Certificate of Distinction in Undergraduate Social Work Research

The Certificate of Distinction in Undergraduate Social Work Research is available to seniors participating in the advanced research section of SOCW 478 and SOCW 479 of the BSW program.

Requirements and Expectations

• Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3 and have received a B or higher in statistics (MATH 130) or equivalent course in order to participate in the advanced research section. Students who have received less than a B in statistics but meet the GPA requirement may petition to be in the advanced research section. Petitions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
• Students must have completed and received a C or higher in all other required BSW courses leading to their senior year.
• Students must complete an application that includes a brief essay noting why they wish to participate in the advanced research section.
• Students must receive a recommendation from one other BSW faculty member who can speak to the student’s writing ability and professional readiness to participate in the advanced research section.
• Students must develop an original research project tied to their field internship in accordance with the course requirements.
• Students must complete the appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) application and receive approval for their projects from APU’s IRB office.
• Students must submit an abstract for presentation at an appropriate campus-wide research event.
• Students must submit an abstract for the student research poster competition at the national undergraduate social work conference (The Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD) conference) held every March. Students who are selected, through a review process, to present their research at the BPD conference must attend the conference and participate in the research poster competition. Students apply for travel grants from APU’s Undergraduate Research Program to support travel and conference-related expenses.
• Students are invited to submit abstracts to participate in the annual, highly competitive Posters on the Hill interdisciplinary student conference in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research.
• Students coauthor with the instructor to submit an article based on their research to a peer-reviewed academic journal in social work for publication consideration by the end of the spring semester. Students are expected to remain in touch with the course instructor postgraduation to work on any revisions requested by the journal(s) in order to be accepted for publication.

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Meets the General Education Writing 3 requirement.