Academic Year:
Graduate Certificate in Parent Education and Family Support
The Graduate Certificate Program in Parent Education and Family Support provides professionals working parent education and agencies providing family support with skills and knowledge in the areas of family theory, development across the lifespan, parenting, working in partnership with families, risk and resilience in children and youth, family life education.
This certificate will prepare professionals involved in the fields of parent education and family support. Given the range of career opportunities and foci, options are built into the program to allow students to tailor their program to meet their career goals while meeting all learning objectives in this Graduate Certificate Program. Students will select one course from each of three categories: Family, Development and Diversity across the Lifespan, and Risk Factors. All students will take the required course in Parenting and Family Life Education. All courses in this program are based on an ecological perspective on family, family strengths, and community-based program delivery.
Course Requirements Credits
HDFS 621 Family Studies I: Empirical & Theoretical Perspectives
or
HDFS 647 Family Partnerships in Early Childhood Care and Education 3
HDFS 627 Parenting Through the Lifespan 3
HDFS 630 Family Life Education 3
HDFS 641 Infants, Toddlers & Families: Development and Programming
or
HDFS 601 Theories of Human Development
or
HDFS 860 Diversity in Families and Human Development 3
HDFS 646 Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health
or
HDFS 665 Professional Development Seminar 3
Total credits 15
Successful completion of this Graduate Certificate Program requires five 3-credit graduate courses with a minimum grade of B- in all courses.
Students will be expected to complete this program within 4 years.
This Graduate Certificate Program can serve as an entry point into the existing MS Program in Human Development and Family Studies. Participants in the Graduate Certificate program can apply for admission into the MS program upon completion of 6-9 credits in the Graduate Certificate Program. Upon admission into the MS program, all 15 credits will count toward the MS degree. The MS in HDFS has concentrations in Early Childhood Education, Leadership in Nonprofit Administration, and Family Support. By building upon existing coursework, the Certificate does not require new courses or resources.
Although every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information in the Catalog,
students and others who use the Catalog should note that the policies, rules, regulations,
requirements for graduation, course offerings, and other materials reproduced in the Catalog change
from time-to-time and that these changes may alter the information contained in this Catalog.
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