Review of Graduate Certificates

Transcription

1 1 Review of Graduate Certificates I. Certificate Description and Objectives The Department offers five graduate certificates: ON CAMPUS OR ONLINE Graduate Certificate in Environmental Risk Assessment Graduate Certificate in Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security Graduate Certificate in Epidemiology Graduate Certificate in Community Health Education Graduate Certificate in Environmental Health Entrance requirements Individuals who have bachelor's degrees from accredited colleges and universities are eligible to apply to the certificate programs. A background in the biological sciences demonstrated by transcript credit of at least three credit hours is desirable. Admission is based on an overall GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0-point scale. Applicants, while pursuing the certificate, may decide to apply these courses toward the full degree. Applicants must meet all department requirements before acceptance into the MPH degree program. Additionally, those who have completed one or more of these graduate certificates and who are interested in the full MPH degree must also meet all department requirements before acceptance into the MPH program. Students presently enrolled as MPH majors must file an application with the Office of Admissions to enter a graduate certificate program. There is no additional charge for the application by MPH majors. Upon admission to the graduate certificate program, each student will be assigned a faculty adviser within the appropriate area of specialty. One notable change in the certificate programs is to allow one C grade, provided that it is balanced with an A grade. This change parallels the grade policy within the MPH degree requirements. Graduate Certificate in Community Health Education (20 Credit Hrs.) Students completing this certificate shall be able to apply the theoretical foundations of health education to communicate effectively with various audiences in the community. The certificate requires successful completion of course work in each of these areas: *MPH 506 Community Health Research MPH 531 Public Health Policy and Administration **MPH 561 Community Health Education MPH 441 Human Well Being MPH 508 Program Evaluation for Health Professionals *Note prerequisite: MPH 503 Biostatistics for the Health Professional **This course has a prerequisite of an upper-level statistics or biostatistics course with a grade of B- or better earned within the last three years.

2 2 Graduate Certificate in Epidemiology (20 Credit Hrs.) Students completing this certificate will develop analytic and computer skills to quantitatively relate epidemiologic theories necessary for specialized roles in public health practice, such as for infectious disease epidemiology. The certificate requires successful completion of course work in each of these areas: MPH 503 Biostatistics for the Health Professional MPH 511 Foundations of Epidemiology MPH 512 Infectious and Chronic Disease Epidemiology MPH 514 Analytical Epidemiology or MPH 575 Economics for Policy Analysis ENS 404 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems 4 Hrs Environmental Health (EH) Graduate Certificate (16 Credit Hrs.) Students completing this certificate will have the basic skills of environmental health and protection necessary to understand the scope, values, goals and potential of environmental health and protection. This certificate helps prepare students who plan to sit for the Licensed Environmental Health Practitioner exam requirement. The certificate requires successful completion of course work in each of these areas: MPH 511 Foundations of Epidemiology MPH 521 Environmental and Occupational Health MPH 527 Environmental Risk Assessment Please note that students who are enrolled in the Environmental Health concentration are not eligible for the EH graduate certificate. Graduate Certificate in Environmental Risk Assessment (16 Credit Hrs.) Risk assessment is a frequently used tool in environmental analysis. The environmental risk assessment sequence offers a certificate for students who wish to acquire a level of competency in this science. The sequence of course work is technically oriented to provide students with the professional education necessary to perform risk assessment operations in their workplaces. Students learn to relate risk assessment methodologies, procedures, and results to environmental policies. Courses taken for the certificate represent a statement of competency in a specific field and draw on courses in the student's area of academic focus within the environmental health curriculum. MPH 527: Environmental Risk Assessment MPH 528: Risk Assessment Air, Land, Water MPH 529: Risk Practicum MPH 575: Economics for Policy Analysis

