Program Coordinator: Professor Lisa Rose, lrose@bmcc.cuny.edu
The Human Services program will prepare you for a career that focuses on helping people solve their problems in order to live more satisfying lives. This includes preventing as well as solving health problems and other situations to improve the overall quality of life.
The Human Services program is both a career and an academic major. You will be prepared for meaningful employment in areas such as social services, community organizations, social justice advocacy, mental health counseling, re-entry programs, child welfare, case management, substance abuse counseling, patient/client navigation and more.
BMCC’s Human Services full-time faculty all have PhDs or DSWs in social work. They have vast experience in a wide variety of practice areas such as aging, hospital and health care social work, child welfare, forensic and re-entry social work, and domestic violence. They conduct research in those areas as well. There are often opportunities for students to participate as research assistants with faculty members.
Internships
As a Human Services major, you will do a two-semester internship in an agency where you will receive extensive supervision and training. Our faculty have developed placements in a variety of practice settings such as hospitals, senior centers, organizations that service developmentally disabled children and adults, immigrant advocacy programs. It is not unusual for a student to be hired in the agency where they have interned.
Students who have had previous working or volunteer experience in human services agency settings (approximately two years), can apply for Credit for Work/Volunteer experience, and if granted will receive credit for HUM 301 (Field Work I).
Explore Careers
BMCC is committed to students’ long-term success and will help you explore professional opportunities. Undecided? No problem. The college offers Career Coach for salary and employment information, job postings and a self-discovery assessment to help students find their academic and career paths. Visit Career Express to make an appointment with an advisor, search for jobs or sign-up for professional development activities with the Center for Career Development. Students can also visit the Office of Internships and Experiential Learning to gain real world experience in preparation for a four-year degree and beyond. These opportunities are available to help BMCC students build a foundation for future success.
Transfer Options
BMCC has articulation agreements with several four year colleges, that will allow you to seamlessly continue your studies there. With an A.S. degree in Human Services, you will be prepared to apply for competitive Bachelor of Social Work Programs at Hunter, Lehman, Medgar Evers Colleges, Adelphi University, and Long Island College. You also have the option to transfer to NYCTech for a B.S. in Human Services. We are excited that BMCC’s Human Services Program is a member of the CUNY Justice Academy. Our students can transition, absolutely seamlessly, to John Jay College’s Human Services and Community Justice B.A. program.
These suggested careers may require bachelor's or higher degrees.
Make an appointment at the Academic Advisement and Transfer Center.
Required Common Core
| English Composition | 6 |
| Mathematical and Quantitative Reasoning1 | 3 |
| Life and Physical Sciences2 | 3 |
| TOTAL REQUIRED COMMON CORE | 12 |
Flexible Core3
| Creative Expression | 6 |
| Individual and Society | 3 |
| Scientific World | 3 |
| U.S. Experience in Its Diversity | 3 |
| World Cultures and Global Issues | 3 |
| TOTAL FLEXIBLE COMMON CORE | 18 |
| TOTAL COMMON CORE | 30 |
Curriculum Requirements
- This course introduces students to the field of Human Services and the profession of Social Work. Those human services which deal with social and personal problems are explored as well as the knowledge base, the skills base and the values base of the social work profession. Students are exposed to the methods of working with people as individuals, in groups and on a community level. This course meets the requirements as a liberal arts elective in social science.
