Printer FriendlyAbout The Program
The B.S. in Health Education, Environmental Health Option, offers students a high caliber education in environmental health with leading faculty in their fields, at a university with a strong commitment to regional health and sustainable development. While the practice of environmental health has a long history in sanitation, water quality and food safety, the field is rapidly evolving and expanding as scientists better understand the complex links between exposures to chemical, radiation, pathogens, climate change and ecosystem damage and human health. Given this rapid evolution, it is an exciting time to be an environmental health practitioner and the opportunities for applying environmental health knowledge for prevention at the local, regional, national and global levels are endless.
Program features include:
Flexibility
The flexibility in the Environmental Health Program allows students to develop learning concentrations that adapt the curriculum to their interests allowing them to pursue a unique program of study. This flexibility allows students to focus on issues ranging from sanitation and waste water treatment to global climate policy. Students choose from a range of electives to form their concentration, guided by a faculty advisor.
Interdisciplinary Education
The Environmental Health Program integrates an emphasis in health sciences with the natural and social sciences, providing students with the foundation necessary to understand the complex causes of environmental problems and their solutions. The program provides strong foundations in research, writing and analytical skills necessary to be an environmental health professional.
Opportunities for Community Service
As environmental health involves science, community outreach and politics, the program provides community service, project-centered learning, and interactions with those working at the forefront of Environmental Health Practice to ground students in applied environmental health.
Career Opportunities
Environmental Health is an expanding field. At the local and regional levels, there is a strong need for qualified Environmental Health practitioners. The Environmental Health Program will prepare students for careers improving our quality of life and health through environmental health science, education and public policy. With a foundation in applied environmental health, problem solving and research skills, graduates are well prepared to obtain high quality jobs in environmental health and other health and environmental fields. Graduates will find exciting and rewarding jobs in health departments, public agencies, environmental consulting, private firms and non-profits organizations.
Upon completion of the program, students will also be prepared for graduate training. Some may wish to pursue a Masters degree or even a Doctoral degree in environmental health or other health related fields. Graduate programs of interest include: Work Environment Policy, Industrial Hygiene, Environmental Health Practice, Epidemiology and Toxicology.
Admissions and Degree Requirements
As of January 2008, students graduating from high school with a grade point average of 3.25 or higher and SAT score of 1000 or higher are eligible for admission to the Environmental Health Option. For students seeking transfer into the Environmental Health Option, a minimum previous semester grade point average and cumulative grade point average of 2.7 are required. All students in the Environmental Health Option are required to maintain a 2.7 semester and cumulative grade point average and to obtain a grade of C or better in all major courses (courses with prefix 31) to remain in the program. Students not meeting these criteria will be dropped from the program but may appeal to be readmitted on probation and given one semester to improve performance to meet these standards. One probationary period is allowed.
All students in the Environmental Health Option complete a basic core of courses. The first two years cover a range of health science courses to ground students with knowledge that will serve as a foundation for the practice of Environmental Health after graduation. These include anatomy and physiology, microbiology and pathology, chemistry of health and the environment, and nutrition. Students also must take an environment health field work course and general education courses. Upper level courses focus on contemporary health problems, politics of health, computer technologies, curriculum and methods, communication techniques, and epidemiology. Each senior student is assigned to an environmental health practicum based on individual interest. The total number of required credits is 120.
Environmental Health Option --Course of Study (pdf)