2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Department of Public and Environmental Wellness
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Human Health Building
433 Meadow Brook Road
Rochester, MI 48309-4452
(248) 370-3562
shs@oakland.edu
Department Website
Chairperson: Rebecca R. Cheezum, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus: Stafford Rorke
Environmental Health and Safety Director: Thomas Schenk
Wellness and Health Promotion Coordinator: Charlie Rinehart
Public Health Director: Florence J. Dallo
Professor: Florence J. Dallo
Associate professor: Rebecca Cheezum
Assistant professors: Aubrey Arain, Elise C. Brown, Caress A. Dean, Tara L. Diesbourg, Mozhgon Rajaee, Katherine M. Rougeau, Kwame S. Sakyi, Thomas Schenk
Special lecturer: Charles M. Rinehart
Environmental Health and Safety Program
Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) is a specified branch of the health engineering professions, focusing on the environmental protection and occupational safety. Protecting America’s workers, the environment and the general public from injury and illness in today’s age of technological advancement has become one of the most challenging and rewarding professions available. Environmental Health and Safety professionals strive to identify, evaluate and eliminate or control hazards that expose people, property or the environment to danger or harm. The EHS profession applies fundamental exposure assessment techniques (both qualitative and quantitative) for environmental health protection, particularly, the physiological and/or toxicological interactions of physical, chemical, biological, mechanical, electrical and ergonomic agents, factors, and/or stressors with the human body. Environmental Health and Safety also aims to prevent occupational injuries, diseases or illnesses that may occur in the work environment. In addition, the EHS professional is involved in the prevention of accidents that could cause property or environmental damages.
The Environmental Health and Safety program is multi-disciplinary in nature, providing students with relevant exposure to basic sciences and behavioral science subjects as well as a thorough introduction to environmental health, occupational safety and industrial hygiene concepts. A one-semester internship in the senior year of the program provides students with first-hand field experience in the practice of environmental health and safety. Internship placements are approved and monitored by the program director and include manufacturing, insurance, health care, energy and engineering, construction, service, consulting, labor, and government organizations.
Graduates of the program will find employment opportunities in a wide variety of occupations, including health care facilities, industrial firms, petrochemical and energy, construction companies, insurance companies, professional associations, local, state, and federal government, and labor organizations. Oakland University’s proximity to many of the national’s leading industrial companies provides a wealth of experiential learning opportunities throughout the EHS curriculum, particularly for the internship placements. These world-class companies also offer employment opportunities to the EHS graduate.
Wellness and Health Promotion Program
The Wellness and Health Promotion (WHP) program prepares entry-level employment in a variety of health, commercial, industrial, government, hospital, community and non-profit organizations. A parallel secondary function of the WHP program prepares students for entry to graduate programs of study in fields such as exercise science, health education, human resources, public health, and related professional and medical fields such as a second degree in nursing, physician assistant, or medicine. Professional skills of graduates are utilized in health enhancement, disease prevention, health education/promotion, health and fitness, corporate and work-site wellness, as well as human resource practice and management.
High-achieving students who would like to complete a bachelor’s and master’s degree in less time than would be required if the two degrees were done independently should pursue the Wellness and Health Promotion B.S. to MPH 4+1, combined bachelor/master degree program. Additionally, the School of Health Sciences and the School of Nursing have partnered to create the Wellness and Health Promotion (WHP) to Accelerated Second-Degree (ASD) Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) pathway. This pathway is for first-time pre-nursing freshman students who did not gain admission to the Basic BSN program after their first year of study. Up to five pre-nursing students will be offered automatic admission to the ASD program through the WHP-ASD pathway.
Schedule of classes
Specific offerings for each semester may be found in the Schedule of Classes.
ProgramsBachelor of ScienceNon DegreeCourses
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