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Newsletter - Fall 2009

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
John R. Heapes, M.A., M.S.W., HS-BCP
( click here for printable PDF version )

It seems the human services are always challenged. But today the load feels heavier. Our economy is still on its heels. People are losing their jobs and their homes in numbers not seen in a generation or more. We are fighting two sizable wars in the Middle East that are draining economic and human resources. We have domestic challenges such as health care, immigration and financial reforms. I reside in the only State (i.e., Pennsylvania) that has not passed a state budget (99 days and still counting!). The workloads of human service providers are increasing by leaps and bounds. One case management worker I know has a case load of 500 clients. Try applying your practice principles to each of these hurting human beings!

In my introductory sociology classes I’ve talked about immigration issues such as: Should English be the official language of the United States? Should social services be denied to immigrants? (I let students decide if a distinction should be made between legal and illegal immigrants.) Should the U.S. borders be closed?

Before 9/11 students were more generous with their wish to care for people coming into our country than after this horrific event. But today their security concerns seem to be yielding to more economic issues and their vehemence about them is quite unpalatable. In fact many express down-right hostility to new-comers to America. I remind them that their outright hatred is reminiscent of the attitudes expressed by Americans who at the time that many of their great-grandparents entered the United States received when they came to America.

The Interrelationship between Regional and Professional
Accreditation: A Case Study
Robert J. Willey, Jr., Ph.D., Dean
School of Human Services - Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts

The interrelationship between regional accreditation and professional accreditation, such as that provided by the Council for Standards in Human Service Education, has been in general one of respectful collaboration. For instance, it is common for site visits to be arranged as a cooperative venture when the cycle for regional and professional reaccreditation occurs at the same time.

A recent development among some of the regional accrediting bodies has expressed that respectful collaboration in another way. Both the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) have recently incorporated an approach to outcomes assessment that explicitly relies upon professional accreditation. Since the institution with which I am associated is accredited by NEASC, I will approach the subject from that regional perspective.

In the self-study process for NEASC, each institution is to submit data to the Association’s Commission on Institutions of Higher Education and to the site visit team to assess the quality of outcomes in student success. This is done through two sets of forms, the E-series and the S-series. The former requires institutions to select and declare their basic approach to assessment and to summarize their findings; the latter involves the presentation of data on retention and graduation rates and other measures of student success appropriate to the institution’s mission.

It is the E-series that demonstrates the collaboration of regional and professional accrediting bodies. For the E-series forms, an institution has four possible approaches to demonstrate assessment of outcomes. The four are:

• An inventory of program assessment and specialized accreditation [italics added]
• The Voluntary System of Accountability (a system developed by NASULGC and AASCU)
• Statement of claims for student achievement with supporting evidence
• Comparison to peers on measures of student achievement and success

The first approach listed allows for an institution to support the nature and quality of its outcomes by reference to its professional accreditation.

For the E-series form, the institution is to list:

• Professional accreditation currently held by the institution
• Date of most recent accreditation action by the listed agency
• List of key issues for continuing accreditation identified in the accreditation letter or report
• Key performance indicators as required by the agency
• Date and nature of next scheduled review

For the School of Human Services of Springfield College, the outcomes assessment process involved identification of its professional accreditation through the Council, the standards by which we were reviewed, the key issues identified during the review, and our actions in response to those issues. Thus, the accreditation by CSHSE provided for us not only an internal benefit of program review and improvement, but the external benefit of recognition by NEASC and approval of our selfstudy process.

President-Elect (2009-2010) Elaine R. Green, Ed.D., HS-BCP

Vice-President Program Accreditation (2009-2011) Susan Andresen, Ed.D., HS-BCP

Vice-President Publications (2009-2013) Gigi Franyo-Ehlers, Ph.D., HS-BCP

Treasurer (extended to 2010) Susan Kincaid, Ph.D., HS-BCP

Regional Director-Mid Atlantic (2009-2013)
Donald Unger, Ph.D. is the Department Chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and has a joint appointment in the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Delaware. He received his doctoral degree from the University of South Carolina in Clinical/Community Psychology and completed a fellowship at Yale University. He also has a master’s degree in Child and Family Studies from the Merrill-Palmer Institute. His research has focused on the development and evaluation of services for families with children and/or parents with special needs, teen parent families, families in poverty, and families with children at risk for child abuse and/or substance abuse. He currently serves on the editorial board of Family Relations, has also been on the editorial boards of Marriage and Family Review, the Child, Youth, and Family Services Quarterly, and Children’s Services, has published scholarly articles and book chapters, has edited two books, and was awarded Fellow status in the American Psychological Association. He teaches courses concerning the planning, delivery, and evaluation of services for children, youth, and their families, along with courses addressing the stresses and needs of children and families at risk.

