Master's degree program in
Planning, Administration and Management of Social Policies and Services

a.y. 2024/25

Programme Description

The Master's Degree program in Planning, Administration and Management of Social Policies and Services runs over a two-year period and involves the acquisition of 120 credits, through eleven exams, training activities chosen by the student, two curricular internships, and the final degree examination.

The course curriculum, which involves a significant integration of theory and practice, allows students to acquire skills in relation to the planning, organization and evaluation of socio-welfare interventions and social policies, to develop coordination and management skills, through the in-depth study of disciplines related to different fields: that of the sociological and social services, the legal, the ethical-economic and, finally, the psycho-pedagogical fields. The related internship activity is carried out within public administrations (local social service offices, health authorities, local government offices, etc), private and Third Sector organizations (operating in the fields of personal services, care, therapy, education, and/or social inclusion). It aims to foster the development of skills related to the cultural objectives of the Course, in view of the management of complex organizational issues and dynamics, in order to connect the planning of interventions and the range of services to be offered.

Admission to the course, which is limited to 100 students in the first year, is subject to the possession of certain requirements (for these, please refer to the relevant page on the University website) and to the verification of the applicant's personal preparation according to the procedures established annually by the University.

In order to provide advanced knowledge concerning the planning of social policies, the management and the directorship of complex services, the Course not only provides the curricular training activities aimed at the acquisition of specific skills, such as curricular internships, but also further supplementary workshops for the reflecting on and sharing of these internship experiences.

The Degree Program also pursues the objective of internationalizing the study perspectives of students, albeit in the context of a course characterized by being significantly locally rooted (due to the local demand for welfare services, to the nature of the institutions involved in their provision and which interact with the University, and due to the juridical-legal framework conditioning professional opportunities locally), through a specific study and research program, namely the International Forum for the Study of Social Policies in Southern Italy. The program, which reconciles the specificities of the Degree Program with the objectives of internationalization aims at comparing the good practices and territorial systems of services in Italy and Germany.

Graduates of the master's degree program are permitted to sit the state examination for the qualification to practice the profession of specialist social worker, the passing of which allows registration in the National Register of Social Workers (Section A) established by the Order of Social Workers.

Furthermore, the knowledge and skills acquired in the Course can be further developed after graduation by attending other post-graduate courses offered by the University which are in evident continuity with the undergraduate studies characterizing the Course namely the Level II Master in Organization, Management, E-government of Public Administrations, as well as the Doctorate in Humanities and Technologies: "On the areas of interaction and integration between the Humanities and advanced technologies".

Degree Programme