3 3 Students may want to continue with the additional risk/decision theory course MPH 526: Risk Management and Communication (). Sponsored, risk-based research opportunities at state and federal facilities are available for those seeking independent research experiences. Graduate Certificate in Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security The Graduate Certificate in Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security (EPHS Certificate) is a 20 credit - hour interdisciplinary certificate program administered by the Public Health Department. Courses for the certificate are offered by all College of Public Affairs and Administration programs: Criminal Justice, Environmental Studies, Legal Studies, Political Studies, Public Administration, and Public Health. The EPHS Certificate provides interdisciplinary professional educational to the administrators of governmental agencies and others who need to enhance their skills and abilities in the area. Among this audience will be individuals in law enforcement administration, fire departments, public health agencies and health care providers as well as people in private industry. This unique program provides post-bachelors education for administrators rather than training for first responders or professional education for individuals just entering the workforce. Students take three core courses in environmental risk assessment, risk communication and management, and program evaluation. Two elective courses will allow students to extend these skills to one or two disciplinary areas. The electives have been chosen to include courses on salient issues of public policy influenced by recent challenges in emergency preparedness and homeland security. CORE COURSE REQUIREMENTS: The three required core courses for the certificate provide students with the opportunity to gain substantial graduate-level expertise in risk assessment, risk communication and program evaluation. MPH 526- Risk Management and Communication MPH 527- Environmental Risk Assessment PAD Program Evaluation or MPH 508- Program Evaluation for Health Professionals ELECTIVE COURSES: Students must take at least two four-credit hour electives from a list of 400 and 500- level courses from participating departments. Students may select the electives, in consultation with their advisor, from the following courses: CRJ 416 Law Enforcement Challenges: Terrorism *3 Hrs.

4 4 CRJ 447 Investigative Concepts & Analysis *3 Hrs. LES 522 Health Care Law, Patient Privacy and HIPAA LES 551 Administrative Law MPH 478 Crisis in Environmental Health MPH 471 Emerging Diseases PAD 536 Intergovernmental Relations POS 420 National Security Issues & the US Constitution POS 470 Terrorism POS 476 International Politics of the Middle East *Students who take the CRJ electives must take a third elective to acquire 20 credit hours. During the review period, the Environmental Risk Assessment and Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security certificates moved from being centered in ENS to MPH. The Environmental Risk Assessment graduate certificate has experienced a significant decline in enrollees. Historically, the bulk of students for the Environmental Risk Assessment were employees from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Department of Public Health. Saturation of this market and the fact that the State of Illinois no longer provides tuition reimbursements for these employees may account for this sharp decline. As a result, the department enrolls students as cohorts in the certificate during the fall semester of odd years. There are a significant number of non degree seeking students within the EPHS graduate certificate who have become inactive. Attempts to contact the inactive students have typically proven unsuccessful. It is speculated that a decline in tuition reimbursement for public sector workers is largely responsible for this high incompletion rate for non MPH majors. Enrollment in the Environmental Health graduate certificate has dwindled since the introduction of the MPH Environmental Health concentration for which all of the graduate certificate courses are core. II. Curriculum Typical Sequence of Courses: Two of the five graduate certificates require that courses are taken in sequence. The risk assessment graduate certificate requires that MPH 527 is taken in the fall term, odd years; MPH 528 in the spring term, even years, and MPH 529 in the summer term, even years. MPH 575 is offered during the spring term, odd years, and may be taken before or after the risk assessment series. The Epidemiology graduate certificate requires that MPH 511 is taken before MPH 512 or 514. Additionally, it is recommended that MPH 503 be taken at the beginning of the sequence. MPH 503 is offered on-campus each fall and online each spring. MPH 511 is offered online each fall, and on-campus each spring. The table below describes the schedule for the graduate certificate courses. All graduate certificate courses are offered as both certificate and degree program courses. Additionally, all courses are offered either in the evening or online.

