{"id":18912,"date":"2026-10-15T13:22:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T18:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/?post_type=program&#038;p=18912"},"modified":"2026-10-15T13:52:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T18:52:31","slug":"reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application","status":"publish","type":"program","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/","title":{"rendered":"Reference Instructions for the DSW Application"},"content":{"rendered":"\n    <div class=\"uwm-l-container--base uwm-u-py-80\">\n        \n\n<div class=\"uwm-l-row\">\n<div id=\"primary\" class=\"uwm-l-col content-area\">\n<div id=\"main\" class=\"site-main\">\n\t<header class=\"page-header\">\n\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title heading-separator\">\n\t\t\tReference Instructions for the DSW Application\t\t<\/h1>\n\t<\/header>\n\t\n\t\n\n<h2 id=\"h-dsw-letters-of-recommendation\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">DSW Letters of Recommendation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Applicants must submit two letters of recommendation from individuals who can speak to the applicant\u2019s professional, academic, and\/or leadership abilities. At least one letter should be from a current or former supervisor or another individual who has directly observed the applicant\u2019s professional social work practice. A former graduate instructor is encouraged when appropriate but is not required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-what-is-the-reference-process\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the reference process?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The school collects references electronically via an emailed prompt to the reference person.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The applicant will need the name, contact information, and email address for their reference person. The applicant will enter this information into the DSW application.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We recommend that the applicant enter their reference person&#8217;s information into the DSW application as early as possible in the application process.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This will give those submitting a reference sufficient time to receive the email from us and complete their reference by the deadline.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"uwm-p-notice uwm-p-notice--info\"><i class=\"fa-solid fa-circle-info fa-fw\"><\/i><div class=\"uwm-p-notice--content\"><div class=\"uwm-p-notice--message\">In order for your application to be considered complete, we must receive responses from two references.  <br><br>It is your responsibility to ensure that your reference writers complete their references.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"secondary\" class=\"uwm-l-col uwm-l-col--4 uwm-l-offset--1 content-area\">\n            <nav aria-label=\"Section\" class=\"uwm-p-navigation-list uwm-p-navigation-list--gold-border uwm-u-mb-40\">\n                <div class=\"uwm-p-navigation-list--title\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/\">Social Work<\/a>                <\/div>\n                <ul>\n                                            \n                        <li class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/narrative-statement-and-writing-sample-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/\" >Narrative Statement and Writing Sample Instructions for the DSW Application<\/a>                        <\/li>\n                                                \n                        <li class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/\" >Reference Instructions for the DSW Application<\/a>                        <\/li>\n                                                \n                        <li class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/dsw-information-sessions\/\" >DSW Information Sessions<\/a>                        <\/li>\n                                                \n                        <li class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/dsw-frequently-asked-questions\/\" >DSW Frequently Asked Questions<\/a>                        <\/li>\n                                        <\/ul>\n            <\/nav>\n        \n\n\n    <div class=\"uwm-p-card uwm-p-card--color-head uwm-u-my-40\">\n        <div class=\"uwm-p-card--title\">Contact<\/div>\n        <div class=\"uwm-p-card--body\">\n            <div class=\"uwm-p-card--content\">\n                Sara Casali, DSW, MSW, CSW<br>DSW Program Director and Associate Teaching Professor<br><a href=\"mailto:koeferls@uwm.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">koeferls@uwm.edu<\/a>            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n    <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"author":22499,"parent":18432,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[0],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_uwm_academics_program_template":"subpage","_uwm_academics_program_navigation":[],"uwm_academics_program_card_image_id":0,"uwm_academics_program_banner_image_id":0,"uwm_academics_program_sort_title":"","uwm_academics_program_external_url":"","uwm_academics_program_jump_details_btn":true,"_uwm_academics_program_exclude_from_programs_archive_page":false,"_uwm_academics_program_exclude_from_programs_block":false,"_uwm_academics_program_exclude_from_department_page":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"program_group":[],"program_tag":[],"program_type":[],"program_format":[],"program_department":[],"class_list":["post-18912","program","type-program","status-publish","hentry"],"uwm_unpublish_requested":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.8 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Helen Bader School of Social Welfare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We require two reference letters for the MSW application. It is strongly recommended that one reference come from a college-level instructor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reference Instructions for the DSW Application\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We require two reference letters for the MSW application. It is strongly recommended that one reference come from a college-level instructor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Helen Bader School of Social Welfare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-15T18:52:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/academics\\\/social-work-dsw\\\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/academics\\\/social-work-dsw\\\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reference Instructions for the DSW Application - Helen Bader School of Social Welfare\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-15T18:22:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-15T18:52:31+00:00\",\"description\":\"We require two reference letters for the MSW application. It is strongly recommended that one reference come from a college-level instructor.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/academics\\\/social-work-dsw\\\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/academics\\\/social-work-dsw\\\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/academics\\\/social-work-dsw\\\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Academic Programs\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/academics\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Social Work\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/academics\\\/social-work-dsw\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Reference Instructions for the DSW Application\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/\",\"name\":\"Helen Bader School of Social Welfare\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/0template-webid2-academic\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/542\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/0template-webid2-academic\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/542\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg\",\"width\":225,\"height\":224,\"caption\":\"University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Helen Bader School of Social Welfare","description":"We require two reference letters for the MSW application. It is strongly recommended that one reference come from a college-level instructor.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reference Instructions for the DSW Application","og_description":"We require two reference letters for the MSW application. It is strongly recommended that one reference come from a college-level instructor.","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/","og_site_name":"Helen Bader School of Social Welfare","article_modified_time":"2026-10-15T18:52:31+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/","name":"Reference Instructions for the DSW Application - Helen Bader School of Social Welfare","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-10-15T18:22:03+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-15T18:52:31+00:00","description":"We require two reference letters for the MSW application. It is strongly recommended that one reference come from a college-level instructor.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/reference-instructions-for-the-dsw-application\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Academic Programs","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Social Work","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/academics\/social-work-dsw\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Reference Instructions for the DSW Application"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/","name":"Helen Bader School of Social Welfare","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/#organization","name":"University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/0template-webid2-academic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/542\/2020\/11\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/0template-webid2-academic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/542\/2020\/11\/uwm-seo-logo.jpg","width":225,"height":224,"caption":"University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program\/18912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/program"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22499"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program\/18912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18929,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program\/18912\/revisions\/18929"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program\/18432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program_group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_group?post=18912"},{"taxonomy":"program_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_tag?post=18912"},{"taxonomy":"program_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_type?post=18912"},{"taxonomy":"program_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_format?post=18912"},{"taxonomy":"program_department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_department?post=18912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}