Master of Science in Community Resources and Development

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

The BA program in community advocacy and social policy focuses on advocacy strategies through an in-depth exploration, analysis and comparison of social service systems and policies from an empowerment perspective.

The program's emphasis is on examining the needs of historically under-served individuals, families and communities. Policy analysis and social change are critical themes in developing an advocacy knowledge base as are the equally important themes of prevention and social well-being. Students complete courses in two core areas: diversity and oppressed populations and social issues and interventions.

While the Bachelor of Arts in community advocacy and social policy program is fully accredited regionally under the North Central Regional Higher Education Association, it is not accredited through the Council of Social Work Education because this degree is not a BSW degree. Therefore, the Bachelor of Arts in community advocacy and social policy degree would not fulfill a professional licensing requirement that requires a Bachelor of Social Work degree from a CSWE-accredited Bachelor of Social Work program.

Biomedical informatics is a multidisciplinary field that involves the generation, acquisition, management and analysis of biomedical and health data and its translation into information and knowledge for improving individual and population health.

The BS program in biomedical informatics curriculum includes biomedical informatics, computer science, biology, chemistry, mathematics and statistics. Students learn approaches to acquiring data, data management and knowledge representation, modeling and machine learning and using these capabilities to address problems in the biomedical and health domains. Students have the opportunity to do research alongside faculty who are experts in bioinformatics, imaging informatics, clinical informatics and population health informatics.

The BA program in community development equips students with tools to collaborate with, empower and educate diverse community constituents by drawing on grassroots and inclusive frameworks such as sustainable development, social and environmental justice, participatory democracy, social and economic equity and social accounting.

The BS program in community health develops leaders who are dedicated to addressing health challenges at their source while also creating partnerships to leverage resources. This program is designed for students who want to create healthy, sustainable communities.

Community health professionals work in partnership to address health needs of diverse populations. Students learn to understand the components of a healthy, sustainable community; advocate for diverse individuals, families and communities; and provide health education, health promotion and service coordination.

Graduates of this program provide health education, health promotion, care coordination, disease management, health care navigation and advocacy services for individuals, families and communities.

This degree program has the same prerequisites as the nursing major; therefore, students may transition seamlessly to this program and obtain a bachelor's degree in a health-related field.

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

The MPP program equips students with the analytical tools they need 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.

Through a focused set of electives, the policy informatics concentration provides knowledge and skills to students seeking careers in which they can use informatics tools, models and simulations to help individuals and groups deliberate and evaluate policy decisions as well as explore new governance infrastructures. Emphasis is placed on theories and research concerning decision-making, complexity theory and visualization of quantitative and qualitative information, collective intelligence, behavioral economics and persuasive technologies.

The core curriculum provides students with the intellectual tools to integrate their concentration areas, engage in transdisciplinary problem-solving and prepare for careers and graduate programs that increasingly cross disciplinary boundaries. An interdisciplinary studies student could choose to integrate concentrations like business and project management, psychology and social welfare, communication and justice studies, public administration and ethics, digital culture and computer gaming or many other unique combinations.

Interdisciplinary studies is an approach to answering questions, solving problems and addressing contemporary social issues from multiple perspectives. Interdisciplinary studies students take an active role in designing their educational plans and defining their career goals. The degree emphasizes written communication, versatility, self-assessment and critical thinking --- essential skills for today's dynamic world.

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.

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.

The School of Public Affairs offers a concentration in emergency management and homeland security as part of the BS in public service and public policy.

This concentration program provides students with the skills and knowledge to manage and assume positions of leadership within the field of emergency management and homeland security. Concepts of public policy and management are blended with emergency management principles to enhance and foster critical thinking within the general field of study. More specifically, the program's focus provides the student with a comprehensive perspective, which is critically important for emerging leaders in disaster management.

Sports journalism is the fastest-growing sector of the news media industry, with continued growth on all platforms --- multimedia outlets, broadcast and cable channels and networks, radio and podcasting, and team, league and conference websites and social media platforms.

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication's MA program in sports journalism is a 36 credit hour, three-semester program providing students with unparalleled preparation for careers in sports media and communications.

Students begin with an intensive multimedia skills-based course, which teaches them to produce sports and news coverage across broadcast, digital and print platforms. From there, students choose advanced classes in sports reporting, videography, podcast production, live sports production, play-by-play, narrative writing, documentary video and participate in sports bureaus located in Phoenix and Los Angeles. Students learn the values and principles embodied by Walter Cronkite in classes that focus on sports journalism ethics and the challenges faced by the industry.