taken Introduction to Social Work at a different university you must have completed 25 hours of volunteer service as required in the EKU SWK210 course.
• If you plan to transfer credit to replace advanced practice courses (SWK 350**, SWK 355, and SWK 360) or field practicum (SWK 390) you must apply to the Social Work Program Director to establish equivalency. These appeals must be made prior to application for admission. No student will be able to transfer credit for SWK 490. (**Students will usually not be able to register for SWK 350 or any higher numbered Social Work course before successfully completing the admission process. The Program Exception Procedure will be followed if needed.)
• Documentation (letters from supervisors, logs, journals, etc.) of having completed 25 hours of volunteer experience in a human service agency or program; or documentation (letters from supervisors) of para-professional work experience in a human service agency or program. Without this documentation you will be required to take SWK 210: Introduction to Social Work.

Application to Program

1. You must attend an orientation meeting (look for date posted in Keith Building and on the webpage calendar) and obtain application forms for admission to the Social Work Program. (Applications are given out at the end of the mandatory orientation meeting.)
2. You must submit:
   • To the EKU Registrar: Copies of all transcripts. Transcripts must be received by the Registrar by the application deadline date. These transcripts will be considered a part of the application process.
   • To Social Work Progam Director:
     • Completed application form;
     • photocopy of transfer course transcripts with program application. (As credit toward the Social Work major, the Social Work Program can only accept social work transfer courses from colleges or universities which have programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education at the time the courses were taken. Other social work courses may be accepted by the University as elective courses.);
     • photocopy of catalog description of social work or program support courses taken at another college or university;
     • verification of volunteer experience or paraprofessional work experience.

Transferring Credits

With respect to social work courses transferred from other institutions, the social work program has established policies that are designed to assure that the EKU program graduate has fully met the standards of the faculty. The following policies have been adopted by the faculty in relationship to social work course transfer credit:

• Social work courses that count toward degree requirements can only be accepted from CSWE accredited institutions. Courses transferred from CSWE accredited programs will have to be evaluated individually by the Director of the Social Work Program in collaboration with social work faculty and approved by the Department Chair. The student should not have to unnecessarily repeat course content already achieved at a CSWE accredited program. However, courses with the same or similar titles do not always match from one university to another. Students initiating transfer credit requests should anticipate providing full documentation of the transfer course(s) equivalency, including such material as the course catalog description, syllabus, assignments, tests if available, and the citation of the text used in the course.
• Transferred social work courses that are NOT accepted as part of the major required courses may be accepted by the University as elective hours as credit toward the baccalaureate degree.
• The EKU Social Work Program has negotiated with some of the Kentucky Community and Technical Colleges to make transfer easier for students while assuring equivalency of course content. Students transferring in from these colleges may be able to receive credit for SWK 210 and SWK 310. These faculty-negotiated arrangements are a specific exception to the general rule of acceptance of transfer work.
• The EKU SWK 210 "Introduction to Social Work" course may be accepted from another accredited institution, but experience of the EKU program suggests that students should be aware that even if transferred and accepted for EKU social work program credit, the course may lack the 25-hour volunteer experience required in the EKU course. In such case the student will be expected to complete and document an acceptable volunteer experience.

Policy on awarding academic credit for life experience and previous work experience:

The Program will not award academic credit for life experience or previous work experience in lieu of any of the professional foundation courses in social work. The Program recognizes the value of previous work experience and encourages all social work students to participate in worthwhile volunteer work. The Program also supports the student's efforts to find para-professional work during times when the student is not enrolled in the University as a full time student. All life experiences can be made beneficial and the Program believes social work education and social work practice can be enhanced when students assess their life experiences to find an effective use of self. One of the objectives of the Social Work Program is to assist students in being able to demonstrate a professional use of self. A part of that effort is to help the student examine the effects of their own experiences and find the benefits and cautions that may come from these affects. However, the Program believes it is impossible to determine course or curriculum content equivalency based on either previous work experience or life experience.

The only exception to this policy is that a student with substantial social work related work experience will not have to complete the 25-hour volunteer experience in SWK 210, Introduction to Social Work. Such a student may petition the course instructor to complete an alternative assignment instead of the volunteer exercise.