In addition to graduate degrees, Bowling Green State University offers graduate certificates. Students may enroll in only a certificate program, or may complete a certificate in conjunction with a graduate degree at BGSU. Bioinformatics, Proteomics/Genomics
Bioinformatics, proteomics, and genomics (BPG) have transformed biological research. The health of our research and educational programs as well as progress in biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, and related fields, depends on incorporating these tools.
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To address the need for training in these new disciplines, an interdisciplinary team of professors from BGSU and the University of Toledo now offer a comprehensive set of four BPG courses. These courses are designed for graduate students from a variety of backgrounds. Courses may be taken individually and a Certificate will be awarded on completion of all four courses (12 semester hours). Students participate in classes through internet-based videoconferencing and computer lab sessions at one of the institutions.
The four courses are:
Fundamentals of Bioinformatics and Proteomics/Genomics Statistical Methods in Bioinformatics
Introduction to Bioinformatic Computation
Applications of Bioinformatics and Proteomics/Genomics Ethnic Studies
The graduate certificate in Ethnic Studies is offered within an
interdisciplinary/ multidisciplinary framework. The curriculum contributes to societal needs as it addresses issues of racial and ethnic diversity in the workplace, community, nation, and world during a period of profound
demographic change. It is designed to provide professional study in an area of increasing importance to practitioners in social, health, and immigration service agencies; law; and K-12 and community college education, among other occupations. The certificate also offers a graduate credential to
students pursuing advanced degrees and seeking to broaden their teaching and research competencies in order to enhance their career options and employment prospects.
Food and Nutrition
The 15-semester hour graduate certificate in Food and Nutrition allows students to pursue concentrated study of food and nutrition through
graduate coursework. The Certificate curriculum includes studies in nutrient metabolism, nutritional principles related to health and disease, community nutrition, and food science. The Certificate Program provides knowledge of food and nutrition that is applicable to health care, business, professional, and personal situations involving nutrition. The Food and Nutrition Graduate Certificate may be desired by students currently pursuing other graduate degree programs (e.g. public health; human movement, sport, and leisure studies; biological sciences), allied health professions, or students in the Dietetic Internship who have an interest in advanced study of food and nutrition but do not wish to complete a graduate degree.
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The Geospatial Technology certificate program is designed to provide students with a theoretical base in geospatial technology, a basis for
research design in geospatial technology, and also provide students with an opportunity to apply geospatial technology theory and research design to their field of study. Because this is a joint endeavor of Environmental Programs, Geography, and Geology, students may opt for a sequence of courses that will be somewhat focused on either the natural or the social sciences, depending on their disciplinary orientation.
The focus of the program will be GIS, remote sensing, and GPS and their applications to research design and problem-solving in the natural and social sciences.
Gerontology
The 15-semester hour graduate certificate in Gerontology was designed by the College of Health and Human Services to prepare students to help promote successful aging among the elderly. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, the certificate curriculum acknowledges the role of biological, psychological, and social influences on older adults’ well-being. The
certificate program is appropriate for professionals who occupy positions in agencies and institutions that directly administer and deliver services to the elderly, but who have not received recent formal training in gerontology; for students pursuing academic and/or research careers that focus on the
elderly; and for students who anticipate their chosen profession (e.g., business, health care) will bring them into contact with older adults. Regardless of a student’s career goals, the Certificate Program provides knowledge of gerontology that is applicable to all business, professional, and personal situations involving older adults.
International Scientific and Technical Communication
An online graduate certificate in international technical communication would meet the needs of working professionals by providing them with a distance education opportunity to learn advanced theoretical and practical approaches to composing documents and other information products for local and global translation; writing collaboratively online in increasingly more diverse virtual workspaces; developing best practices for new online writing workspaces that are informed by current technical communication research.
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An online graduate certificate program reaches out to workplaces across the state of Ohio whose growing reliance on technology to enhance their
productivity requires the expertise of technical communicators. By affording continuing education opportunities to these working
professionals, our certificate program will directly enhance the productivity of the industries in which they work.
Organizational Change
Dramatic shifts in the global economic landscape are forcing organizations to become significantly more adept at change. Most organizations today require agility to succeed; in an increasing number of cases, flexibility is a required attribute for organizational survival. As such, the Bowling Green State University Master of Organization Development program has developed a Graduate Certificate program to provide formal preparation in the field of organization development and change.
Quality Systems
Created at BGSU in response to demands from quality professionals, the quality systems graduate certificate (QSGD) reflects the American Society for Quality (ASQ) continuous improvement mission based on disciplined analysis of systems in technical environments. Process analysis for reduction in variation of product and providing high quality consistently with no
defects, is the goal. This includes preparation for management and facilitation of ISO and QS 9000 standards registration and maintenance functions and new product launch changes for advanced product quality planning (APQP). The QSGC serves various learners, particularly non- traditional, full-time working professionals from various locations. All work done in quality systems courses is team-based in a project context similar to how quality improvement is pursued in actual professional functions. The curriculum is also designed to facilitate project-based course work via an applied research emphasis. All courses utilize distance technology.
Women's Studies
The graduate certificate in Women’s Studies brings together scholars and graduate students across the University actively engaged in interdisciplinary feminist scholarship. This graduate certificate is an official acknowledgement of training and expertise in the field of women’s and gender studies. The certificate program provides students with knowledge of a unified approach to the study of fundamental issues in sex and gender studies. Students examine how sex and gender have been reflected in culture across time;
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how they shape institutions as well as personal experience; how they interact with issues such as race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class; and how new ways of thinking about gender challenge the processes by which knowledge about human beings and our behavior is acquired, interpreted, and transmitted.
The graduate certificate is intended to supplement professional training, whatever it may be. As a stand-alone credential, the certificate is designed for individuals working in fields related to women’s health care and well being, as well as professionals in positions of advocacy for women,
elementary, high school, and community college teachers, and returning, nontraditional students.
The certificate acknowledges formal training and expertise in issues of
cultural diversity, gender equity, feminist theory, feminist methodology, and the infusion of gender into all psychological, social, and mediated
relationship.