5 5 The interdepartmental nature of the electives of the EPHS graduate certificate precludes a definitive statement about course rotation for those courses outside the MPH program. Please note that although MPH 471 has a MPH prefix, it is owned by Clinical Lab Sciences (CLS). Community Health Education *MPH 506 Community Health Research MPH 531 Public Health Policy and Administration MPH 561 Community Health Education MPH 441 Human Well Being MPH 508 Program Evaluation for Health Professionals Schedule Blended each spring On-campus each fall On-campus each fall Epidemiology MPH 503 Biostatistics for the Health Professional MPH 511 Foundations of Epidemiology MPH 512 Infectious and Chronic Disease Epidemiology MPH 514 Analytical Epidemiology or MPH 575 Economics for Policy Analysis ENS 404 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems Schedule On-campus each fall On-campus each spring Online spring even years 514 Online spring odd years 575 On-campus each fall Online spring odd years Environmental Health MPH 511 Foundations of Epidemiology MPH 521 Environmental and Occupational Health MPH 527 Environmental Risk Assessment Schedule On-campus each spring On-campus each fall Environmental Risk Assessment MPH 527: Environmental Risk Assessment MPH 528: Risk Assessment Air, Land, Water MPH 529: Risk Practicum MPH 575: Economics for Policy Analysis Schedule Online spring even years Summer even years Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security Program Core MPH 526- Risk Management and Communication MPH 527- Environmental Risk Assessment Schedule

6 6 PAD Program Evaluation or MPH 508- Program Evaluation for Health Professionals EPHS Electives CRJ 416 Law Enforcement Challenges: Terrorism CRJ 447 Investigative Concepts & Analysis LES 522 Health Care Law, Patient Privacy and HIPAA LES 551 Administrative Law MPH 478 Crisis in Environmental Health MPH 471 Emerging Diseases PAD 536 Intergovernmental Relations POS 420 National Security Issues & the US Constitution POS 470 Terrorism POS 476 International Politics of the Middle East Online each term Accreditation: Accreditation is not available for any of these certificates. III. Students Students who enroll in the graduate certificate programs come from two separate pools of students. Many MPH students pursue graduate certificates as an area of specialization. Additionally, these competency-based graduate certificates are designed to provide continuing education opportunities for health professionals without formal public health training, for those interested in life-long learning, and for mid-career professionals. Applicants could be individuals who are non-degree seeking health professionals, or other professionals interested in enhancing their competencies and/or skills in these areas of specialty. Graduate Certificate Active Enrollees (spring 2011) Total MPH Majors Non-majors Community Health Education Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security Environmental Health Environmental Risk Assessment Epidemiology IV. Faculty List and Faculty Members and Academic Status* Community Health Education Instructor Status MPH 506 Community Health Research Kathy DeBarr MPH 531 Public Health Policy and Administration TBA (currently adjunct) Tenure Track Faculty

7 7 MPH 561 Community Health Education Kathy DeBarr MPH 441 Human Well Being Shahram Heshmat MPH 508 Program Evaluation for Health Professionals Kathy DeBarr Epidemiology Instructor Status MPH 503 Biostatistics for the Health Josiah Alamu Assistant Professional MPH 511 Foundations of Epidemiology Josiah Alamu Assistant MPH 512 Infectious and Chronic Disease Josiah Alamu Assistant Epidemiology MP 514 Analytical Epidemiology or (514) Josiah Assistant MPH 575 Economics for Policy Analysis Alamu (575) Shahram Heshmat ENS 404 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems Yi-Sz Lin Assistant Environmental Health Faculty Status Sharron MPH 511 Foundations of Epidemiology Josiah Alamu MPH 521 Environmental and Occupational Health MPH 527 Environmental Risk Assessment TBA (currently adjunct) Sharron Assistant or Clinical Instructor Environmental Risk Assessment Faculty Status MPH 527: Environmental Risk Assessment Sharron MPH 528: Risk Assessment Air, Land, Water Sharron MPH 529: Risk Practicum Sharron MPH 575: Economics for Policy Analysis Shahram Heshmat Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security MPH 526- Risk Management and Communication Greg Michaud Adjunct Instructor

