Master of Arts in Health Promotion and Program Management
      The Department
      The Graduate Program
      Admission Requirements
      Degree Requirements
Doctoral Program in Health Administration
      Admission Criteria
Mary Lou Bruce Scholarship
DHA Course Descriptions
HSC Course Descriptions

Jeffery Betts, Chairperson
119 Pearce Hall, (989)774-6529

Jeffery Betts, Ph.D., Exercise Science and Physiology
Jodi Brookins-Fisher, Ph.D., Community Health Education
Mark Cwiek, MHA, J.D., Health Services Administration
Donna Hamilton, M.A., School Health Education
Roger Hammer, Ph.D., Exercise Therapy
Joseph Inungu, M.D., Dr.P.H., Community Health Education
James Johnson, Ph.D., Health Services Administration
Michael Kennedy, Ph.D., Health Services Administration
Bernard Kerr, Ed.D., Health Services Administration
Jerry Ledlow, Ph.D., Health Services Administration
Thomas Masterson, Ph.D., Exercise Science and Anatomy
Mark Minelli, Ph.D., Community Health Education
Irene O'Boyle, Ph.D., Community Health Education
James Pahz, Ed.D., Community Health Education
Richard B. Parr, Ed.D., Exercise Science
William Saltarelli, Ph.D., Exercise Science and Anatomy
Paul Visich, Ph.D., Exercise Science

Master of Arts in Health Promotion and Program Management
The Department
The program in Health Promotion and Program Management represents the state-of-the-art in professional preparation. Graduates of the programs are employed by a variety of voluntary and public health agencies, corporations, schools, and health care facilities.

The faculty of the department have diversified interests and expertise in Health Education, Health Promotion, Program Management and Administration. The interests of the faculty are represented by their publications, leadership roles at the state, national, and international levels, and their research. Although the faculty are diverse and have a variety of talents and interests, their primary responsibility is teaching and advising students.
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The Graduate Program
The Master of Arts Degree in Health Promotion and Program Management is designed to meet the needs of practitioners in health education and health promotion. The degree provides the opportunity for students to be competent in assessing needs, planning, managing, implementing, and evaluating programs. The program also provides the student with knowledge and skills to conduct research. The degree requirements are designed so that the student, upon completion of the program, will have the competencies necessary to pass the exam for a Certified Health Education Specialist. Those pursuing the master’s degree are individuals who may have an undergraduate background in health education, nursing, physical education, substance abuse, nutrition, health fitness, or allied health professions.

Graduate assistantships are available, as well as internships offered through the student health advocacy program.
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Admission Requirements
Students must have 21 hours in health education or related courses which include anatomy and physiology.

Degree Requirements
The student may elect, in consultation with the advisor, to follow either Plan A or Plan B, each consisting of 34 semester hours.

A Master of Science in Administration degree is offered with a concentration in Health Services Administration. Requirements for this degree are stated in the section on Interdisciplinary Degrees.

Required and Elective Courses: (34 credit hours)
Plan A. Course work, a thesis, and an oral examination over the thesis.
Plan B. Course work and an independent study.

Required Courses
HSC 538 (3) Development of Proposals and Reports in Health Administration
HSC 545 (3) Health Planning
HSC 604 (3) Epidemiology
HSC 620 (3) Adult Health Education Theory and Practice
HSC 650 (3) Analysis and Interpretation of Research and Literature
HSC 670 (3) Research Methods for Health, Physical Education and Recreation
HSC 700 (3) Program Evaluation in the Health Fields
HSC 727 (3) Professional Seminar
HSC 791 (2) Independent Study OR
HSC 798 (6) Thesis

Required Hours: 26-30

Elective Hours: 4-8 (to be chosen in consultation with an advisor)

Total: 34 credit hours
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Doctoral Program in Health Administration

NOTE: Currently the Doctor of Health Administration degree is only offered off-campus through the College of Extended Learning.

The program leading to the Doctor of Health Administration degree is designed to provide advanced academic, relevant, and professionally-oriented education. The curricular and learning outcome objectives of this applied doctorate program are directed toward preparing individuals with the theoretical foundations, applied skills and practical expertise required for leadership positions within the healthcare industry. Emphasis will be given to imparting and advancing skills that foster life-long learning, systematic investigation and testing of practices and operational models via data/evidence-based strategies, and the public dissemination, and reporting of new findings within the field. The intent of the program is to provide advanced knowledge, skills, and abilities to practicing health professionals in a convenient, yet rigorous academic environment.

