Human Services

     This curriculum provides opportunities for students seeking transfer to bachelor's degree programs in social work, counseling or human services as well as for students seeking employment in human services upon graduation. Human services is a broadly defined, multidimensional helping profession that assists individuals, families and groups to meet challenges in their ability to cope during life transitions, crisis, and when under stress. Human service professionals are employed in a variety of fields including mental health, health, developmental disabilities, child welfare, corrections, services to youth, the elderly and to those who are homeless or poverty stricken. It is an eclectic field requiring a strong liberal arts background with an emphasis on the social and behavioral sciences as well as courses providing a foundation in the history, methods, theory and helping skills of the human service profession. Courses include a two semester practicum providing students a supervised fieldwork experience in a local human service agency. Students complete 140 field hours in HUS201 and 180 field hours in HUS211. Some sites require a criminal background check and/or additional health requirements which must be met at the student's expense.

     Students seeking to transfer to a bachelor's degree program are advised to consult the intended transfer institution to ensure a successful transfer. The program has agreements with Adelphi University, Molloy College, LIU Post and Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare which facilitate the acceptance of all credits to each of their bachelor's degree in social work.

     Curriculum-specific courses are offered primarily on the Ammerman campus. Other courses may be completed at any of the college's campuses. HUS101, Introduction to Social Welfare, is open to all students, fulfills a SUNY General Education Social Sciences Requirement, fulfills a social science or unrestricted elective in liberal arts curricula and is the first course in the Human Services program sequence. All program courses are offered both day and evening, except HUS205, which is offered day or online. Courses are offered both day and evening. HUS103 is offered only in the spring semester.

     Students must achieve a minimum passing grade of C in each Human Services (HUS) course in order to continue to the next course in the Human Services program and to qualify for graduation.

     Entering students should have a minimum 80 high school average. Students already enrolled in college should have completed 12 college level credits with a 2.8 GPA, including ENG101 and PSY101 with grades of C+ or better. All applicants must have satisfactorily completed all required developmental reading and writing courses. Maturity, strong interpersonal and communication skills as well as appropriate volunteer experience are preferred for all applicants. An interview is required. Students are admitted fall and spring. Most students who are admitted meet more than the minimum standards.