Health Promotion - Certificate

Program Contacts

Program Director

Caroline Sparks

Mission

Please note: This program is no longer accepting new students. 

The mission of the Health Promotion program is to train students to enhance and protect the health of the public. The program is designed to assist individuals to become responsible and productive public health professionals who are capable of assessing, implementing, managing and evaluating health promotion and health education programs for the public and for at-risk populations. The required courses as well as the suggested electives are intended to train students in social and behavioral approaches and applications for improving public health using interventions at the individual, group, organizational and societal level.

Goals

The goals of this educational program are to provide and improve:

  • Knowledge of and ability to use social and behavioral theory and behavior change models and strategies that have been shown to be successful in improving health behaviors and practices for a variety of populations.
  • Knowledge and skills to assess needs for health interventions for the general public as well as at-risk populations.
  • Ability to plan, design, implement, evaluate and communicate programs and research targeted toward health promotion and/or disease prevention for the public.
  • Ability to advocate for improvements in social practices, policy and law that will provide supportive environments for the improvement of public health. 
  • Utilization of structures and resources of organizations and governments to create healthy environments that promote health.

Program Requirements

  1. Graduate Credit Requirement.  18 graduate credits are required.
  2. Graduate Credit Requirement for students enrolled concurrently in a SPHHS Degree Program.  12 credits are required.
  3. The Program Director/Advisor must pre-approve all course selections and course sequencing by developing a “program of study” prior to the student’s initial registration.  Graduate Certificate students meet with their advisor each semester before registration. All changes in this program of study must be pre-approved by the Program Director/Advisor.
  4. Course Requirements.  Since most graduate certificate students are currently enrolled in an MPH program or have previously earned a graduate degree, most course credits will be selected from the program-specific course list.  Under no circumstances may a certificate student enroll in fewer than 9 credits of program-specific courses.
  5. Grade Point Requirement.  A 3.0 (B average) overall grade point average or better is required.
  6. Time Limit Requirement. The certificate must be completed within 2 years.
  7. Transfer Credit Policy.   The Program Director/Advisor may approve up to 4 graduate credits that have not been applied to a previous graduate degree to be transferred to the graduate certificate.  Exceptions: SPHHS master's students and alumni may transfer up to 6 credits from master's degree to the Graduate Certificate.  The course(s) must be relevant to the graduate certificate.  Credits must have been earned from an accredited institution in the last 3 years with a grade point of 3.0 or better.

Program-at-a-Glance

Please see MPH, Health Promotion program guide.

Federal Disclosure Requirements

Past Program Guides

This is the current program guide for this program. Students should follow the course requirements from the year in which they entered the program.

Past Guides:

Certificate Health Promotion 2013-2014

Guides that are not available online can be acquired from the Academic Affairs Program Coordinator in the Dean's Office.