Human and Social Services, BS

B&SC Code: HSBS
CIP Code: 44.0000
Available online in all states except NY and OH

Program: HSBS

The Human and Social Services degree program is designed for students interested in non-clinical roles in human service organizations, including case management, community outreach, and administration.

The program focuses on the planning, direction and coordination of social service programs and helping communities maximize use of such services.

Students will gain the knowledge and experience to administer programs, including supervision of various human services roles, oversight of budgets, policies, and program requirements, including implementation and evaluation.

In addition, students will learn to facilitate delivery of services to communities through social action, to improve accessibility and coordination between agencies, and to provide outreach, including the linking of services with individuals in need.

Courses emphasize a broad-based awareness of social welfare systems, interpersonal and advocacy skills development, public and private agency leadership and administration, strategic planning, and program development, implementation and assessment, in addition to a foundation in direct service delivery.

Graduates of this degree plan will achieve the following program and institutional outcomes:

• Demonstrate knowledge of the structure and dynamics of individuals, groups, families, organizations, communities, and society as they fit within the historical development of human service delivery.
• Demonstrate an understanding of human conditions and factors which present societal challenges as well as those that promote successful human functioning.
• Identify and select interventions which promote growth and goal attainment.
• Assess needs, design a plan of action for an identified problem, implement the plan systematically and evaluate its effectiveness.
• Demonstrate professional competencies related to the successful planning and implementation of human services, inclusive of values, attitudes and ethics common to the field.
• Analyze the impact and interaction of public policy issues with human services, including legal considerations and funding mechanisms related to non-profit, private and public human services agencies.
• Analyze and design intervention strategies to improve social policies impacting client systems at individual, organizational, and community levels.
• Utilize appropriate technology and resources to locate and evaluate information needed to accomplish a goal, and then communicate findings in visual, written, and/or oral formats.
• Transfer knowledge, skills and behaviors acquired through formal and informal learning and life experiences to new situations.
• Employ strategies for reflection on learning and practice in order to adjust learning processes for continual improvement.
• Follow established methods of inquiry and mathematical reasoning to form conclusions and make decisions.
• Participate in social, academic, and professional communities for individual growth and to function as a citizen of a multicultural world.