At which campus can I study this program?
Program Description
The Civically Engaged Health Equity Certificate is designed to prepare students for working in and with local communities focused on health equity efforts. Students will gain experience interacting with community members and health-related community organizations. They will also link these experiences to core learning outcomes such as the fundamental social and structural processes underlying health disparities and ethical approaches for promoting health equity.
This certificate is appropriate for students interested in public health, health promotion, social epidemiology, and community-based health care.
The certificate consists of six prescribed courses:
- BBH 302: Diversity and Health (3 credits) + BBH 303: Community Engaged Learning for Diversity and Health (1 credit) taken together in the same semester and includes weekly volunteering at a predetermined community placement and a weekly discussion-based class connecting the volunteer placement to BBH 302 content.
- BBH 316 Foundations & Principles of Health Promotion (3 credits) + BBH 317: Community Engaged Learning for Health Promotion (1 credit) taken together in the same semester and includes weekly volunteering at a predetermined community placement and a weekly discussion-based class connecting the volunteer placement to BBH 316 content.
- CAS 222N: Foundations: Civic and Community Engagement (3 credits): This course will provide students with the theoretical understanding of civic and community engagement.
- BBH 462: Civically Engaged Health Equity Capstone (3 credits): A capstone course for the certificate in which students will engage in weekly volunteering at a community organization of their choice, weekly class meetings discussion and reflection, and a project with the community organization.
What is Civically Engaged Health Equity?
The Civically Engaged Health Equity Certificate prepares students to work collaboratively with local communities to advance health equity. Through experiential learning, students engage with community organizations while examining the social and structural processes underlying health disparities and ethical approaches for promoting health equity.
You Might Like This Program If...
You are interested in public health, health care, health promotion, social epidemiology, and other community-oriented careers.
Entrance to Certificate
Students will be eligible to apply to the Civically Engaged Health Equity Certificate program after completion of BBH 101. Student applications will be evaluated by the director of the certificate program and BBH faculty.
Program Requirements
To earn an undergraduate certificate in Civically Engaged Health Equity, a minimum of 14 credits is required.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| BBH 302 | Diversity and Health | 3 |
| BBH 303 | Community Engaged Learning for Diversity and Health | 1 |
| BBH 316 | Foundations and Principles of Health Promotion | 3 |
| BBH 317 | Community Engaged Learning for Foundations and Principles of Health Promotion | 1 |
| BBH 462 | Civically Engaged Health Equity Capstone | 3 |
| CAS 222N | Foundations: Civic and Community Engagement  1 | 3 |
- 1
Substitutions can be granted on a case-by-case basis for an alternative course that also focuses on community development and/or community organizing to fulfill this requirement.
Academic Advising
The objectives of the university's academic advising program are to help advisees identify and achieve their academic goals, to promote their intellectual discovery, and to encourage students to take advantage of both in-and out-of class educational opportunities in order that they become self-directed learners and decision makers.
Both advisers and advisees share responsibility for making the advising relationship succeed. By encouraging their advisees to become engaged in their education, to meet their educational goals, and to develop the habit of learning, advisers assume a significant educational role. The advisee's unit of enrollment will provide each advisee with a primary academic adviser, the information needed to plan the chosen program of study, and referrals to other specialized resources.
READ SENATE POLICY 32-00: ADVISING POLICY
University Park
BBH Academic Advising
219 Biobehavioral Health Building
University Park, PA 16802
814-863-7256
BBHAdvising@psu.edu
Contact
University Park
DEPARTMENT OF BIOBEHAVIORAL HEALTH
219 Biobehavioral Health Building
University Park, PA 16802
814-863-7256
bbhinfo@psu.edu