This course demonstrates the value of evidence-based practice as an integral part of formulating human services research and policy. Course work examines the current definition of evidence-based policy and approaches to move the field forward. The course provides an evaluation of evidence-based literature, including case study examples of the application of evidence-based practices in human services. The course also examines actions to further evidence-based policy, including preparing and communicating data more effectively, using existing analytic tools, conducting policy surveillance, and tracking outcomes with different types of evidence.

This course involves the advanced study of research design, in general, and the qualitative inquiry, in particular, that can be used in addressing research questions. The epistemological assumptions underlying the qualitative methodology will be explored as students become familiar with the philosophical issues underlying how we know what we know. The ability to choose a researchable topic and create associated research questions will be emphasized. Students will become familiar with a variety of approaches including ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, narrative, participatory action research, and case study. A variety of common data collection methods will be studied, such as observation, interviews, surveys, and historical document collection. Validation and reliability standards, as well as evaluation criteria for qualitative approaches will be addressed. Students will be required to complete training on ethics in research, as well as complete a qualitative research proposal in an area of interest, which may include dissertation related research.

This course examines the theories and research underlying the political, economic, and social structures related to community groups and organizations within contemporary society. Students analyze methods of creating communities and social organizations that empower and support individuals to work together to initiate change, with or without the assistance of outside advocacy. Students develop skills to create and assess community action plans, incorporate persuasive language into client advocacy, and organize political action groups to seek opportunities for themselves and others. There is a focus on social and economic justice within the context of human services' ethics that supports and sustains the well-being of individuals and communities, especially among diverse populations.

This required core course examines cutting edge trends in the formation and execution of human services policy in public and private organizations. Selected topics include the current human services climate, forces driving policy formation and execution, and issues related to the future of human services policy. The topics selected will connect human service policy with culture, change theory, existing organizational strategies, and the process of change in future directions. Effective mechanisms to influence policy are emphasized. Major case study examples of human services policy are included in the learning process. Students will also engage in activities intended to help prepare them for the doctoral journey.

This practical program review and evaluation course for the human services discipline will employ a hands-on approach ultimately culminating in a hypothetical program evaluation and service-level improvement by completing weekly process goals, to include analysis of a completed needs assessment survey. The course will provide students with all materials needed in order to evaluate the complex program presented and complete tasks to ultimately modify it by the end of the term.

Students will apply advanced critical thinking skills in this course designed to expose them to a broad range of essential organizational operations and extend students’ existing knowledge base on the workings of human services administration. In addition to exploration of volunteer recruitment, retention and management, marketing, cross-disciplinary regulations, development, and implementation of policy, change management, fund-raising, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in organizations will be studied. The critical focus will apply to leadership theories and organizational behavior aimed at positions of leadership within an organization.

This entry point course provides the historical context and development of the human services field. This course examines the historical context and the evolution of health and human services professions. Students will study the origins of the profession and evaluate ways in which philosophical and ideological perspectives have defined the fields of practice throughout its history. Students will analyze the ways service delivery and social policy has changed in response to political influence and societal needs. Students will explore the differing political, social, and economic perspectives and their influence on health and human services professions.

This seminar provides students the opportunity to apply what they have learned in their curriculum to highly realistic case studies related to their fields of specialization for the doctorate. Through discussions among students and the instructor, students will review, analyze and evaluate case studies emphasizing the practice of the content in their curriculum. The course will involve the analysis and evaluation of one or more case studies. Students will contemplate complex questions posed by their instructor, reply to those questions, respond to other students’ analyses and evaluations, and receive faculty feedback. Each student will submit a final assignment on each case, involving his or her critical thinking on the core issues presented in the case and the presentation and defense of an approach to addressing those core issues. (This course may not be transferred in.)

This course involves the advanced study of the theory and practice of psychological measurement. Students review and apply the concepts of measurement (levels of measurement, variables, and validity and reliability of instruments and measurement procedures), and basic principles of statistics (descriptive statistics, univariate inferential statistics for comparisons of sample means, correlation, and regression), as a basis for exploring the proper use of tests and measurements in psychological research. Students will explore published research based on psychometric instruments and other measurement methodologies, and design a quantitative research proposal in an area of interest, which may include dissertation related research.

The course will provide an overview of the key events and accomplishments that have played an important role in the historical evolution of the psychology of leadership and the systems that form the basis of the discipline. A review of the history of organizational psychology introduces several important distinctions that define the discipline, and theoretical models and perspectives that trace the evolution of theory and practice. The learning activities emphasize the dichotomy between the science and applications of organizational psychology and leadership. The course approaches the psychology of leadership from three different perspectives 1) objectives for research and practice in the field, 2) basic methodological orientation of practitioners and 3) the systems and research-based foundations that form the basis of organizational psychology and the psychology of leadership.