B.S.Ed. in Community and Applied Psychological Studies

Overview

The major in Community and Applied Psychological Studies (CAPS) focuses on the promotion of healthy development and well-being. It prepares students to work with people in multiple contexts and settings:

• health and human services
• schools, universities, and community programs
• government and non-government agencies
• grass-roots movements
• socially responsible business and entrepreneurial organizations

By exploring the scholarly and practical interconnections among individual, interpersonal, social, and community approaches to change, students learn to identify barriers to well-being and to implement effective change-oriented strategies and policies. CAPS coursework emphasizes theory, research, and skills. It culminates in a practicum in a setting related to students’ area of interest and prepares them for both graduate studies and careers.

Students choose between three areas of concentration (tracks).

• Track I: Individual and Relational Development (Track Code: HSDI)
  This track emphasizes individual, relational, and family well-being. Focusing on context and diversity in mental health and on strength-based, preventive, and empowering approaches, courses cover family studies, counseling theories and techniques, interviewing skills, and the basics of human service work. Students are well-prepared for graduate study in the helping professions and careers in health and human services.
• Track II: Community and Program Development (Track Code: HSDC)
  This track promotes healthy individual and community development by emphasizing how social, institutional, and community dynamics affect personal well-being. Stressing the role of non-government agencies in fostering well-being for people with diverse backgrounds, HSDC prepares students to diagnose institutional and community challenges and offer strategies for positive change. Courses include community-focused planning, needs assessment, and change strategies and nonprofit program development, implementation, and evaluation. Students are well prepared for graduate study in community psychology and public policy and careers in community organizations.
• Track III: Human and Social Development Studies (Track Code: HSDS)
  This is a general track which offers a menu of courses relating to individual and community development. HSDS students are free to combine classes from the Individual (HSDI) and Community (HSDC) tracks. This track meets the needs of students who seek greater flexibility in course work and are less concerned with specializing in the individual or community tracks.  

CAPS students must declare an approved second major or a minor either in the School of Education or through any other school or college.

Curriculum Requirements

Community and Program Development Track (HSDC)

Curriculum Requirements

Human and Social Development Studies Track (HSDS)

Curriculum Requirements

 Individual and Relational Development Track (HSDI)

Suggested Plan of Study

Community and Program Development Track (HSDC)

Suggested Plan of Study

Human and Social Development Studies Track (HSDS)

Suggested Plan of Study

 Individual and Relational Development Track (HSDI)

Mission

The major in Community and Applied Psychological Studies (CAPS) seeks to train leading thinkers, professionals, and future scholars in the pursuit of innovative, scientific, and practical approaches to the promotion of healthy development and well-being. Students are exposed to scholarly and applied knowledge bases regarding the interconnectedness of personal, interpersonal, institutional, and community change, barriers to healthy development and well-being at these levels, and strategies and policies that promote well-being in individuals, families, and communities.

Goals

The CAPS major prepares students to enter competitive graduate programs and to work with people in multiple contexts and settings, including: 

• health and human services
• schools, universities, and community programs
• government and non-government agencies
• grass-roots movements
• socially responsible corporations.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Students will demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the field including intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, and community development and well-being; common barriers to well-being at various ecological levels; and strategies to promote healthy development and well-being in individuals, institutions, and communities.
• Students will demonstrate reflective and critical thinking skills.
• Students will demonstrate superior and skillful writing proficiency using language and grammar accurately, efficiently and effectively.