This advanced graduate certificate will provide students with the opportunity to develop skills to better advocate for the clients and communities they serve. Students will acquire greater knowledge of the regulatory environment and processes (both governmental and private) in the areas in which they work and will be better able to network within those environments on behalf of specific clients, or to effect change in the policies that impact their communities. More specifically, students in this certificate program should gain analytical skills regarding community and institutional organizations and historical and cultural differences in human development, and of power relations and justice. They should be able to apply these skills in a service-learning environment, in addition to demonstrating critical thinking and graduate-level writing skills in the online-classroom environment.

Program Delivery and Tuition Rate

This certificate program is delivered through online courses and is billed at the non-MBA rate.

Students may begin this 12-credit certificate in the fall, spring or summer terms. The required courses and suggested enrollment sequence are as follows:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
PPOL 6055	Human Services Policy	3
PPOL 6070	Race Class & Gender in US Public Policy	3
PPOL 6100	Health, Aging and Social Policy	3
PPOL 6035	Advocacy in State & Community-level Government	3
Total Credits		12

Upon successful completion of this program, students should be able to:

• Recognize and analyze elements of community and institutional organizations
• Recognize and analyze cultural, historical, and individual differences in human development
• Recognize and analyze differences in power relations, and justice and ethical positions
• Employ critical thinking skills in comparative social analysis
• Apply policy reform concepts in a "service learning" environment