Bachelor of Social Work

at Northeastern Illinois University USA

Programs in Urban Community Studies (UCS) are offered at the Jacob H. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies (CCICS), 700 East Oakwood Boulevard, 60653, in the heart of Chicago's historic Bronzeville community. The scholar/activist thrust is the overriding entity that drives the community and academic programming of the programs of the Carruthers Center.

The Programs in Urban Community Studies, through the Goodwin College of Education, offer the following degrees:

• Bachelor of Arts in Urban Community Studies
• Minor in Urban Community Studies
• Master of Arts in Urban Community Studies

The Urban Community Studies undergraduate program seeks to introduce undergraduate students to the social, cultural, political and economic forces that impact urban communities. It reflects the ongoing trends and developments that continue to be a part of the changing demographics of the city so that students become equipped with understanding the complexity, diversity, and history associated with urban spaces. UCS seeks to prepare students to acquire employment in the broad fields of social and human services including community organizations, alternative educational programs such as charter schools, contract schools, after school programs, and mentorship programs aimed at improving the condition of urban youth. This is not a teacher preparation program and does not lead to licensure.
Specific Goals of the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Urban Community Studies

• Identify, deconstruct, and decode the existing socio-economic forces that influence Urban Community structures.
• Examine the literature, scholarship, social movements, and activism associated with understanding Urban Community issues.
• Identify and analyze culturally relevant models to navigate dilemmas faced in the Urban Community.
• Prepare UCS  majors to pursue graduate degrees in Urban Community Studies and other related fields.

Political Science is central to an understanding of all basic social issues and is one of the most popular liberal arts majors. A political science education gives people the ability to understand the workings of politics and the way it impacts the lives of all of us. A major in this field helps students develop skills of understanding and analysis, and builds competence in oral and written expression. Graduates go on to careers in law, business, journalism, teaching, and government.

Northeastern Illinois University's B.S. in Accounting is one of the six largest accounting programs in the state of Illinois.

Accounting is the language of business. It’s essential that all small and large organizations have employees who understand basic accounting principles and can employ them for best business practices. In corporate, government, nonprofit and public accounting, the knowledge of debits and credits, financial statements and accounting information systems is basic for all business activities.

The College of Business and Management has a set of well-established Program Learning Goals and Learning Objectives across all programs that are assessed on a periodic basis. The College of Business and Management is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and is among the top five percent of the worldwide business schools offering degree programs. See the Dean’s Welcome for four compelling features to study in the College of Business and Management.

The graduate program offers work leading to a Master of Arts degree in Linguistics. Our dynamic curriculum combines core studies in the structure of language [phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics] with current approaches in sociolinguistics, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, language contact and bilingualism, World Englishes, native and endangered languages, discourse analysis, and identity studies.

Our carefully designed curriculum provides students with a solid foundation in the study and understanding of human language as a convergence of genetic, psychological and social systems and networks. We train students to critically examine and analyze the world within and around them—skills that can be applied to teaching, curriculum development, corporate cultures, legal contexts, intercultural communication, forensics, artificial intelligence, publishing, counseling, speech pathology, and child development. Knowledge of how and why we use language brings us closer to understanding who we are and how we can affect our worlds.

The Department of Africana Studies offers a vibrant and highly competitive graduate program. The department’s Master of Arts degree is designed to provide students with a rigorous interdisciplinary training in the scholarly investigation of people of African descent. The faculty and the courses of the graduate program are drawn from the department and other academic units throughout the university.

The Master of Arts degree in Africana Studies offers two areas of concentrations: the Community Empowerment track and the Culture and Aesthetics track. The Community Empowerment concentration focuses on the historical and contemporary strategies to empower people of African descent. This track exposes the student to the political, economic, and policy responses to the impediments of African and African-descendant community development. The Culture and Aesthetics concentration focuses on the understandings and the interpretations of the philosophical, literary, and artistic contributions of people of African descent.

Students are prepared to pursue a doctorate in Africana Studies or other related disciplines in the social-sciences or the humanities. The M.A. degree in Africana Studies also enhances a career in government, education, the professional fields, and the non-profit sector.

