Organizational Development Continues: Adding an MSW Program to an Existing BSW Program

Abstract

The trend of BSW programs to grow and develop MSW programs poses challenges for faculty, administrators, students, staff, and other constituencies. In 1996, the authors collected extensive data from seventeen programs that added MSW programs to existing BSW programs within the previous five years. The present study re-examines those combined social work programs (now 6–10 years old) from an organizational development perspective. Seventy-four respondents representing the same seventeen social work programs participated in the follow-up study. Questionnaires with qualitative and quantitative components were distributed to a range of stakeholders. Developed from an organizational perspective, this article explores issues of resource allocation, faculty and staff workload, and the importance of collaboration between BSW and MSW programs. It illuminates the normalcy of transition and change, and offers advice for programs considering the addition of an MSW program.