Human Services - Goodwin College

Human Services from Goodwin College is a Campus Associate Human Science degree that prepares you for a Human Services career. The field of human services offers a wide variety of career opportunities for people who have a strong desire to help others. Professionals provide a broad range of services that assist people to meet basic human needs, enhance their quality of life and address issues pertaining to human growth and development. Human Service professionals promote positive change in individuals, families and communities and, by providing services and enhancing opportunities, assist them in overcoming challenges and barriers that they face in their daily lives. All students in the Human Services program take courses that build core competencies utilized in the vast majority of human service occupations, among them: performing intakes and assessments; conducting interviews and counseling; providing case management; practicing with professionally recognized ethics, values and cultural competence; understanding the psychology of individuals and groups; and, performing effective advocacy. As students progress through their program they are exposed to a wide array of populations typically served by human service professionals. Through coursework, interactions with professors who are also practitioners, guest lecturers and field trips to local human service organizations, students will begin to focus their degree on the specific population(s) they choose to work with when they begin their career. This could include children, youth, older adults, families; people with mental illness, developmental, intellectual or physical disabilities; substance abusers and families of those individuals; people with learning disabilities; individuals in the criminal justice system; persons with hearing or visual disorders; disabled veterans; at risk populations such as those who are homeless, abused and neglected children, and people in abusive relationships. Students may also choose to focus their degree on assisting people to meet basic human needs such as securing food, housing and employment; or, by performing advocacy work on behalf of the people they serve. New careers in human services are emerging every day and successful graduates of the program will be prepared to meet the challenges and experience the rewards that they offer. The culminating course for human service students is a 180-hour internship where they will apply their learning at a local human service organization. This is a comprehensive yet focused experience that is based on specific learning objectives developed in collaboration with the student, faculty and the cooperating human service organization. With our extensive connections to the regional human service community, we seek to match students with organizations that offer the services that they would ultimately like to provide during their careers. During the final semester before graduation students will sit for a "presentation of competence" before faculty members and representatives of the Human Services Program Advisory Board. At the presentation, students will submit documentation and be asked questions designed to assess their mastery of the Human Services program outcomes. Students completing an Associate in Science in Human Services may choose to continue their studies in a range of baccalaureate programs including Human Services, Social Work, Psychology, Rehabilitation, Counseling, Youth Development, Gerontology, Criminal Justice, Recreation Therapy and Education among many others. Program Outcomes Upon successful completion of all program requirements, graduates will be able to: 1. Successfully apply the knowledge, skills and competencies of entry-level human services professionals; 2. Perform professional responsibilities in accordance with the values, ethical and legal standards of the human services profession; 3. Discuss the history and scope of human services; 4. Understand various human systems, including individual, interpersonal, group, family, organizational, community and societal and apply appropriate skills when working with those systems; 5. Plan services, facilitate interventions and evaluate the outcome of services for those served; and 6. Demonstrate effective interpersonal communication and critical thinking skills. View more details on Goodwin College . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Human Science courses.