Hello! I missed writing my blog last week. I was working on a take-home mid-term as well as a lengthy assignment for another class, and the time flew by. Thank you, Diana, for your comment to my last blog; I will do my best to answer your questions.

The first question was about whether a lack of social work experience might pose a problem for acceptance into the program. For an exact (official) answer, I suggest emailing Dr. Harrington, the program director. From my anecdotal perspective (and from looking at the other students in the program), the students here have quite a range of experiences. Some, like me, have all of their degrees in social work, while others have degrees in related fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, etc. Some students are fairly new social workers, having just finished their master's program, and others have been out of school for 20 years and are returning now to get their doctorate. While having social work experience was beneficial when I was in my master's program, it doesn't seem to make that much of a difference at the doctoral level. The reason I say that is because this is not a clinical program and we don't really discuss our personal work experiences in class. This program is solidly geared towards research and teaching, and it's fairly rare that anyone shares an experiential story. So, that's not a very concrete answer to the question, but overall your acceptance into the program is based on a number of things, and I don't think lacking a lot of social work experience should keep you from being accepted into the program.

The next question was about GRA positions, and if there are positions geared towards teaching undergrads or being an advisor to incoming students. Again, I'm referring to Dr. Harrington for exact answers on this, but I'll give you my perspective. The GRA positions for first and second year students are all research-based, hence the title graduate research assistant. However, when you're in your third and fourth year you can have a TA, which is a teaching assistantship. You need to complete one or two teaching courses first, then you are able to teach a course (either bachelor's level at a different campus such as UMBC or a master's level at UMB) under the supervision of the regular course professor. After you complete a one-year TA, you can also teach as an adjunct professor at any of the University of Maryland campuses.

Regarding being an advisor to incoming students, I'm not exactly sure how to answer that because I don't know if the question is referring to incoming doctoral students, master's students, etc., and I'm not sure what kind of advising is being referred to. (Please write back, Diana, if I don't properly answer your question). After you complete your first year in the doctoral program, you will be asked if you'd like to be a peer mentor for an incoming doctoral student. As a current peer mentor, this is a great experience. (But one that you don't get credits or paid for). As a third year student, if I'm not mistaken, you can also be a field liaison for master's students. They like the field liaisons to make a two-year committment if possible, and they meet with the students and their field supervisors at their field placement. That is the only kind of advising that I'm aware of. Some professors here are studying social work supervision and have published extensively on the topic, so I can give more information on that another time if that is of interest.

Thanks a lot, and please feel free to leave me a comment! Have a great week! Ann :)