College of Behavioral and Social Sciences

Elwood L. Robinson, Dean
M. LaVerne Reid, Interim Associate Dean
113 Taylor Education Building
Phone: 919-530-7642
Fax: 919-530-7640
Email: Robin@nccu.edu

History

The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (CBSS) was created in the summer of 2006. Dr. Elwood L. Robinson, Professor of Psychology, was appointed Interim Dean. The next year he was appointed the founding Dean of the College. The creation of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences represents a transformation in how we think about education and training at NCCU. This college was created to be responsive to the rapidly changing world of science, technology, societal needs, and our ever-changing political and economic structures that provide the very foundation of our existence. The CBSS positions NCCU to become a major player in this ever-changing and dynamic landscape. Increasingly, the most pressing and emergent population health challenges necessitate collaboration between the biomedical and social and behavioral sciences. The solution to our biggest health challenges may depend on whether scientist from the biomedical and behavioral and social sciences are able to learn each other’s language, listen across through gulfs that separate their sciences, and forge a new conceptual synthesis across their disciplinary boundaries. “Behavioral and social science stands at a crossroads, bridging biology and the environment, linking basic and applied science, and informing national policy,” said OBSSR Director David Abrams, Ph.D. “Critical challenges face our national health agenda, including aging baby boomers, chronic diseases, and health disparities. About 70 percent of our health outcomes involve behavior at individual, group, and societal levels. Investments in socio-behavioral research have already paid off and can yield enormous future benefits, not only in economic terms but also in preventing death and suffering.”

Departments

The departments in the CBSS represent a broad spectrum of behavioral and social science disciplines. The Departments are:

Criminal Justice
Human Sciences
Physical Education and Recreation
Political Science
Psychology
Public Administration
Public Health Education
Social Work
Sociology

College Priorities

The CBSS priorities are consistent with the University’s current agenda. The priorities of the University are to increase and improve retention, graduation, and placement rates; accreditation; quality customer service; internationalization of the curriculum and University; and appropriate and adequate use of technology and other innovative pedagogy. Therefore, the College has the following goals:

1. To sustain excellent, innovative teaching, learning and research in an environment grounded in intellectual discovery and community service.
2. To enhance the rigor and relevance of existing degree programs while developing new programs to meet the evolving needs of society.
3. To build upon NCCU’s history of addressing the needs of underserved groups through innovative outreach efforts and effective retention strategies.
4. To systematically increase public and private financial support and expand collaborative partnerships.
5. To increase NCCU’s participation and presence locally, nationally and internationally to enhance the University’s image.
6. To promote the use of integrated information technology in academic and administrative functions.
7. To ensure that appropriate facilities are available in requisite quality and quantity.
8. To implement a University-wide Continuous Improvement Process to promote efficiency and effectiveness.

Academic Programs

One of the major strengths of CBSS academic programs is the number of major accreditation or reaffirmations and first-time accreditations. The College now has the following accredited programs: Athletic Training, Department of Physical Education and Recreation (Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education); Criminal Justice (North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission); Dietetics, Department of Human Sciences (Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education); Health Education (Society of Public Health Education; American Association for Health Education); Parks and Recreation, Physical Education and Recreation Department (National Recreation and Park Association/American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation); Social Work (Council on Social Work Education); Physical Education – K-12 (North Carolina State of Public Instruction/NCATE).