About CEHS

Mission Statement:
The College of Education and Human Services fulfills the mission of Seton Hall by preparing candidates for careers in the helping professions. The spirit of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, noted for her work with children and education, is manifest in each department. The various curricula develop the knowledge, skills, competencies and moral and ethical values necessary for outstanding performance in teaching, educational leadership, professional psychology and family therapy.

Students are prepared to serve a diverse range of clients of varying ages, ethnic, racial, cultural, religious and social backgrounds, lifestyles, and abilities. The College enables its candidates to work with individuals, families, and groups in a variety of settings including public and private schools from kindergarten to higher education, hospitals, clinics, mental health agencies, social agencies, counseling centers, correctional facilities and the private practice of psychology and marriage and family therapy.

The College is dedicated to ensuring that its professional preparation programs are based on essential knowledge, evolving technology, research findings, and reflective practice. Each program is committed to developing collaborative relationships and cooperative efforts with schools, agencies, and institutions so that its efforts remain linked to the world of practice and research, and meet the needs of communities.

Location & Description:
The College of Education and Human Services occupies about 15,000 square feet on the third and fourth floors of Jubilee Hall. The College is committed to excellence and maintains itself as a medium sized professional preparation institution with approximately 500 undergraduate students and about 1000 graduate students. Degrees offered include the Bachelor’s, Master’s, Educational Specialist and Doctorate.

The College’s three departments prepare students for careers in a broad range of human service professions, including teaching, administration, counseling, psychology and family therapy. The Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy offers graduate programs in P-12 administration as well as higher education. The Department of Educational Studies offers undergraduate programs in elementary, secondary, special education, and early childhood education as well as graduate programs in elementary, secondary, bilingual/bicultural education and technology. The Department of Professional Psychology and Family Therapy offers graduate programs in psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology and family therapy. In addition to their traditional programs, the departments also offer unique, cohort programs that accommodate the needs of working professionals by incorporating online components and weekend classes.

The College’s programs are fully accredited by Middle States and approved by the State of New Jersey. The Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program is also accredited by the American Psychological Association; the Marriage and Family Ed.S. program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education.

Historical Note:
The College of Education and Human Services traces its roots back to the 1920’s when six courses were offered by the Department of Education in the College of Arts and Sciences at Seton Hall College. In 1924 Seton Hall obtained State approval for a secondary level teacher preparation program, and, by 1937, the fledgling education department offered an additional preparation program in physical education. During and immediately following World War II, the department offered elementary as well as secondary and physical education programs, and awarded graduate level degrees along with the baccalaureate. The influx of veterans at this time provided new opportunities for the Department of Education to develop its curriculum and expand its influence in the area of teacher preparation within the State of New Jersey.

By 1950, Seton Hall organized into a university consisting of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Business, Nursing and Education. Although the School existed as a distinct academic unit on campus, it never lost contact with its liberal arts roots and maintained collegial and curricular relationships with the College of Arts and Sciences.

During the 1950’s and 1960’s, the School of Education continued to experience growth in its enrollments and expansion of its curriculum. These decades saw the School become the largest academic unit on the South Orange campus. Faculty and administrative offices which at that time were housed in Bayley Hall, were moved to McQuaid Hall in order to provide more space and better working conditions.

At this time, the School expanded its role in a number of ways. It instituted the Educational Services Center which provided services to surrounding communities in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics, study skills and counseling. At its height, the Center serviced several hundred clients each year, reached out to both urban and suburban communities and provided low cost or no cost instruction to many students. Other initiatives were taken. The School operated a Veteran’s Administration counseling program which provided various services to veterans, and the School received a major grant to train rehabilitation counselors for positions in government and private institutions.

From the mid-70’s to the mid-80’s the School of Education, along with other teacher training institutions throughout the country, experienced a drop in enrollments as prospective teachers turned to other careers because of lack of job opportunities and less than desirable salaries. Rather than viewing this period as a time for retrenchment and retreat, the School saw this as an opportunity to restructure itself in ways that would enhance its mission the prepare educators and other human services personnel.

The departments of Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Health and Physical Education, General Professional Education, and Counseling and Special Services were reorganized into the departments of Educational Studies and Counseling Psychology. The Department of Administration and Supervision retained its original structure. This placed all of the teacher preparation programs in one department, Educational Studies, where each maintained its distinction as a program while being able to work more closely in regard to common concerns, issues, needs, problems, resources, standards and curriculum development.

The School of Education changed its name to the College of Education and Human Services (CEHS). This signaled a number of important developments. First, there now existed a formal commitment to the education of both school and non-school personnel. Second, the College believed that professionals in both school and non-school careers could benefit from being in close proximity during their educational experiences. Third, the College recognized that the development of an effective teacher required a broad-based, liberal arts education. Fourth, there was a commitment to providing services for the University and for surrounding communities.

During the early 1980’s, the College of Education and Human Services inaugurated doctoral level programs. Ph.D.’s were available in the areas of Counseling Psychology, Child/Clinical Psychology and Marriage and Family Counseling. The Ed.D. was available in Administration and Supervision. The College hoped to offer other advanced degrees sometime before the turn of the century.

As the 1990’s approached, the College experienced an increase in enrollment, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Additional faculty and staff were hired to accommodate the increase, and plans exist to acquire additional personnel as needed.

The beginning of the 1990’s also saw the College fielding nationally recognized grant programs in the areas of Bilingual/Bicultural Education and Law Related Education. By 1990, the College had extended its outreach programs in order to provide in-service training for many teachers throughout the State of New Jersey. This enabled the College to establish more effective liaisons with schools and to develop a mutually beneficial relationship in the sharing of knowledge and experience.

The late 1980’s and early 1990’s was also a time when the College of Education and Human Services became more involved with technology and education. In 1985, the College received a grant to implement a computer-assisted reading and study skills program which serviced students in Arts and Sciences, Nursing, the Educational Opportunity Program, Business and Education. This involved the establishment of a computer laboratory in McQuaid Hall as well as individual stations at other locations around the campus. In 1999, a federally funded PT3 grant and an aggressive University computing plan enabled the College to assume a leadership role in technology. At the same time, the College successfully developed and offered two on-line programs: an M.A. in Administration and Supervision and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology.

In 1997, the College changed its residence from McQuaid Hall to the third and fourth floors of Kozlowski. This move provided its faculty with newer and more spacious offices as well as access to modern classrooms suitable for integrating technology with teaching. During the late 1990’s and through the turn of the century, the College developed several unique programs such as the Catholic School Leadership and EPICS programs, and the Executive EdD and Executive Masters programs. The College’s first Professional Development School relationship was initiated with the Cranford school district in 1999. By 2002, the College had achieved APA accreditation for its Counseling Psychology doctoral program, COAMFTE accreditation for its Marriage and Family EdS program, and was aggressively pursuing NCATE accreditation for its school-based programs.