The program will be delivered in a sequenced manner with fifteen internet-based courses, six intensive face-to-face two and a half-day seminars, a general comprehensive examination, and an applied dissertation. Students matriculating into this program cannot transfer credit into the program or be granted prior experience credit toward semester credit hour degree requirements. A new group of students will begin studies each year. Each student will be assigned an advisor for the didactic portion of the program. Using a modular format, fifteen courses and six intensive seminars during the first two years of the program comprise the didactic portion of the program. The successful completion of a comprehensive examination at the end of the didactic portion of the program will transition the student to doctoral candidate status where the doctoral candidate will begin their dissertation preparation, proposal, implementation, defense to their doctoral committee, and reporting. During the dissertation phase, each student will work closely with a dissertation advisor/major professor. The didactic portion of the program carries fifty-one (5 1) semester credit hours and the dissertation portion carries twelve (12) semester credit hours for a total of sixty-three (63) semester credit hours for the entire program. Students should complete the program in a three (3) year period and will be encouraged to meet this expectation.

Year 1 (24 credit hours)
DHA 700 3(3-0) Leadership: Foundations & Strategies for Healthcare
DHA 702 3(3-0) Probability & Statistics for the Health Professions
DHA 704 3(3-0) Population Health
DHA 705 l(1-0) Seminar in Public Health
DHA 706 3(3-0) Quantitative Analysis in Health Organizations
DHA 708 3(3-0) Organization Theory & Behavior for Health Organizations
DHA 709 1(1-0) Seminar in Healthcare Dynamics
DHA 710 3(3-0) Qualitative & Operational Analysis in Healthcare
DHA 712 3(3-0) Research Theory & Practice for the Health Professional
DHA 713 l(1-0) Seminar in Health Services Research

Year 2 (27 credit hours)
DHA 714 3(3-0) Health Systems Thinking & Leaming
DHA 716 3(3-0) Health Organization Communication
DHA 717 1(1-0) Seminar in Stakeholder Relations
DHA 718 3(3-0) Health Law, Regulation & Ethics
DHA 720 3(3-0) Health Economics
DHA 721 1(1-0) Seminar in Health Policy & Politics
DHA 722 3(3-0) Health Informatics
DHA 724 3(3-0) Fiscal Management & Accountability for Health Entities
DHA 725 l(1-0) Seminar in Strategic Planning for Health Organizations
DHA 726 3(3-0) Applied Leadership
DHA 728 3(3-0) Health System Excellence

Comprehensive General Examination

Year 3 (12 credit hours)
DHA 898 12(spec) Health Professions Dissertation
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Admission Criteria
The minimum requirements and standards for applicant admission to the program include the following criteria:

• An earned regionally accredited master’s degree in an appropriate area of study (e.g., health administration, business administration, public health, public administration) or a professional degree (e.g., M.D., D.O., D.D.S.). Other areas of graduate study at the master’s degree level will be considered by petition to the faculty. GPA will be considered in the admissions process.

• Satisfactory completion of graduate coursework or equivalent must be provided as evidence by student applicants in the areas of health economics or economics, finance, statistics, administration/management, and organizational development/behavior. Any student admitted with a deficiency in one or more of these prerequisite areas will be required to take the necessary courses or successfully complete (success level determined by the faculty) a competency assessment to fulfill these foundational requirements. An applicant with three or more deficiencies may be admitted only on a conditional basis contingent upon the successful completion of all prerequisite coursework or competency assessment. Any course taken to fulfill course prerequisite requirements will not count toward the degree program;

• Demonstration of at least five years of work related experience in mid-level or higher health management or health policy positions;

• Oral and written English language proficiency. Applicants whose native language is not English will be required to submit the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores or another test of English equivalency (such as the ECFMG for physicians who were foreign medical students). This requirement may be waived if prior academic experience and success in other United States colleges/universities or employment settings can be satisfactorily demonstrated;

• Submission of a career goal statement and a current curriculum vitae or resume;

• Letters of recommendation, transcripts and other documentation customarily required for admission to the College of Graduate Studies will be required.

Successful completion of an admission interview with the program faculty.
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Mary Lou Bruce Scholarship
Established in 1983 by Lieutenant Colonel Gene D. Bruce and friends in memory of Mary Lou, a dedicated military wife and a valued member of the military science and health education families and Mt. Pleasant community, for a junior, senior or graduate student majoring in health education and health science who has earned a 3.0 or higher GPA.
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