by Destiny Striffolino, staff writer

The Behavioral Health Program (BEH) launched this fall at the Downtown Campus with 120 students enrolled. With multiple innovative pathways that blend academic rigor with hands-on learning, the program and its trajectory keep students and community at the forefront of itscreation.

Currently, students have multiple certification options like Addiction Recovery Assistant or Behavioral Health Assistant. An Associates of Applied Sciences pathway is also availabe. And in fall of 2025, a Bachelors pathway will also be available.

BEH Professor Dr. Tiko Hardy said the inspiration behind the program is tied to a community need. She said there is a nationwide shortage of mental health professionals and addiction professionals. So, the inspiration was to bridge the gap between all these areas and to ensure students get a job.

The BEH department is a hand-picked team of professors and doctors who are always thinking about the students when it comes to the development of this program. The minds developing the program wanted to find a way to get students employed at entry-level jobs quickly.

When it comes to inspiration, the professors and leaders of the program sat down and asked themselves “how do we, as professors with a trained background in clinical work, get the students to have a job and to have exposure and experience in the field before they take on all this student loan debt?” Dr. Hardy said.

Dr. Hardy would like interested and potential students to know that one of the things that this new department that the greatest pride in is the ability to bridge the gap between academic and practical skill-based knowledge.

“It’s not about whether you took statistics or English,” she said. “It’s about, for example, we need to teach you about crisis intervention. Let’s show you de-escalation skills. Then we’ll ground that in a theory or theoretical framework if that makes sense.”

“If you’re looking for a practice, skill-based program, I think we are really good for that,” Dr. Hardy said. With a background across multiple disciplines like psychology, social work and criminal justice, Dr. Hardy said this program feels like a dream waiting to happen for her.

The department has also teamed up with Woven Care, a pediatric outpatient clinic for behavioral health, to create a hands-on learning curriculum aimed at students who want to gain experience in the field. This will help students get a head start in their careers while taking classes.

And, in fall of 2025, the program plans to introduce a Bachelor’s pathway.

As mental health continues to be a critical issue facing individuals and communities alike, the launch of the BEH program could not be timelier. This program not only provides students with the academic knowledge and practical skills they need to succeed in an impactful field, but also it makes a student more employable and ready for the next opportunity.

Students interested in the program are encouraged to visit the department’s website for more details on offerings and enrollments.