Regional Director-South (2009-2013)
Stephany Ziegler Hewitt, M.S. is Dean of the Community, Family and Child Studies (CFCS) Division. Early Childhood Education and Human Services are the two departments within the division. Stephany has a master’s degree in Adult Education and is a doctoral candidate in Higher Education Leadership. She has over 17 years experience in higher education as professor and administrator. Before beginning a career in higher education, Stephany’s professional focus was family violence. She combined a clinical background with a master’s degree in adult education to provide psychoeducational interventions to individuals and families for almost 20 years. In this capacity, she facilitated groups for parents with children in foster care as well as groups for individuals convicted of assaulting their intimate partner. Stephany is also a certified mediator through the state of North Carolina, with certifications in victimoffender mediation, dependency mediation, transformative mediation, community mediation and educational mediation.

CCE is in the final weeks of accepting applications for grandparenting into the Human Services-Board Certified Practitioner (HS-BCP) credential. Applications received prior to November 15, 2009, will be reviewed under grandparenting requirements. Applicants approved during this period will participate in the norming examination process, and pass/fail criteria will not apply. After the November 15th deadline, the HS-BCP credentialing criteria will include specific coursework requirements, more stringent degree and experience requirements, and a passing score on the examination. More information about the HS-BCP is available at http://www.cce-global.org/credentialsoffered/hsbcp. If you work in the human services field, this credential was created with you in mind.

On October 6th, CCE reported receiving 288 applications for HS-BCP credential!

“SHS granted me college credits for my LPN license…I was well prepared to expedite the path to my educational and career goals, and that’s benefited me economically and professionally.” – School of Human Services (SHS) undergraduate student

College equivalent learning can take place anywhere, not just in the college classroom. Learning occurs on the job, in the community, in the military, and through professional trainings and hobbies. The School of Human Services (SHS) at Springfield College offers a process to validate college-level knowledge acquired through experiential learning, and teaches this process in a portfolio development course.

In this course, students reflect on and examine their lives. They discover how critical incidents, formal education, professional training, and previous experiences have influenced their thinking and values. They recognize strengths, accomplishments, and areas of expertise. They learn to clarify the depth and breadth of their knowledge and present it in a course equivalent format (portfolio), which is reviewed by faculty assessors.

It’s an exciting option for adult learners already in the field of human services to discover that life-long learning may earn college credit. This accelerated degree completion program saves both time and money. While the average experiential learning award is 30 credits, students may earn more than that. Students can earn the maximum of 72 credits and pay only the tuition for the portfolio course along with a one-time assessment fee.

“Because I am fluent in Spanish, I was able to earn 12 credits by passing the CLEP exam in Spanish. This saved me thousands of dollars and accelerated my academic program.” - SHS student

Sources of college-level experiential learning that may qualify for undergraduate credit include professional training, licenses, certifications, American Council on Education (ACE) approved non-collegiate organization courses, military training, College Level Examination Program (CLEP), and Dantes Standardized Subject Test (DSST). The School of Human Services does not award credit for experience itself, but for the college-level knowledge gained from experience.

“I have been in the fitness industry most of my life and have made a career working with people… The portfolio class at SHS provided me with a unique opportunity to closely examine and appreciate the various roles I had been fulfilling for all those years…employer, teacher, parent, manager, and advocate. I created a substantial portfolio that gave credibility to the skills and knowledge I had acquired.”   — SHS student

SHS is one of 1,700 institutional members of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and follows CAEL guidelines for the assessment of experiential learning.

The CSHSE Board is currently recruiting additional readers to assist in the accreditation process. Readers and site visitors are volunteers and do not receive payment for evaluating self-studies or participating in site visits, other than travel expenses. If possible, these expenses are paid in advance to minimize out-of-pocket expenses. Any out-of-pocket expenses must be reimbursed prior to final approval of accreditation provided there was a timely submission of the request for payment.

To qualify as a reader, you must be a faculty member at a CSHSE-accredited program, have five years experience teaching in higher education and have been involved in the completion of the selfstudy for your program.

If you are interested in becoming a reader, please submit the following:

• A cover letter stating your interest in participating and your reasons for participating, your role in the self-study process, and the amount of time that you can commit.
  
• A current curriculum vita
  
• A letter of institutional support from either the Dean or Chair
  
• A letter of reference
  

Please send application material to:

Council for Standards in Human Service
Education (CSHSE)
1935 S. Plum Grove Road
PMB 297
Palatine, IL 60067

The CSHSE Bulletin is published by the Council for Standards in Human Service Education as a service to Council members. Queries regarding this publication should be directed to: Gigi Franyo-Ehlers, Ph.D., HS-BCP, Vice-President Publications. Contact information for all board members is listed below.