Bachelor of Science in Public Service and Public Policy (American Indian Studies)

at Kaplan Group - Arizona State University - Downtown Phoenix Campus USA

The School of Public Affairs offers a concentration in health policy as part of the BS program in public service and public policy. This program allows students to build a course of study that focuses on the health care industry. This sector continues to be a major part of the U.S. and world economy.

The concentration in health policy provides students who have an interest in policy to focus on health-related issues and their policy implications. The courses in the concentration are offered by the College of Health Solutions and the School of Human Evolution and Social Change.

The professional program leading to the MSW degree prepares social workers for advanced professional social work practice. The program is designed to prepare social workers to be capable of responding effectively to the needs of special populations, particularly in the American Southwest.

The first year of the standard program focuses on curriculum and skills that build a foundational knowledge in social work. The second year of the program allows students to focus their coursework in a specific area to build specialized practice knowledge.

Complementary to the nation's first BS degree in nonprofit leadership and management, the American Indian studies concentration empowers purpose-driven students to be culturally aware, competent, and ready for key roles that enable them to advance nonprofits that serve tribal lands, including those organized by tribal governments.

The nonprofit sector in the United States is unique in form and function. This sector includes institutions and individuals situated between government, public, business and commerce sectors. Students learn about the nonprofit sector through curriculum instruction and field experience. The concentration in American Indian studies familiarizes students with American Indian worldviews, current issues and tribal governance. Many students in the nonprofit sector work with American Indian populations.

The School of Public Affairs offers a concentration in business as part of the BS in public service and public policy.

This concentration establishes a core business curriculum while allowing students the flexibility to pursue their passion, from entrepreneurial opportunities to working for a Fortune 500 company. Coursework teaches lasting business concepts.

The BS in population health program integrates the fields of public health and health care delivery to teach students about the factors that impact health.

Students learn how social determinants of health, access to care and infrastructure influence the health of defined groups, as well as the roles of stakeholders and how to work across systems to improve health. Students benefit as the field of population health requires training in disciplines fundamental to the College of Health Solutions, including biomedical informatics, economics, social determinants of health, program and community assessment, program planning, and health care delivery.

The multidisciplinary program features experiential learning, including student engagement as citizen scientists, to better understand population health. Students can customize their learning by focusing on environmental health systems, food systems, mental health systems, compliance in the health care industry, health education programs, the design and improvement of population health systems, or health informatics.

Learn to understand complex public problems and develop and implement innovative policy solutions. Through coursework and real-world projects, you can gain the analytic skills required for addressing society's most challenging problems.

The MPP program equips students with the analytical tools they need in order to understand and address public policy issues. Students also develop skills in managing the process of policy development, approval, implementation and evaluation, as well as gain policy-specific knowledge on issues such as poverty, education, the environment and public safety.

The BS program in community sports management focuses on preparing individuals with an interest in managing sport programs and activities for children, youth, adults and seniors in nonprofit, municipal and for-profit organizations.

The program emphasizes the many roles community sports plays within the community including as a mechanism to improve overall quality of life, youth development, sport tourism and community development. Both program delivery and managerial functions are targeted. Specific areas of opportunity include work with youth sports, adaptive sports, sports tourism, sport events and adult recreational sports.

Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior. This diverse field includes mental health and counseling as well as child development, neuroscience and brain function, memory and decision-making, behavior analysis, statistics and crosses into other disciplines such as medicine, law, business and economics.

Emphasizing critical thinking and reasoning, and quantitative research methods and writing, this BS program in psychology goes beyond the classroom with practical experiences through internships, service-learning and faculty-supervised research. (Some opportunities are not available to students enrolled in the degree offered through ASU Online.)

The Bachelor of Science degree differs from the Bachelor of Arts degree in that it requires two additional lab courses and advanced statistical training, providing a greater depth of knowledge in the biological and neuroscientific aspects of psychology that are increasingly important both for research and for clinical practice. The advanced statistical training further prepares students for careers and graduate training involving psychological research, clinical research and legal policy research.

The BS program in health entrepreneurship and innovation provides students with a broad background in the principles of innovation, leadership, complexity science, change theory, collaboration and evidence-based decision-making to prepare graduates to manage implementation of innovation in the health care arena.

Through the use of evidence-based decision-making and leadership skills in interprofessional teams, students learn to tackle health care challenges using modern technology, public policy and communication. This unique program situates students at the intersection of innovation and entrepreneurship, enabling them to develop their own solutions to health challenges.

Program areas of emphasis:

• Develop competence in the design, application and testing of innovative processes and products
• Incorporate current trends with interprofessional teams
• Lead processes of innovation and transformation

Public health practitioners reduce the incidence of communicable disease and occupational illness among the public with sanitation, safety and disease mitigation practices. This degree is for students interested in working at state, local and territorial health departments where responsibilities could include injury prevention; communicable disease control; advising the public; planning public programs; regulating health standards in businesses, hospitals and public spaces; and coordinating screening services.

The BS in public health teaches students the scientific foundation of public health by focusing on public health domains, namely:

• Environmental health
• Ethical and cultural appropriateness in public health practice
• Infectious disease control
• National and local sanitation intervention implementation
• Occupational health and safety
• Urban and rural health procedures, statutes and regulations

An internship gives students practical experience in public health professions. Students are prepared for public health careers and graduate study in areas such as public health, population health and science of health care delivery.