Human Services-Educational Assistant/Community Support, Indigenous Focus Certificate

Admission Requirements

1. C+ in English 12 or equivalent

     
2. Signed Human Services Requisite Skills and Abilities document.
3. 300-word HSW Letter of Intent coming into the program and career goals.

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Priority Admission for Indigenous Applicants

The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has provided Special Program approval to allow priority admission for a selected number of self-declared Indigenous applicants to this program. For more information, please refer to NIC’s Indigenous Education Services program  page or contact an Indigenous Education Navigator at your local campus.

Before Classes Begin

Once accepted to the program but before classes begin, you will be required to:

• attend a group information session. This mandatory session is designed to assist students in making an informed decision about pursuing a career in Human Services. The admissions office will send you an invitation with details regarding the date and time of the information session.
• hold a current Standard First Aid certification with CPR Level C that will remain valid through to the end of the program.
• submit a Criminal Record Check Permission form, which will be sent to you by the admissions office once you have been offered a seat in the program.
• complete a Personal Immunization form. This form will be sent to you by the admissions office when you have a seat in the program. It must be validated by the public health nurse at your local health unit.

Note: Human services students are not required to meet the PSY 130  and PSY 131  prerequisites for registering in PSY 250  and PSY 251 . If you choose to work toward a degree, you may be required to complete PSY 130  and PSY 131 .

If you wish to reduce your workload, you can take ENG 116  before entering the program.

Course Requirements

• ENG - 116 Essay Writing & Indigenous Perspectives
• HSW - 130 The Educational Assistant in the Cross-Cultural Classroom
• HSW - 131 Cross-Cultural Communication Skills in the Classroom
• HSW - 132 Cross-Cultural Social Analysis
• HSW - 134 Cross-Cultural Community Support
• HSW - 136 Holistic Health and Well-Being
• HSW - 137 Support Strategies for Skill Development in Cross-Cultural Settings
• HSW - 140 Indigenous Focus Human Service Practice Experience I
• FNS - 160 First Nations Education: Traditional and Contemporary

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• PSY - 250 Human Development from Conception Through Childhood and
• PSY - 251 Human Development from Adolescence Through Adulthood

• or

• HSW - 176 Human Development: 0-12 Years of Age and
• HSW - 177 Human Development: Adolescence Onward

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• HSW - 144 Indigenous Focus Human Service Practice Experience II

• You will gain extensive practice experience throughout the program. Practice experience placements are offered to provide you with actual on-the-job training in a school or community service agency. The placements are supervised by teachers, agency personnel and faculty. A weekly seminar provides additional learning and connection of theory with practice. The purpose of the practice experience is to provide you with direct experience. This allows you to learn exactly what the job entails, what skills are required and the opportunity to learn those skills both in theory and in practice.

Completion Requirements

1. This program may be completed in two ways:
   1. Part-time. A limited number of seats per year are reserved for part-time admission.
      1. Students admitted as part-time must successfully complete all required courses within seven years of admission.
      2. Students admitted as part-time will complete the program courses in a pre-determined order. NIC advisors can assist students with this planning.
   2. Full-time. Students admitted as full-time must successfully complete all required courses within five years of admission.
      1. Students who are invited to the program as full-time may not then switch to part-time. If students wish to give up their full-time seat and switch to part-time, they must re-apply to the program for a part-time seat.
2. A letter grade of C (60%) or better in all classes.
3. A letter grade of P (Pass) in all Practicum courses.
4. You must receive a letter grade of C (60%) or better in all certificate courses (HSW, SSW, PSY 250  and PSY 251 ) to be promoted from one term to the next term. If you fail any course in the program you cannot progress until the course is passed. ENG 116  is not a requirement of progression but must be completed with a grade of C (60%) or better in order to obtain the credential.
   In order to repeat a course, you must reapply to the program in a subsequent offering of the same term in which the failure occurred providing there is an available seat. If in repeating the course, you fail again, then you will be removed entirely from the program and can only re-enter by going through the admission process. Please note that you may be required to begin at term one.
   If you failed a course, re-entered the program and successfully repeated the failed course, and then fail another course, you will be removed entirely from the program and can only re-enter by through the admission process. Please note that you may be required to begin at term one.
   Re-entering the program under any circumstance is dependent on an available seat and at the discretion of the human services department and in consultation with the Dean. If you fail a course, you may be asked to complete a learning assessment prior to being reconsidered for re-admission. These regulations are important to the profession to ensure that graduates have the required skills and  knowledge and are therefore deemed safe to practice.
5. All students are required to adhere to the program expectations document. Failure to adhere to these standards may result in your being required to leave the program.