We look forward to seeing you in our program!
AHS Child & Family Services
The central purpose of this online program is to prepare students who are interested in working in a child and family-focused environment. The graduates will have a broad knowledge base working with children and families. The major will provide graduates with entry-level competencies for child and family life. If you have questions about this concentration, feel free to contact any of the faculty advisors. A list of advisors can be found here.
This degree is also a wonderful preparation for students desiring to study in practice-focused masters level programs that center on children and families (e.g. Social Work, Counseling, Therapy, and so on).
Vision
To graduate leaders and life-long learners to work with and advocate for children
and their families.
Mission
To sustain a model of excellence, leadership, and empowerment for our students through
courses, community interactions and engagement, and faculty-student-led research opportunities.
This will be accomplished through reflection, application, and critical thinking in
course work. We also challenge students to be continual learners by providing experiential
learning with children and families in our communities. Thus, graduating students
who embody the WKU spirit of leadership as they continue to advocate by working from
a sound understanding of children, families, and communities.
Core Values
- Base all Child Services curriculum on strong child development principles.
- Provide interactive courses which engage students in hands-on, experiential learning.
- Provide community engagement for students in which they both learn and lead.
- Provide reflective learning opportunities for students throughout the degree program.
- Challenge students to develop advocacy skills and require that students apply these skills for the betterment and advocacy of children and families.
- Ground all work in upstanding ethical values.
- Students will develop a thorough understanding of child development, the multiple influences on child development, and the interdependence of development and will be able to apply developmental concepts to practical situations in and out of the classroom.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to build and strengthen family and community relationships.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to construct and implement meaningful, developmentally appropriate classrooms and curriculum.
- Students will demonstrate professional skills including: 1) written and verbal skills, 2) making connections between prior knowledge/experience and new learning, 3) identifying and using professional resources, 4) self-assessment and self-advocacy, and 5) mastering and applying foundations concepts from general education (adapted from NAEYC Supportive Skills).
Each of the Child Services classes at Western Kentucky University is designed to meet the outcomes listed above. As students progress though the coursework, the same conceptual framework outcomes are repeatedly reinforced at increasingly deeper levels. Each course is designed to build on a prior knowledge base and expand one’s ability to integrate and apply new information.
|
Academic Year |
Number of program completers |
% of program completers who were attending full-time (at the time of completion) |
% of program completers who were attending part-time[1] (at the time of completion) |
|
2017-2018 |
28 |
71% |
29% |
|
2018-2019 |
28 |
68% |
32% |
|
2019-2020 |
26 |
71% |
29% |
|
Academic year in which a Fall cohort of full-time candidates enrolled in the program (select three sequential years) |
Percentage of those candidates who completed the program within 150% of the published timeframe |
Percentage of those candidates who completed the program within 100%, 200% (twice) or 300% (three times) of the published timeframe |
|
Fall 2012 |
58% |
42% |
|
Fall 2013 |
37% |
16% |
|
Fall 2014 |
33.3% |
17% |
The fall-to-fall retention rate in the program for each of the three most recently completed academic years
|
Academic Year |
All |
Retained 1 Year |
||||
|
No |
Yes |
|||||
|
# |
# |
% |
# |
% |
||
|
Fall 2016 |
Part Time |
20 |
6 |
30 |
14 |
70 |
|
Full Time |
72 |
33 |
46 |
39 |
54 |
|
|
Fall 2017 |
Part Time |
18 |
8 |
44 |
10 |
56 |
|
Full Time |
53 |
21 |
40 |
32 |
60 |
|
|
Fall 2018 |
Part Time |
29 |
9 |
31 |
20 |
69 |
|
Full Time |
46 |
16 |
35 |
30 |
65 |
|
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