Human Services

The mission of the Human Services Program is to produce graduates who have demonstrated competency in understanding the administration and organization of human service agencies, community resources and advocacy, research and analytic methods, and the appropriate skills needed to utilize and apply this understanding to promote individual empowerment, community development and public policy.

Human Services faculty are committed to providing students with a quality liberal arts education and the theoretical foundation of the discipline, combined with an understanding of social science methodologies as they apply to policies and practices that support vulnerable populations as well as children and families. Major attention is given to the career roles, social interaction and social forces that contribute to improving the capacity of systems, organizations, and individuals to cope with changes in fiscal, administrative and political realities.

The goals of the Franklin Pierce Human Services Program are for students to develop a sociological understanding of the nature of human systems; learn to critically analyze how communities are organized and how national policy is created; understand the conditions that promote or limit human development, consider problems and formulate solutions, and become literate and trained in contemporary social scientific methods of data collection, analysis and program evaluation. Students will strengthen their speaking, writing, and presentation skills. Students will be encouraged to rethink current social welfare policies and be actively engaged in positive reform of the system (Praxis) when they enter into their professional careers.