Sep 27, 2023  
2019-2020 Graduate Catalog 
    
2019-2020 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Graduate Certificates



Office of Graduate Certificates

University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Ave., LIB 608
Tampa, FL 33620-8470

Web address: http://www.usf.edu/innovative-education/programs/graduate-certificates/
Phone: 813-974-0932
Fax: 813-974-7061

 

Graduate Certificate Policies

The areas of study for the Graduate Certificates are created within the mission of graduate education. Students will be awarded certificates upon completion of specific course work, which has been approved by the Graduate Council. The Graduate Certificate is not defined as a degree by the Office of Graduate Studies; rather, it is a focused collection of courses that, when completed, affords the student some record of distinct academic accomplishment in a given discipline or set of related disciplines. Moreover, the Graduate Certificate is not viewed as a guaranteed means of entry into a graduate major. While the courses comprising a graduate certificate may be used as evidence in support of a student’s application for admission to a graduate major, the certificate itself is not considered to be a prerequisite.

Process of Approval for New Graduate Certificates

Prior to submission of a new Graduate Certificate Proposal, a Concept Proposal form must be submitted through the College Dean to the Academic Program Advisory Council (APAC) for a 14-day posting. Once cleared through APAC the faculty sponsor may proceed with submission of the proposal through normal curriculum processing procedures. Proposals for new areas of study for graduate certificates are created and submitted by the academic unit that wishes to offer such a certificate. Proposals must be accompanied by endorsement from the department heads and deans of the colleges/schools in which the contributing course work is offered as well as from the academic unit or units whose students or majors could be impacted by the creation of the graduate certificate. The Graduate Council will consider all the proposals for new graduate certificates to assure proposal guidelines have been followed and that repetition and redundancy across areas of study for certificates are not evident. Those meeting the criteria set forth by the Graduate Council will then be recommended for approval.

Criteria for Approval

The general principles applied to the assessment of the academic quality of proposals for new graduate areas of study for certificates include:

  1. The sequence of course work must offer a clear and appropriate educational objective at the post-baccalaureate level.
  2. The curriculum will consist of at least two structured core graduate courses taken at USF, specific to the area of study. Substitutions to the core courses are not permitted. A minimum of nine unique credit hours is required for the certificate curriculum.
  3. The curriculum will achieve its educational objective in an efficient and well-defined manner.
  4. A perceived need for such a certificate should exist. This provision might be defined in terms of either external markets (i.e., external demand for the skills associated with such a certificate) or internal academic means (i.e., the need for a critical mass of students in a given discipline).
  5. An appropriate number of credit hours must comprise the area of study for the certificate, with the typical range being 12-15 hours. The number of graduate credits cannot be less than nine (9) or more than one-half of the credits necessary for a related master’s degree offered at USF.
  6. If the area of study for a certificate requires new courses, those courses must be approved by the appropriate College bodies or offices and the Graduate Council.

Student Eligibility and Admission Criteria

Students must apply and be accepted into the Graduate Certificate to be eligible to receive a certificate. The prerequisites and general criteria of eligibility for admission to any graduate certificate area of study include:

  1. An earned baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from a regionally accredited college or university or enrollment in a USF Accelerated Major is required. Students in Accelerated Majors may be admitted upon completion of 120 semester hours.
  2. Each Graduate Certificate specifies the requirements for admission, including minimum grade point average, standardized test scores, and other similar criteria as part of the application. However, prospective non‐degree seeking graduate certificate students must meet University Graduate Admissions grade point average requirements.
  3. Graduate Certificate students will be held to the academic standards for all graduate students as specified in the Graduate Catalog, except for any additional requirements as noted in the section in the Graduate Catalog regarding Graduate Certificates.

    Students who wish to pursue a Graduate Certificate must apply to the Graduate Certificate Office (http://www.usf.edu/innovative-education/programs/graduate-certificates/) and be admitted to the Graduate Certificate. Students are encouraged to contact the coordinator prior to applying.
  • Non-Degree Seeking Students
    All non-degree seeking students who wish to pursue approved graduate certificates should apply for admission to the Graduate Certificate program through the Graduate Certificate Office as soon as possible for maximum benefit, but must apply to the Certificate and complete required coursework within five years of taking the first course applicable to the certificate.

    Students must submit a Completion Form to the department for approval and submission to the Office of Graduate Certificates for the Graduate Certificate to be awarded. Certificate-seeking-students will be classified as “Graduate Certificate Students.” As such, they are not eligible for financial aid and will receive a later registration date than degree-seeking students.

 

  • Degree Seeking Students
    • Admission - All degree seeking students who wish to pursue approved graduate certificates must apply for admission to the Graduate Certificate program through the Graduate Certificate Office. Students must apply for admission to the certificate prior to the deadline to apply for graduation by the fourth week of the semester in which the student plans to graduate.

Completion

For Graduate Certificates within the Major, students must submit the Completion form by the fourth week of the semester in which the student plans to graduate. For Graduate Certificates in a discipline outside the Major, students must submit the Completion form no later than ten years after starting the first course applied to the Certificate.

  1. Students pursuing a graduate certificate are required to meet the same academic requirements as those defined for degree-seeking students to remain in “good standing”.
  2. All graduate certificate students may apply one graduate course to a maximum of two graduate certificates.
  3. All graduate certificate students must meet all prerequisites for courses in which they wish to enroll.
  4. Should a graduate certificate student subsequently apply and be accepted to a graduate major, the University’s Application of Internal Credit Policy applies. Any application of such credit must be approved by the degree-granting college and must be appropriate to the major. No courses taken outside of USF may be transferred into a Graduate Certificate at USF.
  5. Students must have been awarded a bachelor’s or higher degree to be eligible.

