Behavioral Science (BS)

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Vision Statement

The Behavioral Sciences cover the range of human experience, action, and processes from the individual to the global level. Behavioral Sciences are Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology.

Mission Statement

The Behavioral Sciences explore the interrelationships of the individual, the group and community, social institutions, human biology and psychology. Our program’s mission is to provide the advanced skills, knowledge, and experiences needed by entry-level professionals in social work and human services, as well as to prepare our graduates to be able to pursue advanced degrees in the behavioral sciences.

Program Description

The Behavioral Science program is a 120 credit (4 year) degree that is designed for students interested in careers in the Behavioral Health field and for advanced study in fields such as Psychology, Social Work and Counseling. For career planning, it is recommended that students complete the MHRT-C (behavioral health) concentration.

Hands-on experience, job shadowing, participation in service and experiential learning projects, and internships are core elements that set our program apart.

Careers

Our Behavioral Sciences major is designed to provide a foundation for careers in social services, counseling, social work and rehabilitation. If a student is planning to do graduate studies, we recommend reviewing the requirements for particular graduate programs during the late sophomore/early junior year, in order to acquire the prerequisite competencies.

Program Goals

Major Goals for the Behavioral Sciences are as follows:

Students will develop the capacity for critical reasoning; and become skilled at critically evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing through research and writing, using multiple sources of information about the human experience. Students will use critical reasoning to recognize assumptions underlying arguments; to construct valid arguments, and to create solutions to problems.
Students will demonstrate knowledge competence in the disciplines of behavioral sciences through an understanding of the historical development of the fields, and through mastery of theories, phenomena and concepts, research methodologies, and applications.
Students will demonstrate quantitative reasoning skills. Students will identify and solve quantitative problems in behavioral sciences, manage data, recognize and work with relationships among variables, and develop calculation skills.
Students will apply knowledge competency through applying theory to explain phenomena and to analyze case studies; to apply research methodologies to problem solving and to the further development of critical reasoning.
Students will demonstrate effective oral, written, and technological communication in the human sciences and in their professional careers.

Program Requirements

PSY 100: Introduction to Psychology 3 credits
SOC 100: Introduction to Sociology 3 credits
SOC 110: Introduction to Human Services & Community Mental Health 3 credits
SSC 340: Research Methods 3 credits
Upper Level Psychology Courses 12 credits

Select either PSY 497 or SSC 440 & SSC 441

PSY 497: Community Behavioral Health Internship 9-12 credits
OR
SSC 440: Research Methods and Theory Seminar (Capstone I) 3 credits
AND
SSC 441: Senior Research in Social Sciences (Capstone II) 3 credits

Total: 36+ credits

Required Support Courses

SSC 241: Writing and Critical Analysis in the Social & Behavioral Sciences 3 credits
MAT 351: Statistics I 3 credits

Required Additional Credits

18 Additional credits required through one of the following 3 options:

Complete Behavioral Health MHRT-C Concentration
Complete Substance Abuse Counseling Concentration
Complete a Minor (other than Behavioral Science)

Techniques for Assessment

The student will be assessed both directly and indirectly. Students are to maintain a year-by-year portfolio of exemplars of their work. In the final year, the portfolio will be reviewed by faculty from the Behavioral Science program.

Graduation Requirements

To be awarded a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science, graduates must:

Complete a minimum of 120 semester hours of credit;
Complete a minimum of 45 hours of upper level credits (300 or higher);
Maintain a minimum, cumulative grade point average of 2.0;
Complete program required courses with a grade of C or better

Required Experiential Work

Students will be expected to work within the campus and local communities. The extra-mural service learning experiences will be part of the senior evaluation, and constitute the citizenship and social responsibility requirements of the general education core.