The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s Human Services Leadership (HSL) program has maintained its accreditation by the Council for Standards in Human Services Education (CSHSE).
UWO College of Education and Human Services Interim Dean Elizabeth Alderton said the HSL program is an outstanding opportunity for students looking to attend UW Oshkosh.
Founded in 1979, the Council for Standards in Human Service Education was established to give focus and direction to education and training in mental health and human services throughout the country. The council exists to help human service educators and college administrators who are interested in achieving maximum educational effectiveness and to formally recognize and approve programs whose competence warrants public and professional confidence.
“This program provides students with the option of earning a versatile degree while providing agencies and communities across the state of Wisconsin with highly trained professionals.,” Alderton said. “The HSL program encompasses a thoughtful and intentionally designed curriculum with two intensive internship experiences, allowing students to be involved in different aspects in the community in order to find the right career fit prior to finishing their degree. This program helps students grow and develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to be lifelong leaders who have a positive impact not only in Wisconsin but across the nation.”
To maintain accreditation, the program must undergo a rigorous internal review every five years, at which time the program must demonstrate its continued commitment assuring the quality, consistency and relevance of the preparation of human service practitioners at all levels.
The CSHSE National Standards are based on national research of human service educational programs that are grounded in relationship with service providers in their communities. In addition, the standards have been confirmed through external research and the continuing emergence of the human services field since the early 1970s. The council accreditation attests to a program’s compliance with the standards.
HSL program chair Janet Hagen said that UW Oshkosh is the only school in Wisconsin to offer a bachelor’s and master’s degree in human services leadership and to earn this exclusive designation for their bachelor’s program.
“Human services leadership is a degree that grows with you and focuses on developing leadership skills and learning how to empower others. We are intentional in the curriculum to show students how human service values can be visualized globally and how they, as agents of change, can have an impact locally and beyond,” Hagen said.
Students can take courses on campus, online and through collaborative partnerships. Currently, there are 263 undergraduate students and more than 17 graduate students enrolled in its programs.
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