Connecting Knowledge: A Case Study of The George Washington University’ s Human Services Program

1. Connecting Knowledge: A Case Study of The George Washington University’s Human Services Program Drs. Michelle Kelso and Emily Morrison The George Washington University September 25, 2012 IARSLCE International Conference 2012

2. What is Human Services? • What is the purpose of Human Services as a discipline? • The purpose is to “meet human needs through an interdisciplinary knowledge base, focusing on prevention as well as remediation of problems, and maintaining a commitment to improving the overall quality of life of service populations. The Human Services profession is one which promotes improved service delivery systems by addressing not only the quality of direct services, but also by seeking to improve accessibility, accountability, and coordination among professionals and agencies in service delivery. …The primary purpose of the human service worker is to assist individuals and communities to function as effectively as possible in the major domains of living.” http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/what-is-human-services

3. What is Human Services at GW? • GW’s Human Services Mission: • “Prepares undergraduate students to assume effective roles in not-for-profit agencies supporting or serving people and communities who are experiencing need;” • Provides academic knowledge and opportunities for course application through service-learning; • Cultivates empathy, social consciousness, ethical action, and a commitment to social justice; and, • Fosters respect of diversity, sense of community, and global perspectives.

4. What is Human Services at GW? • Human Services at GW Continued: • Academic program with a major and minor located in the Sociology Department • 494graduates since 1982 • 74 current students • 63 students previous year • 6 faculty (2 FT, 4 PT) • All courses in HMSR use service-learning • Human Services Student Organization

5. What is Human Services at GW? What do we want students to know and be able to do? • Knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world • Intellectual and practical skills • Personal and social responsibility • Integrative and applied learning Overall outcome: Knowledgeable, caring, ethical, and engaged human services scholar-practitioners

6. Research Questions Four overarching questions: • What is the student SL experience? • How has the coursework deepened student knowledge and skills? • To what extent has the curriculum prepared students to meet the professional standards? • After graduation, how are students drawing upon the KSAs for their life trajectories?

7. Methodology • Case study approach (Sjoberg et al.1991) • Participatory action framework (Hale 2008) • Qualitative methods (Patton 1980, 2001; Barbour 2008) • Grounded Theory for analysis (Strauss and Corbin 1998) • Assessment of the program in Spring 2011 and 2012

8. Data • Individual interviews • Alumni of the program (14) • Faculty (7) • Current students (16) • Graduating senior exit interviews (16) • Faculty course review • Focus groups • 2 student groups (10 total)

9. Findings – Overview • Alumni data suggest positive experiences with the program, overall deepening of knowledge and skills from coursework, and preparedness for professional tracks after graduation.

10. Findings – Overview • Student exit interviews revealed that the service-learning was the most meaningful part of their coursework, citing: real world experience, getting beyond the “Foggy Bottom bubble” and becoming part of the DC community, developing skills, getting to know faculty, and making contacts.

11. Findings – Thematic Overview • Themes included: • Coursework • Motivation for joining the program • Skills • Preparedness for post-graduation • Networking • Community engagement • “Real-world” experience

12. Coursework - General • “I think the ability to every semester sort of put on a different hat, work with a different group of people, work in a different type of job really helped me figure out the path I wanted to go down…. I think people underestimate the value of having those program evaluations and grant applications and things on your resume. My resume when I graduated was loaded with internships that I also got human services credit for, and it gives you a huge leg up over the kid who is graduating with ‘I worked at Bertucci’s on my resume’. I also worked at Bertucci’s [laughing] but it gives a big leg up that I think a lot of people don’t have when they leave school.”

13. Coursework - General “We never wrote a paper about something that we didn’t care about, ever. Each paper that I wrote was about like, an issue or about a nonprofit that I was directly working for, about something that I needed to help fix right away. So it was current and it was real and it mattered that I did a good job. When I was doing my project for grant writing, if I did a bad job I was letting down RAINN, the organization I’d been volunteering [with] for a year. It wasn’t just like my other classes where I’d write a paper the night before, and it wouldn’t be my best, but it would be good enough that it would give me the grade I wanted. I actually had to put in the effort to do well in those [Human Services] classes.”

14. Preparedness • “…the HS program is a challenging one in terms of time commitment and expectations. With the full course load, required internships, and professors who held their students up to high standards, I felt really prepared for life after college. Being challenged like that in undergraduate helped me so much later on, in terms of prioritizing, being able to work well under stress and pressure, etc.”

15. Preparedness • “I was exposed to countless nonprofits around the city and was able to learn from professionals in the field – such a great way to apply what we were learning in the classroom! Also, having those experiences on my resume helped me get accepted into both my AmeriCorps programs, as well as my graduate school. I think something else that the Human Services program helped with was just allowing me to explore what I wanted from an education and from a profession. It helped me to cultivate the skills and passions I already had, and helped me learn how to apply them.”

16. “Real-world” experience • “Service-learning is extremely well-integrated, involved in more of the classes than I expected. It is easiest and particularly interesting to tie the experience in with the Issues class (3152).” • “The HMSR Program is what made it worthwhile to me-to find deeper meaning and really become part of the DC community. Being out on the streets of DC takes your learning to a different level. You are not walled up in a traditional program.”

17. “Real-world” experience • “That was useful because being in a working environment from 9 to 3, working that many hours that often gives you a type of experience that you don’t get from working five hours a week at an internship, which is what you have to do to make your hours for a lot of classes. But really working all day every day for two months at a nonprofit gives you an experience, like a day to day reference point for what it’s like to be in a professional environment and I think that’s invaluable.”

18. Analysis: Kuh’s (2008) High-Impact Practices • First-year experiences • Learning communities • Writing-intensive courses * • Collaborative assignments and projects * • Undergraduate research * • Diversity/global learning * • Service-learning * • Internships * • Capstone courses and projects * * Currently in GW’s Human Services Program to some degree. Kuh, G. D. 2008. High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

19. Essential Qualities of High-Impact Practices (Kuh, 2008) • They are effortful. • They help students build substantive relationships. (i.e., faculty, staff, peers, community leaders, mentors) • They help students engage across differences. • They provide students with rich feedback. • They help students apply and test what they are learning in new situations. • They provide opportunities for students to reflect on the people they are becoming. Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities. O’Neill, N. (2010). Internships as a high-impact practice: Some reflections on quality.” PeerReview, 12, 4.

20. Analysis of data • In analyzing our data through the lens of the essential qualities of high impact practices (Kuh, 2008; O’Neill, 2010), all six essential qualities were evident in the experiences cited by students and alumni. Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities. O’Neill, N. (2010). Internships as a high-impact practice: Some reflections on quality.” PeerReview, 12, 4.

21. What’s next? • Develop strategic plan • Course mapping • Assess and align pedagogy (incl. high-impact practices), courses, and program goals with desired outcomes (incl. college and university outcomes) • Curricular revision • Review learning objectives for all courses, see areas for development, and sequence courses • Pilot new courses • Program assessment and outreach • Cultivating community partnerships • Alumni giving, mentoring, and placements

22. Course mapping with content area • Course • KSAA • Content Area • Level • Implicit/Explicit • Rationale: Assignments • Rationale: Learning Objectives • Rationale: Service Learning • High-Impact Practice

24. Ongoing Plan for Action • Reflect, clarify, and re-contextualize Human Services Program’s: • Mission, vision, and goals. • Identify learning outcomes for early, mid, and final academic experiences • Align curricular and co-curricular experiences with individual and programmatic outcomes • Develop a culture of ongoing assessment