Eastern Wyoming College just received approval from the Wyoming Community College Commission to offer a new associate of arts degree in Human Services.

The primary student audience for this new degree is the student interested in a 2-year degree with job potential in the helping professions. The communities in EWC’s service area have social, community, and health services which employ people trained in human services. This degree may also be of interest to students who have completed the Certified Nurse Assistant course or are transferring on to focus on areas such as counseling or health care management.

This two-year degree will attract students who want entry level jobs in areas that provide professional support including: the elderly, persons living with chronic health conditions, victims of crimes, victims of domestic or sexual abuse, foster families, people with addictions, veterans, the homeless, adolescents, and families. Students would be able to gain valuable experience in the two semesters of Field Experience courses required. Several local agencies have indicated they would be able to place students for the field experience classes and would also have positions for which students with this degree would be qualified.

There is a National Organization for Human Services that offers Board Certification: https://www.nationalhumanservices.org/.

“In my conversations with the recruiters and students over the past couple of years, it’s clear that we need a 2-year degree with local jobs at the end of it, but one that also has transfer potential down the road. Several former graduates of EWC have used their 2-year degrees in exactly this way: receiving their AAs and then moving into a workplace and obtaining higher education once they’ve decided exactly what they want to focus on. Further, one of the selling points in terms of EWC and the Commission’s priorities is that we should be able to cover almost all of it with existing staff,” said Ellen Creagar, Social Sciences and Business Law instructor, who designed the program for EWC.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were approximately 4,000 of these jobs in Wyoming in 2017. The median hourly income is $22.44 and the median annual income is $47,850. This field is projected to grow in the next several years.

For more information about the program, please contact Ms. Creagar at 307.532.8345 or ellen.creagar@ewc.wy.edu.