Mar 29, 2024  
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

Community Youth Development - Major


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The Bachelor of Arts in Community Youth Development rigorously prepares students to provide trauma-informed, culturally-responsive and whole-child-focused services to children and youth and/or to enter graduate studies in a comparable field. The program fosters high quality “on the spot” and “in the moment” critical thinking that demonstrates a deep appreciation of the risk and protective factors which impact the social, psychological, cognitive, and spiritual lives of young people. A hallmark of the CYD program is the importance of mindfulness and reflection of the practitioner. Furthermore, Community Youth Development can be combined with other majors, such as Social Work, Psychology, Public Health, Dance, Sociology, to name a few, for students to pursue a double major.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. ​Increase the CYD graduates’ sense of confidence, competency, competitiveness, and credentialed status for employment, professional advancement, and graduate studies in professions that serve children and youth. 
  2. Enrich students’ ability to integrate knowledge gained from their liberal arts and sciences education with an application to their pre-professional experiences. 
  3. Facilitate students’ ability to bridge theory with practice through active participation in community-engaged learning with youth and their adult advisors. 
  4. Develop students’ trauma-informed competencies to interact with child and youth from a whole child approach that respects the  resiliencies, strengths, and leadership capabilities of children and youth. 
  5. Guide students in the enhancement of  their introspection and reflective skills as they explore personal values, ethics, and subjective understandings related to service delivery with children and youth from diverse backgrounds.  
  6. Increase students’ knowledge and skills to plan, implement and evaluate age-appropriate, culturally relevant and youth centered programs.

CYD Foundation and Core Courses


CYD - Additional Required Courses


Foreign Languages Requirement


Completion of two semesters of a foreign language is required for a Bachelor of Arts in Community Youth Development. However, foreign language is not required for students who are double majoring in a Bachelor of Science degree program combined with the Community Youth Development major (e.g., B.S. in Social Work combined with a second major in Community Youth Development).

CYD Concentrations (choose one)


Youth Service, Leadership, and Administration Concentration


Choose three courses (additional options available)

Special Topics Concentration


With the guidance and approval of the CYD program director, students may study 9 credits of special topics related to the culturally responsive social and emotional well being of children and youth.  Courses could include courses from the Youth and Culture Concentration as well as, but not limited to: 

Community Youth Development Sample Program


Freshman Year


Junior Year


Note - Students who double major in Social Work and Community Youth Development will follow a schedule different than the sample program outlined below (SWK 384 replaces CYD 483, and SWK 452 replaces CYD 484). Students who are SWK/CYD double majors will receive specific advisement about the unique aspects and opportunities related to these programs.

Note - Students who are double majors with CYD (for example, Business and Leadership, Dance, Psychology, Public Health, Sociology, Social Work or Legal Studies) will receive specific advisement about the unique aspects and opportunities related to these programs.

Junior Year Sample Program for CYD Majors:

  • IS #2 Credits: 3
  • IS #3 Credits: 3
  • Core Milestone Experience Credits: 0
  • CYD Concentration Course #1 Credits: 3
  • CYD Concentration Course #2 Credits: 3
  • Liberal Arts Electives Credits: 6

Senior Year


Note - Students who double major in Social Work and Community Youth Development will follow a schedule different than the sample program outlined below (SWK 384 replaces CYD 483, and SWK 452 replaces CYD 484).

Students who double major with CYD (for example: Business and Leadership, Dance, Legal Studies, Psychology, Public Health, or Sociology) will receive advisement about the unique aspects and opportunities related to these programs.

Senior Year Sample Program for CYD Majors:

  • Liberal Arts Electives Credits: 24
  • CYD Concentration Course #3 Credits: 3

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