YS 620 - Practicum: Designing and Running Quality Youth Programs (3 Credits)

Prerequisite/Co-Requisite: YS 600 and YS 610
This course is a practicum where students learn theory, skills and knowledge related to designing and running quality youth programs, field test these ideas/competencies and debrief the process with their peers. Students can use their existing work places or receive a placement from CUNY SPS in a high quality youth program in New York City to serve as their learning lab. Topics covered in this course include: leadership styles, program evaluation and assessment, budgeting, grant writing, fundraising, strategic planning, external oversight, ethics, program marketing, program design and implementation. Students are asked to test out new skills in the program context and/or bring in exemplars from their organizations that illuminate the given topic each week. Weekly debriefs about successes and challenges related to implementing the ideas or skills are incorporated into the class structure as are occasional visits to high quality youth programs across New York City.