UIS Graduate and Undergraduate Catalog
Academic Year 2006 - 2007

HUMAN SERVICES
Master of Arts

Faculty Rachell N. Anderson, Harry J. Berman, Neil Headman, Ann Lampkin, Carolyn Peck, Carol Rankin
Associated Faculty Martin Martsch, Sandra Mills
Emeritus Faculty Jeffrey A. Chesky, Rosamond Robbert, Michael Townsend
Associated Emeritus Faculty  Don Yohe

Contact: (217) 206-6687
hms@uis.edu or www.uis.edu/humanservices

The master’s degree in human services (HMS) is designed to provide advanced professional education for students who have an undergraduate education in human services or who have completed specific prerequisite courses to prepare them for study in the field. It is a multidisciplinary degree that prepares students to become competent as human services professionals for multiple roles and settings.

The degree contains core courses that teach skills and concepts needed by all human services professionals and integrates content from several academic concentrations to allow students to develop specific expertise. The concentrations are 1) alcoholism and substance abuse, 2) child and family studies, 3) gerontology, and 4) social services administration. Within some concentrations, students are able to obtain certification; within others, students may prepare for licensure. Students are prepared to practice with competency and confidence within all concentrations. Study in this degree program requires that students examine aspects of their past lives and family experiences in an effort to understand their beliefs, values, and biases.  This self-awareness is necessary when working with vulnerable populations.

The degree program teaches students to appreciate contemporary and historic human characteristics, issues, and problems and to plan for the delivery of human services in the future. Courses teach students to design, assess, treat, plan for, advocate for, counsel with, manage, and collaborate with individuals, groups, or agencies needing and using human services. 

Accreditation
Illinois Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Professional Certification Association, Inc., has accredited the alcohol and substance abuse concentration in the M.A. in human services. 

Professional Development Sequence in Gerontology
The human services program offers a 12-hour professional development sequence in gerontology. The sequence is designed for individuals who already have one graduate degree and are working in some capacity with the elderly or who otherwise desire or need basic graduate-level course work in gerontology. Contact the human services program for more information. 

Certificate in Alcohol and Substance Abuse
The program offers a graduate certificate in alcohol and substance abuse to provide education to individuals who wish to become certified in the substance abuse counseling profession, but who do not wish to complete a formal degree program. On completion of the required 28 semester hours of courses, students may take the Certified Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Counselor (CADC) exam through the Illinois Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Professional Certification Association (IAODAPCA). Refer to the Graduate Certificates section of this catalog for more information. 

Certificate in Management of Nonprofit Organizations
In cooperation with the Department of Public Administration, the program has available a graduate certificate in the management of nonprofit organizations. Refer to the Graduate Certificates section of this catalog for more information. 

The graduate certificate in the management of nonprofit organizations requires 20 hours of coursework. All courses are offered at night and on weekends. An individual may take these courses as a part-time student and earn the certificate without being formally enrolled in any degree program or may complete the certificate as part of a degree program. 

Entrance requirements
Students must have a bachelor’s degree, preferably with a foundation in the liberal arts with a GPA of 3.00. Prerequisites are a life-span development course and a research methods course with content consistent with the ones listed in the Program Requirements section.

For admission, students must submit a completed application, transcripts, two completed recommendation forms from professional or academic sources, and a personal statement detailing their reasons for seeking admission into the program.

Admission to the program is based on academic competence, interest and experience in helping others, and evidence of personal characteristics associated with success when working with people from vulnerable populations.

The human services faculty has a professional and ethical obligation to conduct continual assessment with students so they are aware of limitations that may impede their future success. Moreover, the faculty has an obligation not to admit or to remove from candidacy any student who does not meet these requirements.

Application materials are available at the human services program office and from the UIS Office of Admissions.  The program admits students twice each year. Preference will be given to students who have application materials completed by September 15 for the spring semester and by February 15 for the fall semester. 

Online Courses
The department is in the process of introducing an online master of arts in human services degree with a concentration in social services administration. During academic year 2006-2007, students in the social services administration concentration may pursue a combination of on-campus and online courses. By spring 2008, admitted students will be able to pursue all of their coursework online for a degree with this concentration. 

Grading policy
Graduate students must earn a grade of B or better in each course. 

Master's closure
A master’s project or thesis is required of all graduate majors. This project or thesis may focus on a practice issue, an empirical study, or a human service policy review. Two courses contained within the core (HMS 579 and HMS 580) are designed to foster students through this requirement. Once they complete HMS 579 in continuous enrollment and begin their closure exercises, students must be enrolled in HMS 580 (zero credit hours, one billable hour) each fall and spring semester until the master’s project or thesis is completed. 

