A new bachelor's degree designed to prepare graduates to work in a variety of social service settings, including family counseling centers and alcohol rehabilitation facilities, will be offered at UNLV beginning in August.

The bachelor of science degree in human services counseling will be available through the counseling department in the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs.

"Human services counseling is a rapidly growing field," said Gerald Weeks, chair of the counseling department. "This degree will equip students for jobs in counseling centers, half-way houses, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, mental health clinics, geriatric care facilities, child treatment centers, and other facilities with a social service mission. In some cases, they might work as direct service providers, while in other instances they might move into administration of such agencies.

"Graduates of human services counseling programs often find themselves working in these agencies as para-professionals who assist those people with advanced degrees in fields such as counseling," he said.

Students in the program will be trained in understanding human behavior and in understanding the dynamics operating within the individual, the family, and larger social groups, Weeks said. They also will acquire counseling skills.

Minors in addictions prevention, addictions treatment, human services counseling, and family studies will be offered as part of the program. Students who successfully complete one of the addictions minors will be eligible to apply for state certification as addictions counselors, if they also complete a mandated number of hours of supervised experience, he said.

Completion of a two-semester internship in a community agency will be required of all human services counseling majors.

"Those students interested in pursuing advanced degrees will find themselves well prepared to apply to graduate school at UNLV and elsewhere in fields such as community counseling and marriage and family therapy," Weeks said.

For additional information on the human services counseling program, call the advising center for the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs at 895-1009.