MA in Human Services Administration

Application Deadline and Requirements

  • Aug. 19, 2013: Fall 2013 term application deadline (classes start Aug. 26, 2013)
  • Dec. 31, 2013: Spring 2014 term application deadline (classes start Jan. 8, 2014)
  • Admission criteria
  • No GRE required.

Study Options and Cohort Locations 

  • Blended/Hybrid: Some classes are online and some classes are on campus (just 10 miles from downtown Chicago). Classes are held weekday evenings.
  • Cohorts on campus (just 10 miles from downtown Chicago)

Program Overview

The master of arts in human services administration program promotes leadership and service to others. It addresses the needs of students who are moving into supervisory roles to lead agencies that provide social services to a wide variety of clients. These organizations could include non-profits, for-profit services and government agencies. A combination of knowledge and skills in both management and human development provides a strong framework for understanding such administrative roles.

Program Objectives

The Human Services Administration Program is designed to enable students to: acquire a core of knowledge related to effective leadership positions within human services agencies, develop organizational and managerial skills necessary for competent administration, integrate a theoretical orientation with practical competency in the realm of human relations, and assume positions of an administrative nature in various health care agencies.

Learning Objectives/Competencies

Specifically, the core coursework in the Human Services Administration Graduate Program emphasizes knowledge and skills in the following areas:

  • Have an understanding of purposes, formulation, design, context, issues, constraints, and uses of evaluation research with illustrations from business, education, religion, and social service studies.
  • Be knowledgeable about community mental health programs and services
  • Understand the structure of human service programs, financial and legal concerns, agency management, and evaluation of services.
  • Be able to analyze formal human service organizations with special emphasis upon their structure, processes, and environments.
  • Be aware of the ethical, legal and professional concerns in the human services field, with special emphasis on developing an ethical decision-making framework.
  • Be skilled in identifying, examining, and evaluating social problems, welfare policies, and service delivery systems.

Degree Requirements

Coursework

Required (12 hours)

CED-6300 Clinical Mental Health Counseling

History and trends in community mental health. Program development and service delivery to diverse clientele. Intake and treatment plan interventions emphasizing current psychological criteria.

PSY-6030 Research in Psychology

Introduces the purpose, methods, and ethics for conducting and interpreting research in psychology and behavioral sciences. Emphasis on understanding research methods, statistical analysis, needs assessment and program evaluation allowing the development of necessary knowledge to critique research studies.Or

PSY-6495 Administration of Human Services

Focus on structure of programs, financial and legal concerns, agency management, evaluation of services and planning.

PSY-6995 Internship: Human Services Administration 

Ethics (3 hours) 

Choose one graduate level ethics course.

Administration (12 hours) 

One 6000-level ACC course

One 6000-level MGT course

One 6000-level MKT course

One additional 6000-level ACC, MGT, or MKT course

Electives (6 hours)

Choose two 6000-level courses from CED, PSY, SOC, or SOW.