The Social Work unit would like to present the LiVi program which offers a synchronous, online option for both BSW and MSW students.
This program benefits those who live outside the immediate St. Louis area but would like to pursue a BSW and/or MSW degree in a live and interactive format, providing weekly engagement with faculty and other students in the classroom. This combines the advantages of both online and in-person formats. We believe the ability to engage with others in the learning process is key to being successful when working as clinicians and practitioners. Our commitment to ensuring students have access to this type of learning experience helps to fulfill our mission of providing a collaborative learning environment where students are prepared as self-aware, culturally informed and critically thinking leaders who are committed to social and economic justice and professional values and ethics.
What makes our program special?
Students who need the flexibility of an online course but achieve better in structured environments will participate in classroom activities with other students and can engage with the instructor and ask questions in real-time.
For more information based on degree level:
We offer our LiVi online BSW program for students who are located outside of the St. Louis metropolitan area and cannot relocate or travel to attend classes in person. This option is also available to local students who would have difficulty coming to campus regularly due to reasons such as full-time employment, disability, childcare, etc. The online (LiVi) program option will deliver Social Work courses to students who will not physically come to campus but will engage with faculty and other students via Zoom for lectures, discussion, and activities. Other courses required for the BSW degree (general education, pre-requisites, electives) are also available online, primarily asynchronously. Students may begin at UMSL as first-year students or as transfer students. Below is a sample 4-year plan. Transfer students would work with their academic advisor to modify this plan to fit their transfer courses. The degree plan can also be adjusted for students who wish to complete their degree on a part-time basis.
Please see the below table for an example of our BSW Four Year Plan through the LiVi program.
| Fall (15 credit hours) | Hours | Spring (15 credit hours) | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL 1100 | 3 | BIOL 1012 | 3 |
| MATH 1020 | 3 | ECON 1000 | 3 |
| PSYCH 1003 | 3 | GEN ED CORE: Communication Proficiency | 3 |
| SOC 1010 | 3 | EXPLORE - Humanities and Fine Arts | 3 |
| GEN ED EXPLORE: Humanities & Fine Arts | 3 | GLOBAL Perspectives Course | 3 |
| Fall (15 credit hours) | Hours | Spring (15 credit hours) | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC 2160 or PSYCH 2250 |
3 | SOC WK 2000 | 3 |
| POL SCI 1100 | 3 | SOC WK 2001 | 1 |
| EXPLORE - Humanities and Fine Arts | 3 | SOC WK 2200 | 3 |
| EXPLORE - Math and Sciences | 3 | PSYCH 2201 or CRIMIN 2220 |
|
| 2000-level Social Science Elective | 3 | EXPLORE - Math & Sciences | 3 |
| Elective | 1 |
| Fall (15 credit hours) | Hours | Spring (15 credit hours) | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL 3100 | 3 | SOC WK 3700 | 3 |
| SOC WK 3100 | 3 | SOC WK 4110 | 3 |
| SOC WK 3510 | 3 | 2000-level Social Science Elective | 3 |
| 2000-level Social Science Elective | 3 | Elective or minor | 3 |
| Elective or minor | 3 | Elective or minor | 3 |
| Fall (15 credit hours) | Hours | Spring (15 credit hours) | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC WK 3210 | 3 | SOC WK 3410 | 3 |
| SOC WK 4350 | 3 | SOC WK 4300 | 3 |
| SOC WK 4800 | 4 | SOC WK 4850 | 4 |
| SOC WK 4801 | 2 | SOC WK 4851 | 2 |
| Elective or minor | 3 | Elective or minor | 3 |
UMSL’s MSW LiVi program option targets working professionals needing evening and weekend courses, who cannot travel to campus due to distance or have difficulty committing to in-person classes due to complicated schedules. The LiVi program option is a part-time MSW program focused on the family practice concentration.
Students in the LiVi program engage with students who are meeting during in-person sections of the same classes, allowing for real time (but virtual) lecture, discussion, activities. Students in the LiVi program are welcome to attend the in-person section of classes as needed or desired. Due to the structured nature of this synchronous learning model, only family practice concentration courses are offered as part of the LiVi program. Students have the option of taking electives in any format (virtual, in-person, asynchronous online, etc.).
Two-three LiVi classes from both the foundation and concentration levels of the curriculum are offered each semester, ensuring students choosing this option can matriculate through the program in four to five years (for non-advanced standing students) and two to three years for those with advanced standing.
While the rotation of classes varies from semester to semester, the sample curriculum plan below provides a general idea of how the LiVi program might work. For those with advanced standing the up to 24 credits of foundation/5000-level courses would be omitted.
Please see the below table for an example of our MSW Four Year Plan through the LiVi program.
| Fall (6 credit hours) | Hours | Spring (6 credit hours) | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC WK 5100 | 3 | SOC WK 5200 | 3 |
| SOC WK 5350 | 3 | SOC WK 5150 | 3 |
| Fall (6 credit hours) | Hours | Spring (6 credit hours) | Hours | Summer (6 credit hours | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOC WK 5300 | 3 | SOC WK 5450 | 3 | SOC WK 5800 | 4 |
| SOC WK 5500 | 3 | SOC WK 5700 | 3 | SOC WK 5801 | 2 |
| Fall (6 credit hours) | Hours | Spring (6 credit hours) | Hours | Summer (6 credit hours | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOC WK 6160 | 3 | SOC WK 6150 | 3 | SOC WK 6800 | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | SOC WK 6200 or SOC WK 6250 |
3 | Elective | 3 |
| Fall (6 credit hours) | Hours | Spring (6 credit hours) | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC WK 6850 | 3 | SOC WK 6400 | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
Unsure about the program?
We have reached out to past students who have completed or been a part of our LiVi program to get their opinion and experiences with it. Here are the testimonials we have procured:
If it weren’t for the Live/Virtual option, I don’t think I would be where I am today. As a mom of three, a wife, and someone who lives over an hour from campus, completing my bachelor’s degree would have been incredibly difficult. I’m forever grateful to have had the opportunity to attend classes in person—virtually. I’ve never been a big fan of traditional online courses because they often feel impersonal, but the Live/Virtual format made me feel like I was genuinely part of the UMSL community. I even formed friendships with other virtual classmates — something I didn’t expect from a remote learning experience — and we still stay in touch today. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to be part of this program, and I’m excited to see it grow and support more students like me in the future.Fall 2024 BSW Graduate
I just wanted to say how much I really enjoyed the virtual setup of the BSW program. The way the classes were set up made it easy to stay involved and connected, even though we weren’t in person. I really appreciated the flexibility too. It gave me the space to balance school with everything else I had going on. And the support from you and the other professors meant a lot. Anytime I had a question or needed help, someone was there, and that made a big difference.Summer 2025 BSW Graduate
Need more info? We're here to help.
Kellyn Holliday
LiVi Coordinator
hollidayk@umsl.edu
Lori Curtis
BSW LiVi Point of Contact
lcurtis@umsl.edu
Diane O'Brien
MSW LiVi Point of Contact
obriendia@umsl.edu