8 8 MPH 527- Environmental Risk Assessment PAD Program Evaluation or MPH 508- Program Evaluation for Health Professionals Sharron Patrick Mullen Kathy DeBarr Assistant CRJ 416 Law Enforcement Challenges: Terrorism CRJ 447 Investigative Concepts & Analysis LES 522 Health Care Law, Patient Privacy and HIPAA LES 551 Administrative Law Sharron MPH 478 Crisis in Environmental Health Lenore Killam Adjunct Instructor MPH 471 Emerging Diseases Josiah Alamu Assistant PAD 536 Intergovernmental Relations POS 420 National Security Issues & the US Constitution POS 470 Terrorism POS 476 International Politics of the Middle East *All faculty are full-time. Adjunct instructors are part-time. All of the graduate certificates are constructed from courses that are offered as program core and electives; therefore, it is not possible to calculate the impact certificate courses have on faculty workload. The Office of Admissions has recently started tracking of graduate certificate students, and they have identified 10 students for whom enrollment in graduate certificates is primary. These students require the services of a faculty advisor. V. Student Demand The Community Health Education graduate certificate is popular as a secondary curriculum for MPH majors. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that demand for community health educators with a minimum of a BA should increase at a healthy pace, growing 18% between 2008 and They estimate that 51% will be employed by healthcare and social services agencies, and 23% will work for governmental agencies. Possession of the graduate credential will give BA graduates a competitive edge in this employment arena. The BLS places environmental health specialists such as those who would pursue the Environmental Health graduate certificate in this employment classification as well. The interdepartmental Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security is the most popular of our graduate certificates. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency State Terrorism and Intelligence Center has employed graduate certificate awardees. This is also a popular option for our online students employed by the military. The Environmental Risk Assessment graduate certificate is designed to meet the needs of professionals required to perform evaluation of hazards posed by chemicals

9 9 in the environment. In Springfield, these professionals work for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Department of Public Health and private engineering firms. The BLS places environmental risk assessors in the classification of environmental scientists, and states that 37% of this classification work for state and local governments; 21% work for management, scientific, and technical consulting services; 15% work for architectural and engineering serves, and 7% work for the USEPA and Department of Defense. The BLS predicts that employment in this classification will rise 28% between 2008 and 2018, with the strongest growth within private sector consulting firms. Demand for the risk assessment certificate has declined significantly since the state of Illinois no longer provides tuition reimbursement for employees. As a response to the decrease in demand, the department opens enrollment in the certificate only in the fall of odd years. Likewise, the BLS predicts that demand for epidemiologists is predicted to rise by 15% between 2008 and Most of these jobs will require at a minimum a MPH and are typically found in state and federal health agencies and research institutions. The Office of Admissions and Records did not require UIS degree seeking students to officially enroll as a graduate certificate student until AY Before that time, most paperwork and tracking was internal to the Department. Therefore, the enrollment numbers kept by the department are much higher than those available from the Office of Institutional Research. According to the IOR records available since AY 2008, the department has enrolled 10 students who are graduate certificate students taking a graduate degree (primarily public health) and 20 who are graduate certificate students not taking graduate degrees, and has awarded 16 graduate certificates. The records maintained by the department s graduate certificate coordinator since AY 2008 are summarized below: Certificate Name Applied Enrolled Awarded Community Health Education Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security Environmental Health Environmental Risk Assessment Epidemiology Students not in degree programs are more likely to fail to complete the certificate. The department does not know why this is true, but suspect that preparedness for the rigors of graduate work might be one factor. Prior to fall 2010, non-degree students could apply to the certificates with no transcripts. Beginning AY2011, the department requires academic transcripts for admissions to the degree program in an effort to better identify applicants that will succeed in the certificate curriculum. VI. Costs Because all of the courses are also integral to degree completion, there are no direct costs to the Department for administration of the graduate certificate programs. There are indirect costs with respect to the time required of the MPH graduate certificate coordinator, who volunteered to accept the task as other duties as assigned. Until AY 2011, the department secretary was responsible for creating the graduate certificate diplomas.

10 10 VII. Quality and Productivity The department does not have any definitive data concerning impact on career advancement for students who have completed a certificate. However, there is anecdotal evidence that the graduate certificates are valuable for career enhancement. The two students who recently completed the risk assessment certificate are working as environmental risk assessors for a private consulting firm in southern Illinois. VIII. Summary and Recommendations Until late in Ay 2007, the risk assessment graduate certificates was housed in the Department of Environmental Studies. No certificate-related recommendations were part of the The Epidemiology, Community Health Education and Environmental Health certificates began AY 2004, and the EPHS graduate certificate began in AY There are no prior reviews of these certificates.