Bachelor of Science in Public Health
About This Program
The Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) degree consists of two program delivery options: a traditional campus-based program and an Accelerated Online program (AO). The AO program is developed by UT Arlington’s Department of Kinesiology and College of Nursing and Health Innovation to serve students in Texas by offering a high quality, affordable, and convenient undergraduate public health degree program. The AO program is available to those students who have earned a minimum of 24 transfer-credit hours prior to enrollment.
The BSPH aligns well with current science-based degree programs offered in the Department of Kinesiology. In addition, with a unique positioning of public health aligned with nursing and kinesiology programs along a continuum of health-related coursework and practice-based experiences, students may access an intersection point at which individual health and wellness meets population health and prevention of disease. Potential career opportunities exist in job categories such as government, non-profit organizations, medical/healthcare facilities, and community agencies.
The BSPH features a competency-based curriculum built upon a collaborative, interdisciplinary matrix. Relevant coursework, accompanied by experiential and service learning activities anchored throughout the program support a robust program framework, which includes The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accreditation criteria, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) undergraduate competencies, and The Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice Tier I Public Health Workforce competencies. These program elements will enable students to gain a broad knowledge base, along with the skills and abilities necessary to be a competent and effective member of the public health workforce.
The BSPH provides students with a rigorous background in public health education, while also providing multi-disciplinary support for each student to pursue his or her own individual interests and passions through minor degrees (e.g., Disability Studies, Diversity Studies, Psychology, Spanish). The degree provides coursework and experiential learning activities that intersect individual health, wellness and prevention with population-based health perspectives. Students have the flexibility to choose 20-21 hours of electives, providing academic flexibility so that students may individualize components of their academic pathway to meet their unique personal, professional, and academic goals.
Competencies
- Upon completion, students will be able to discuss the history and philosophy of public health as well as its core values, concepts, and functions locally and globally.
- Upon completion, students will be able to utilize evidence-based concepts, methods, and tools of public health data collection, use, and analysis.
- Upon completion, students will be able to apply the concepts of population health, and the basic processes, approaches and interventions that identify and address the major health-related needs and concerns of populations.
- Upon completion, students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the underlying science of human health and disease, including opportunities for promoting and protecting health across the life course.
- Upon completion, students will be able to describe the socioeconomic, behavioral, biological, environmental, and other factors that impact human health and contribute to health disparities.
- Upon completion, students will be able to apply the fundamental concepts and features of project implementation, including planning, assessment, and evaluation.
- Upon completion, students will be able to communicate to public health audiences using the basic concepts of public health-specific communication, including technical and professional writing and the use of mass media and electronic technology.
Admissions Criteria
To ensure that all students develop a solid academic foundation, all first time, first-year freshman students (regardless of intended major) must obtain academic advising and clearance for registration from an advisor in the Division of Student Success during their first year. After the first year, students should seek advisement from the Public Health Advisor in the Department of Kinesiology prior to each semester and summer sessions. Transfer students must seek academic advising from the Public Health Advisor in the Department of Kinesiology immediately. All incoming freshmen and transfer students wishing to major in Public Health are initially classified as Public Health pre-majors (PH.Int).
To be classified as a Public Health major, students must satisfy the following requirements:
BS Public Health
- Completion of 12 hours at UT Arlington
- Completion of KINE 2350 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH: PRINCIPLES & POPULATIONS EXERCISE SCIENCE with a grade of C or better
- Overall GPA of 2.50.
Curriculum
| Foundations | ||
| General Core Requirements | 42 | |
| Students must complete specific courses in certain core areas. | ||
| For Communication select: | ||
| RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION I and RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION II | ||
| For Mathematics select: | ||
| COLLEGE ALGEBRA | ||
or MATH 1301 | CONTEMPORARY MATHEMATICS | |
| ELEMENTARY STATISTICAL ANALYSIS | ||
| For Life & Physical Science select: | ||
| BIOLOGY I FOR SCIENCE MAJORS: CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY | ||
or BIOL 1345 | INTRODUCTION TO CELL BIOLOGY | |
| HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY I | ||
| For Core Component option select one of the following: | ||
| SPORTS AND SOCIETY | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO POPULAR CULTURE | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY | ||
| Public Health BS Foundations | ||
| Minimum additional lab hours required in core. | 1 | |
| BIOL 2458 | HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY II | 4 |
| BIOL 1442 | BIOLOGY II FOR SCIENCE MAJORS: ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION | 4 |
| or CHEM 1441 | GENERAL CHEMISTRY I | |
| Specialization | ||
| Public Heath Major Core | ||
| KINE 2350 | PUBLIC HEALTH: PRINCIPLES AND POPULATIONS | 3 |
| KINE 3350 | URBANIZATION AND VULNERABLE POPULATIONS | 3 |
| KINE 4349 | PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATICS | 3 |
| KINE 3352 | INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH EPIDEMIOLOGY | 3 |
| KINE 3353 | HEALTH AND THE HUMAN CONDITION IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY | 3 |
| KINE 4351 | PUBLIC HEALTH ETHICS | 3 |
| HEED 4311 | THE ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEMS | 3 |
| KINE 4352 | PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCES AND METHODS | 3 |
| KINE 4354 | PUBLIC HEALTH ADVOCACY AND LEADERSHIP | 3 |
| KINE 3358 | COMMUNICATION FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS | 3 |
| KINE 4357 | PREPARATION FOR THE PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE | 3 |
| KINE 4359 | PUBLIC HEALTH CUMULATIVE EXPERIENCE | 3 |
| Cross-disciplinary Coursework | ||
| HEED 3305 | WOMEN'S HEALTH ISSUES | 3 |
| HEED 3330 | CONSUMER HEALTH AND PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEMS | 3 |
| HEED 4320 | STUDIES IN HEALTHY AGING | 3 |
| KINE 4353 | EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & MANAGEMENT | 3 |
| MANA 4326 | DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATIONS | 3 |
| or KINE 4358 | APPLIED APPROACHES TO DIVERSITY AND CULTURAL AWARENESS IN PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS | |
| Select any courses to complete 120 hours | 18 | |
| Total Hours | 120 | |
Program Completion
Students accepted as Bachelor of Science in Public Health majors in the Department of Kinesiology must maintain the minimum GPAs required for admission or they will be placed on departmental probation. In order to take additional Public Health courses, approval must be granted by the Department Chair. If the student is unable to make up the deficiency in the semester immediately following the probation, the student will lose status as a Bachelor of Science in Public Health major. Courses to make up the GPA deficiency must be taken at UT Arlington. If the student is able to make up the GPA deficiency in the semester immediately following loss of major status, he or she can be reinstated as a major by making application to the Departmental Advisor when grades are released. No courses on the degree plan may be taken as pass/fail.
BSPH majors must meet the overall GPA minimum of 2.5 in order to enroll in the following courses:
- KINE 4352 Public Health Sciences and Methods
- KINE 4354 Public Health Advocacy and Leadership
- KINE 4359 Public Health Cumulative Experience.
Advising Resources
Kinesiology students are advised to meet with an advisor each semester to discuss registration and academic progress. When admitted to the program students will receive email information pertaining to their degree plan.
Location:
554 Pickard Hall
Email:
exssphadvising@uta.edu
Phone:
817-272-2776