Graduate Certificates

•  Academic Advising Graduate Certificate

•  Addictions and Substance Abuse Counseling Graduate Certificate

•  Advanced Pain Management Fellowship Graduate Certificate

•  Aging & Neuroscience Graduate Certificate

•  American Culture & Society Graduate Certificate

•  Analytics and Business Intelligence Graduate Certificate

•  Anatomy Graduate Certificate

•  Applied Biostatistics Graduate Certificate

•  Applied Linguistics Graduate Certificate

•  Assessing Chemical Toxicity and Public Health Risks Graduate Certificate

•  Autism Spectrum Disorder Graduate Certificate

•  Bioinformatics Graduate Certificate

•  Biotechnology Graduate Certificate

•  Building Sustainable Enterprise Graduate Certificate

•  Business Analytics Graduate Certificate

•  Business Foundations Graduate Certificate

•  Children’s Mental Health Graduate Certificate

•  Climate Change and Sustainability Graduate Certificate

•  Clinical Aging Sciences Graduate Certificate

•  Clinical Investigation Graduate Certificate

•  College Teaching Graduate Certificate

•  Community Development Graduate Certificate

•  Comparative Literary Studies Graduate Certificate

•  Compliance, Risk, & Anti‐Money Laundering Graduate Certificate

•  Concepts & Tools of Epidemiology Graduate Certificate

•  Creative Writing Graduate Certificate

•  Criminal Justice Administration Graduate Certificate

•  Cyber Intelligence Graduate Certificate

•  Cybersecurity Awareness and Education Graduate Certificate

•  Data Science for Public Administration Graduate Certificate

•  Digital Forensics Graduate Certificate

•  Digital Humanities Graduate Certificate

•  Disabilities Education: Severe/Profound Graduate Certificate

•  Disaster Management Graduate Certificate

•  Diversity in Education Graduate Certificate

•  elearning Design and Development Graduate Certificate

•  Energy Sustainability Graduate Certificate

•  Entrepreneurship Graduate Certificate

•  Environmental Policy & Management Graduate Certificate

•  Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases Graduate Certificate

•  ESOL Graduate Certificate

•  Evaluation Graduate Certificate

•  Exceptional Student Education Graduate Certificate

•  Film & New Media Studies Graduate Certificate

•  Florida Digital/Virtual Educator Graduate Certificate

•  Food Sustainability and Security Graduate Certificate

•  Foreign Language Education: Culture and Content Graduate Certificate

•  Foreign Language Education: Professional Graduate Certificate

•  Geographical Information Systems Graduate Certificate

•  Gerontology Graduate Certificate

•  Global Health Practice Graduate Certificate

•  Global Sustainability Graduate Certificate

•  Health and Wellness Coaching Graduate Certificate

•  Health Informatics Graduate Certificate

•  Health Management & Leadership Graduate Certificate

•  Health Sciences Graduate Certificate

•  Health, Safety and Environment Graduate Certificate

•  Healthcare Analytics Graduate Certificate

•  Homeland Security Graduate Certificate

•  Hospice, Palliative Care, and End of Life Studies Graduate Certificate

•  Human Resources Graduate Certificate

•  Humanitarian Assistance Graduate Certificate

•  Hydrogeology Graduate Certificate

•  Infection Control Graduate Certificate

•  Information Assurance Graduate Certificate•  

•  Instructional Technology: Web Design Graduate Certificate

•  Intellectual Property Graduate Certificate

•  Latin American & Caribbean Studies Graduate Certificate

•  Leadership for Coastal Resiliency Planning Graduate Certificate

•  Leadership in Developing Human Resources Graduate Certificate

•  Management of Non-Governmental and Non-Profit Organizations Graduate Certificate

•  Marriage & Family Therapy Graduate Certificate

•  Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Certificate

•  Maternal & Child Health Graduate Certificate

•  Medicine & Gender Graduate Certificate

•  Nanopharmaceutics Graduate Certificate

•  Nursing Education (Post Master’s) Graduate Certificate

•  Pathology Graduate Certificate

•  Pharmacoepidemiology Graduate Certificate

•  Pharmacy Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Management Graduate Certificate

•  Pharmacy Update & Practice Management Graduate Certificate

•  Positive Behavior Support Graduate Certificate

•  Post Master’s Leadership in Higher Education Graduate Certificate

•  Pre-Professional Pharmacy Graduate Certificate

•  Professional and Technical Communication Graduate Certificate

•  Project Management Graduate Certificate

•  Public Health Generalist Graduate Certificate

•  Public Health Policy & Programs Graduate Certificate

•  Public Management Graduate Certificate

•  Qualitative Research Graduate Certificate

•  Reading Endorsement Graduate Certificate

•  Robotics Graduate Certificate

•  Scholarly Excellence, Leadership Experiences, & Collaborative Training (S.E.L.E.C.T) Graduate Certificate

•  School Counseling (Post Master’s) Graduate Certificate

•  Social Marketing & Social Change Graduate Certificate

•  Statistical Data Analysis Graduate Certificate

•  Strategic Intelligence Graduate Certificate

•  Sustainable Tourism Graduate Certificate

•  Sustainable Transportation Graduate Certificate

•  Systems Engineering Graduate Certificate

•  Teacher Leadership for Student Learning Graduate Certificate

•  Teaching & Communicating Ocean Sciences Broader Impacts Graduate Certificate

•  Teaching in Pharmacy Graduate Certificate

•  Technology Management Graduate Certificate

•  Total Quality Management Graduate Certificate

•  Toxicology Graduate Certificate

•  Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health Graduate Certificate

•  Transportation System Analysis Graduate Certificate

•  Water Sustainability Graduate Certificate

•  Water, Health and Sustainability Graduate Certificate

•  Wireless Engineering Graduate Certificate

•  Women’s and Gender Studies Graduate Certificate