An information session mapping out West Virginia Universitys master of social work degree offering in Martinsburg next fall will be held Thursday (March 17) in the Eastern Panhandle city.

Martinsburg City Hospital is the site of the session, which will be from 5-7 p.m. in the 2 nd floor conference room of The Dorothy McCormack Center. The hospital is located at 2000 Foundation Way.

The graduate program launches in the Fall 2005 semester and will give people in the tri-state region the chance to pursue the degree without residency on WVU s main campus in Morgantown.

Students in the part-time, three-year program will take two classes per semester and complete 900 hours of field placement work. Those enrolling next fall will graduate in 2008.

The program is fully accredited nationally by the Council on Social Work Education.

We would very much like our MSW program to be an ongoing presence in the Martinsburg area,said Dr. Virginia Majewski, who chairs WVU s Division of Social Work in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. WVU offers other MSW programs in Wheeling, Charleston and Beckley.

For more information on the Martinsburg program, contact Dr. Patricia Chase at patricia.chase@mail.wvu.edu or by calling her at 304-293-3501, ext. 3114.