Environmental science integrates a wide range of scientific disciplines necessary to understand the environment and the many interactions among its components.  These interactions include the impact of human activities on the environment and the impact of the environment on humans.

The Environmental Science program promotes the development of problem-solving skills, a broad and solid scientific knowledge base, and it teaches effective team collaboration, because the understanding of and solutions to environmental issues often involve expertise in many scientific areas such as geology, hydrology, biology, chemistry, physics, as well as environmental policy. Team skills, including leadership abilities, are vital to the environmental scientist and are an integral part of the new Environmental Science major. The program will produce graduates who are committed to civic engagement and are qualified for employment with industry, governmental regulatory agencies, environmental consulting firms, and graduate study in Environmental Science or related fields.

Geography is the study of space and location; it is a practical discipline which incorporates knowledge from the natural and social sciences to address problems of a spatial dimension. Geographers describe spatial patterns – where things are, where they are not, and why they are distributed that way. They determine optimal locations – for example, where a business should be or where to purchase a home. They also study interactions, such as travel patterns, trade, and migration.

Many geographers use Geographic Information Systems: computer software that merges maps, data, and analysis. The Department’s GIS Certificate Program can be incorporated into their major as electives or may be taken for the Certificate alone, outside of the degree program.  A minor in Geographic Information Science, which results in a Certificate as well, is also available.

In addition to the required courses in geography, students may choose to specialize in urban and social geography or geospatial techniques. The first option focuses on the study of metropolitan areas and the socio-spatial patterns that characterize them. Students are introduced to principles of urban planning and urban design and the dynamics of urbanization. The latter option includes instruction in field methods, computer-assisted mapping, statistics, geographic information science, and interpretation of aerial photos and satellite images.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) program offers courses of study leading to an undergraduate degree in Human Resource Development, which prepares professionals who will be responsible for the training, education, and development of adults in settings such as business, industry, health care, social service, and government. Students in the program will be provided opportunities to develop the knowledge and competencies necessary to meet the increasing needs that organizations have for HRD professionals. Competencies that have been identified by professional organizations have been carefully considered in the development of specific objectives for the course work in the program.

Upon completion of the major, students will demonstrate:

• Knowledge of different organizational settings in which training and learning occur;
• Knowledge of the training, educational and development needs of organizations;
• Skills in task analysis, program planning, and program design that are in keeping with organizational needs;
• Ability to apply principles of learning and motivation as a basis for decisions regarding instructional programs for adults;
• Sensitivity to the psychological and cultural needs of diverse populations needed for adaptation of training/educational planning; and
• Competency in the use of methods and technology appropriate for the instructional/learning needs of organizations.

The Department of Counselor Education offers a 60 credit-hour program leading to the Master of Arts in School Counseling for licensed teachers. Additional coursework is required for students without a teacher license.  The School Counseling program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Find out more information at Counselor Education accreditation, licensures, and credentialing.

Counselor Education also offers a Non-Degree School Counselor Endorsement leading to licensure as a school counselor for individuals with an advanced degree in counseling or related fields.

The Master of Public Health (MPH) is a 42-credit hour program that offers a broad, interdisciplinary training in public health. The MPH program prepares students to lead, conduct research in, serve, and work in a variety of public health settings. Settings may include public and private health care organizations, health research facilities, social service and environmental health agencies, and government institutions dedicated to public health policy, programming, and services. Additionally, students will be prepared to pursue terminal degrees in the behavioral health, epidemiological, or environmental health sciences, as well as health-related law and policy, health care administration, and health communication.

Northeastern’s generalist Master of Public Health is unique in the greater metropolitan Chicago area. The program is taught by a team of faculty across disciplines. Similarly, students will have the opportunity to select six credit hours of electives from a wide variety of disciplines; therefore they are not limited to a concentration area, but rather a wide variety of topic areas related to public health.
Student Learning Outcomes

Students are expected to demonstrate foundational public health knowledge in:

• The profession and science of public health
• Factors related to human health

Students are expected to demonstrate foundational public health competencies in:

• Evidence-based approaches to public health
• Public health and health care systems
• Planning and management to promote health
• Policy in public health
• Leadership
• Communication
• Interprofessional practice
• Systems thinking