Internship
The four-hour internship is designed to provide an opportunity for students to integrate knowledge and skills gained in courses into direct practice. The internship consists of intensive work experiences with supervision (100 work hours for each academic hour) in a human services environment (500 hours are required for students in the alcoholism and substance abuse concentration).

Students with three years of supervised full-time experience in human services may, in consultation with the academic adviser, petition to substitute four hours of regular course work for the internship. 

Program requirements
The master's degree requires 44 hours of graduate-level courses. 

Prerequisites (two courses) or the equivalent
A course in either human behavior in the social environment or a course in life-span developmental psychology,
   and
A course in either research methods or a course in statistics.

Core requirements (24 Hrs.)
HMS 501 Critical Perspectives in Human Services  4 Hrs.
HMS 502 Interviewing and Assessment Skills in
    Human Services 4 Hrs.
HMS 511 Social Policy and Human Services 4 Hrs.
HMS 516 Ethics and Professional Development  4 Hrs.
HMS 550 Internship  4 Hrs.
HMS 579 Advanced Research: Master's Project/Thesis
     Proposal 4 Hrs.
HMS 580 Master's Project/Thesis (0 credit hrs./1 billable hour
     each semester until completion) 

CONCENTRATIONS
Note: * indicates required course. 

Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (20 Hrs.)
Illinois Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Professional Certification Association, Inc., has accredited the alcohol and substance abuse concentration in the M.A. in human services. Students who successfully complete this concentration may be eligible to take the certifying examination for IAODAPCA. Students seeking admission to this concentration must have a two-year history of sobriety.

* HMS 521 Advanced Interviewing and Intervention 4 Hrs.
* HMS 525 Alcoholism and Substance Abuse  3 Hrs.
* HMS 526 Lab for HMS 525  1 Hr.
* HMS 527 Assessment & Treatment of Substance Abuse  4 Hrs.
* HMS 528 Dual Diagnosis and Relapse Prevention  4 Hrs.
* HMS 531 Drug Abuse in America: A Critical Perspective 4 Hrs. 

Child and Family Studies  (20 Hrs.)
* HMS 521 Advanced Interviewing and Intervention  4 Hrs.
* HMS 525 Alcoholism and Substance Abuse  3 Hrs.
* HMS 526 Lab for HMS 525  1 Hr.
* HMS 533 Child Abuse and Neglect  4 Hrs.
* HMS 537 Treating Children from Diverse Populations 4 Hrs.
* HMS 567 Models and Methods in Marriage and Family
     Treatment  4 Hrs. 

With adviser's approval, students may substitute
HMS 534 Introduction to Family Therapy (4 Hrs.) for HMS 567. 

Gerontology (20 Hrs.)
* HMS 529 Perspectives on Aging  4 Hrs.
* HMS 508 Psychology of Aging  4 Hrs.
* HMS 563 Sociology of Death, Dying, and Bereavement  4 Hrs.
* HMS 582 Aging and the Human Services 4 Hrs. 

With adviser's approval, students must select one course from the following list and/or from appropriate liberal studies (LSC) and public affairs colloquia (PAC). 

HMS 538 Social Services Administration  4 Hrs.
HMS 588 Grant Writing in Human Services  4 Hrs. 

The human services program also offers a professional development sequence in gerontology consisting of the following courses:

* HMS 563 Sociology of Death, Dying, and Bereavement  4 Hrs.
* HMS 508 Psychology of Aging  4 Hrs.
   HMS 529 Perspectives on Aging 4 Hrs.
* HMS 582 Aging and the Human Services  4 Hrs. 

Social Services Administration (20 Hrs.)
* HMS 514 Staff Development and Supervision  4 Hrs.
* HMS 538 Social Services Administration  4 Hrs.
* HMS 584 Introduction to Nonprofit Management  4 Hrs.
* HMS 588 Grant Writing in Human Services   4 Hrs. 

Select four credit hours from the remaining courses:
BUS 541 Organizational Behavior 4 Hrs.
PAD 502 Organization Dynamics  4 Hrs.
PAD 505 Human Resource Management  4 Hrs.
PAD 544 Fund Raising for Public and Nonprofit
    Organizations  4 Hrs.
ACC 505 Financial Management for Nonprofit
    Organizations  4 Hrs.
PAD 543 Marketing for Public & Nonprofit Organizations  4 Hrs.
LES 486 Legal Aspects of Nonprofit Organization
     Management   2 Hrs.