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     Certificate in Community Development (9 Credit Hours)

    Astonishing social and economic change presents urban, suburban and rural neighborhoods and communities with uncertain futures and great challenges. Some urban neighborhoods and rural communities are scrambling to stem population out-migration, while others are dealing with population growth and urban sprawl. Community development is a fast-growing field of employment that addresses the social, physical, and economic revitalization and/or restructuring of a neighborhood or community.

    The Certificate in Community Development provides you with a base of community theory uniquely offered through the Department of Sociology and Social Work as well as vital technical skills (such as strategic planning, focus group research and small group dynamics) to address real-world community issues and problems. Once you have taken all the required classes, you will be issued a certificate that recognizes your successful completion of the certificate.

    Required Courses: 

    SOC 679 Community Theory and Development         3 credit hours 
      and either    
    SOC 475  Sociology of Urban and Rural Areas           3 credit hours
            - or -       
    SOC 436 Demography 3 credit hours 
       and either  
    SOC 670 Grant Proposal Development 3 credit hours 
           - or -  
    GSCI 240     Introduction to Geographic Information Systems 3 credit hours
                                          TOTAL CREDIT HOURS 9 credit hours

    At the present time, the Certificate in Community Development is only available online. For more information, contact Mr. Mike Walker (mwalker@fhsu.edu), who coordinates this certificate program.

    Please Note: It is the responsibility of the student to inform the coordinator of the certificate program that he or she has completed the certificate requirements. Your certificate will not be awarded until you have completed the requirements and informed your coordinator of same. To ensure there is enough time to process your certificate, please inform your coordinator by the 21st day of the semester in which the certificate is to be awarded.

    In order to verify certificate completion, the student must go into his/her TigerTracks account, where the unofficial transcript can be found.  Simply highlight and copy the whole unofficial transcript or at least the portion that lists the courses necessary to meet the certificate requirements.  The student may then paste that copied text that is his/her unofficial transcript into an e-mail message to the certificate coordinator.  The student's e-mail note to the certificate coordinator should begin with an expression of the certificate(s) earned, followed by the unofficial transcript.