Community Health Education, Ph.D.
The Ph.D. in Community Health Education is designed to engage doctoral students in an active learning environment that prepares them academically and professionally to conduct significant public health research and advanced practice. Graduates of the doctoral program take roles as researchers, academics, and public health leaders and professionals committed to social change and to facilitating the resolution of public health outcomes important to the community and field. The Ph.D. requires 63 credit hours beyond an appropriate master’s degree (90 credit hours without a qualifying master’s degree). Students who enter with a master’s degree are required to earn a minimum of 48 credits of course work and 15 credits of dissertation work. The department’s faculty have a strong base in approaches that embrace the social ecological framework and are committed to community engaged interaction and research.
The educational objectives of the Ph.D. program are to:
- Provide an ecological perspective of health and the related advanced theory important in preparing students for careers in practice-based research.
- Prepare students to function as leaders in community-based prevention research in academic, research, or public health organizations.
- Provide experiences to ground students’ research in the problems and issues facing public health education practitioners and policymakers.
- Provide research experiences designed to develop the technical, conceptual, and communications skills required for independent research.
Assessment of courses or experiences applicable to the degree occurs at the time of admission into the program. The student’s doctoral program committee will work with each candidate to develop a course of study within the framework of the program and informed by the student’s personal interests, past course work, and professional experiences.
For information regarding deadlines and requirements for admission, please see the Guide to Graduate Admissions.
In addition to the minimum admission materials required by The Graduate School, applicants should submit:
- A statement of purpose, not to exceed two single-spaced pages, that includes:
- Your research interests, how they developed (including how your volunteer, work, and personal experiences led to your interests), and who on our faculty you would be interested in working with and why.
- Your career goals.
- Why UNC Greensboro is a good fit for you and why you are a good fit for UNC Greensboro.
- Three letters of recommendation. Your reference providers are required to write a letter on your behalf in addition to filling out the required form. We also recommend that at least one of your letters of recommendation come from a professor or course instructor.
For best consideration, materials should be provided by December 2nd although strong students will be considered on a rolling basis until the class is filled. Admission is for the Fall only and applicants can be admitted as either full-time or part-time students.
Degree Program Requirements
Required: 63 credit hours (90 credit hours without a qualifying master's degree)
The Ph.D. in Community Health Education requires 63 credit hours beyond an appropriate master’s degree (90 credit hours without a qualifying master’s degree). Students who enter with a master’s degree are required to earn a minimum of 48 credits of course work and 15 credits of dissertation work.
Entering doctoral students who have not completed one or more of the Public Health Core or Health Education Core courses must complete these courses as part of their program in addition to the minimum 63 credit hours (HEA 758 is required for all doctoral students).
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Profession Core (12-30 credits) | ||
| Public Health Core (0-9 credits) 1 | ||
| HEA 704 | Quantitative Methods | 3 |
| HEA 707 | Determinants of Health | 3 |
| HEA 710 | Epidemiology Methods | 3 |
| Health Education Core (3-12 credits) 2 | ||
| HEA 718 | Assessment and Program Planning I | 3 |
| HEA 721 | Public Health Theories and Strategies | 3 |
| HEA 726 | Evaluation Methods | 3 |
| HEA 758 | Advanced Theoretical Basis for Community Health Education 3 | 3 |
| Professional Development (9 credits) | ||
| HHS 703 | Teaching Undergraduates in Health and Human Services | 3 |
| HHS 750 | Professional Development Seminar | 3 |
| Select at least one course (3 credits) from the following: | 3 | |
| Promoting and Protecting Health through Entrepreneurship | ||
| Doctoral Seminar in Grant Writing | ||
| Research Core (21 credits) | ||
| Foundations (3 credits) | ||
| HEA 751 | Foundations of Research for Public Health Education | 3 |
| Methods (18 credits) | ||
| HEA 705 | Qualitative Methods in Public Health | 3 |
| HEA 752 | Quantitative Methods in Public Health | 3 |
| HEA 765 | Advanced Program Evaluation in Public Health Education | 3 |
| Select at least three courses (9 credits) from the following: 4 | 9 | |
| Engaging Communication Scholarship II | ||
| Introduction to Qualitative Inquiry: A Social Justice Approach | ||
| Structural Equation Modeling in Education | ||
| Hierarchical Linear Modeling | ||
| Case Study Methods in Educational Research | ||
| Survey Research Methods in Education | ||
| Intermediate Statistical Methods in Education | ||
| Design and Analysis of Educational Experiments | ||
| Advanced Research Design in Human Development and Family Studies | ||
| Applied Multiple Regression | ||
| Statistical Applications for Nursing Research | ||
| Statistical Applications for Nursing Research II | ||
| Qualitative Methods for Nursing | ||
| Survey Methods for Policy Research | ||
| Statistical Methods in Psychology I | ||
| Statistical Methods in Psychology II | ||
| Advanced Data Analysis | ||
| Nonparametric Statistics | ||
| Categorical Data Analysis | ||
| Sample Survey Methods | ||
| Mixed Methods Research Design in Curriculum and Instruction | ||
| Electives (15 credits) | ||
| Select 15 credits from the following: 5 | 15 | |
| Management of Community Health Organizations | ||
| Social Epidemiology | ||
| Advanced Community Health Projects | ||
| Topics in Community Health Research | ||
| Global Health Issues | ||
| Gender and Health | ||
| Problems Seminar | ||
| Foundations of Educational Measurement Theory | ||
| Seminar: Social Psychology and Physical Activity | ||
| Urban and Regional Development Policy | ||
| Dissertation (15 credits) | ||
| HEA 799 | Doctoral Dissertation Research | 15 |
| Total Credit Hours | 63 | |
| 1 | Public Health Core courses may be waived with an accredited M.P.H./M.S. degree or related degree. |
| 2 | |
| 3 | HEA 758 is required for all doctoral students. |
| 4 | Students should work with their advisor and committee to select course work complementary of expected dissertation method needs. Additional methods courses taken beyond the required courses may count as part of elective requirements. |
| 5 | The list provides examples of possible electives. Elective choices should be made under the advisement of the student's doctoral program committee. A minimum of 6 credits of HEA courses is required. Additional methods or professional development courses taken above those required may be counted toward elective requirements. |