- The course is designed to train students in the use of helping skills and techniques utilized in the field of human services. Some of the areas covered in the course include interviewing and counseling, making referrals, assessment, group process and behavioral techniques. This course is open only to students enrolled in the Human Services curriculum. Pre-Requisite: HUM101
- Students are placed for one day per week in human service settings where they learn first-hand about agency structure and function, the activities of human service professionals, and the application of human service skills. Settings include community centers, hospitals, family service agencies, community residences for the developmentally disabled, senior citizen centers, homeless shelters, child psychiatry clinics, etc. A one hour weekly class session reinforces the agency experience through case presentations and group discussion. This course is open only to students enrolled in the Human Services curriculum. Please note: This course has 1 hour lecture and 7 internship hours per week. Prerequisite: HUM 101 and [HUM 201 or Gerontology Major]
- This course follows the same format as HUM 301, Field Experience in Human Services I. Remaining in the same field placement, the student deepens his/her knowledge and strengthens his/her skills through continued practice and supervision. This course is open only to students enrolled in the Human Services curriculum. Please note: This course has 1 lecture hour and 7 internship hours per week. Prerequisite: HUM 301
- This course will acquaint students with the social welfare system of the United States. An historical perspective helps to illuminate the evolution of current policies, programs and practices. Poverty in the U.S. is analyzed as well as the specific programs which have been developed to alleviate it. Cross-cultural approaches to social welfare are also examined. Prerequisite: POL 100
- The history, development, and intellectual origin of American government are studied and analyzed. Special consideration is given to the structure and operation of the executive, legislative and judiciary branches, and the role of government and politics in a modern industrial society.
- This course provides students with a basic understanding of the interrelationships between the physical, intellectual, social and psychological aspects of the aging process in contemporary society. Problems particular to aging are explored as well as policies and programs which have been developed to deal with them.
OR
- This course focuses on the psychological and sociological aspects of disabling conditions, and the approaches to effecting the person's habilitation/rehabilitation through behavior change.
OR
- This course is a survey of child welfare as a field of Social Work practice. Course content includes the relationships of parents, children and society; the development of old and new governmental programs for children; the impact on the family of child welfare policies, and the future of child welfare programs in the United States.
- This course will cover the psychology of death and dying in our society. Throughout the semester we will examine the attitudes and values about death and dying, the developmental processes on death and dying as well as the sociocultural-perspectives, both the legal and ethical concerns of death and dying, as well as the issues of grief and bereavement. The text and supplemental readings will provide the groundwork for the assignments and class discussions. Students will be expected to remain open to different experiences, feelings and values. Prerequisite: PSY 100
OR
- This course explores cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes across the lifespan. Attention is given to how biological sociocultural factors shape the individual. Prerequisite: PSY 100
OR
- This course explores biological, cognitive, and emotional growth from conception through adolescence. Attention is paid to the interplay of individual and sociocultural factors that influence the course of psychological development. Prerequisite: PSY 100
OR
- This course focuses on historical perspectives, contemporary trends, theoretical models and scientific research in the assessment and classification of mental illness. The etiology and treatment of psychological disorders are discussed with emphasis on the role of biological, cognitive, psychodynamic and sociocultural factors. Prerequisites: PSY 100
OR
- This course focuses on sociological approaches to the study of racial and ethnic relations and their impact on social life. The relations between racial and ethnic groups in the United States will be examined from a social-structural and social-Psychological perspective. This course will examine historical and contemporary constructions of identity, assimilation stratification and interaction between majority and minority groups.
Prerequisite: SOC 100
OR
- This course examines the basic functions of the family in contemporary society. The social processes involved in courtship, marriage, parenthood, alternative family models, the roles of family members, and the relationship between the various models and the community will be examined. Prerequisite: SOC 100 or ANT 100
Footnotes
Please note, these requirements are effective the 2019-2020 catalog year. Please check your DegreeWorks account for your specific degree requirements as when you began at BMCC will determine your program requirements.
- Consult with an advisor on which courses to take to satisfy these areas.
- These areas can be satisfied by taking a STEM variant.
- No more than two courses in any discipline or interdisciplinary field can be used to satisfy Flexible Core requirements.
- Students are required to take two semesters of the same Modern Foreign Language to graduate. One semester can be satisfied by taking a Modern Foreign Language in the World Cultures and Global Issues category in the Common Core. Please note: ITL 170 does not satisfy the Modern Foreign Language requirement.
