Health & Human Sciences

Free Professional Development

SCSU’s Center of Excellence on Autism Spectrum Disorders serves and supports school-based personnel educating children and youth with an autism spectrum disorder living in Connecticut and beyond. The Center offers a variety of lectures and events throughout the year:  

Successful Strategies for Teaching Students with Autism 

This 20-part professional development video series covers a wide array of topics related to teaching students with autism. These include the most relevant evidence-based practices along with immediately applicable information for parents, caregivers, teachers, and school staff. 

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Routine Traffic Stop Practice 

Participants will learn how to effectively utilize the Blue Envelope when stopped by a police officer. The Blue Envelope is a Connecticut DMV resource that provides a blue-colored envelope with written instructions to assist a motorist with autism spectrum disorder navigate a traffic stop. The envelope also alerts police officers that the individual has autism so that enhanced communication can be reached between the two. You can read more at the DMV Website here

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The Science of Autism  

Monthly discussions on the latest scientific developments and research in the field of autism spectrum disorders. All events are held virtually on Zoom on Friday mornings at 9 am and consist of a 45-minute presentation followed by 15 minutes of questions and answers. These events are free but require advanced registration to receive the Zoom meeting link. Most presentations are recorded and then posted after the event. 

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Autism and the Law 

A nine-part video series to those in the legal system – attorneys, police, judges, criminal justice social workers, and others in the legal system – who work with clients with autism and related disorders. 

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It is no wonder why employers consistently list communication as the top ability they look for in hiring and promoting employees. In fact, Indeed ranks communication skills as the number one most sought-after employability skill. 

If you want to learn more about career opportunities, job growth, and average salaries for those with advanced communication skills, check out My Next Move.  

Noncredit Training

Technical Communication for the Sciences 

Connecticut has become a nucleus of bioscience advances, with one of America's highest concentrations of scientists and engineers – from groundbreaking research and personalized medicine to device manufacturing of the latest metal technology. As one of the nation’s fastest growing hubs in bioscience, there are more than 23,000 science professionals across more than 500 companies in Connecticut. 

Technical communication is the art and science of dissecting, clarifying, and condensing complex data and information into readable, accessible material for a specific audience. 

Southern's Technical Communication for the Sciences certificate is designed to prepare students and mid-career professionals to produce effective, instructive, and concise communication for the science workplace. Students will learn best practices in communication and presentation for end-users who may include a variety of professional, technical, consumer, and specialized audiences. 

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Certificates

Online, self-paced training in partnership with MindEdge. Register and start learning today.  

Certificate in Business Communications 

Communicating clearly and concisely in written and oral formats is critical to your professional success. From clarifying and structuring your ideas to designing the PowerPoint slides that will best complement them, the techniques, interactive exercises, and checklists in this certificate program will help you create presentations and workplace documents that inform and persuade. 

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Fast Company Certificate: Collaborating for Success 

Successful collaboration requires effective communication. As more teams and organizations shift to remote environments, many have been forced to adapt their practices to bolster collaboration. Through the courses in this bundle, learners will identify key components of communication and examine remote collaboration from multiple perspectives, including as team members, individual contributors, and leaders and managers. Learners will gain new strategies and skills for fostering collaboration with others, regardless of distance or physical location. 

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Communication  

Choose from a large variety of specific communication skill training courses, including grammar, proofreading, effective presentations, public speaking, effective email, and more. 

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Careers in counseling and school psychology offer meaningful opportunities to positively impact both individuals and communities, making these careers personally fulfilling for those passionate about mental health, education, and well-being. If you are looking to elevate your career into a role where you can help others, make meaningful contributions, and have a satisfying career, consider furthering your education.     

If you want to learn more about career opportunities, job growth, and average salaries for in Counseling and School Psychology, check out My Next Move.   

For Credit Certificate Programs  

Choose from a variety of credit-level certificate programs. Participating in credit-level programs requires formal admission to SCSU.   

Graduate Certificate Programs  

Addiction Counseling, Graduate Certificate (Fully Online Program) 
A 12-credit, fully online graduate certificate program focused on addiction counseling. 

Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Post-Master's Certificate 
A 20-credit graduate certificate program that includes clinical fieldwork. 

School Counseling, Post-Master's Certificate 
A 20-credit graduate certificate program that includes a counseling internship. 

School Counseling, Sixth Year Certificate 
A 41-credit graduate certificate program that includes clinical fieldwork. 

School Psychology, Sixth Year Certificate (Hybrid) 
One year (38 credits) of full-time continuous study, followed by a year-long internship (a minimum of 1,200 hours in a school-based site and a concurrent seminar). 

The nation is facing a growing shortage of both nurses and nursing faculty, and the demand for these professionals is expected to grow. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of registered nurses is expected to grow by 15 percent from 2016-2026, much faster than average. If you want to learn more about career opportunities, job growth, and average salaries in nursing and healthcare, check out My Next Move.  

Noncredit Training  

Spanish Language and Culture for Healthcare Professionals - Coming Soon 

For Credit Certificate Programs  

Choose from a variety of credit-level certificate programs. Participating in credit-level programs requires formal admission to SCSU.   

Undergraduate Certificate Programs 

Spanish and Latino Cultures for Health Professionals 
The certificate in Spanish and Latino Cultures for Health Professionals is a 12-credit sequence of courses designed to prepare future professionals to serve Spanish-speaking clients in a healthcare setting by developing functional and technical Spanish language skills and cultural awareness about US Latinos. Students may earn 3 waiver credits by proving an intermediate-low proficiency level on STAMP test and 6 waiver credits by proving an intermediate-mid proficiency level on STAMP test. An exit exam proving an intermediate-high level proficiency is required to earn the certificate. 

Graduate Certificate Programs  

Clinical Nurse Leader, Post-Master's Certificate (Fully Online Program) 
A 21-credit, fully online certificate program. 

Family Nurse Practitioner, Post-Master's Certificate 
A 27-credit certificate program is offered for nurses who have already earned an MSN degree in another area. The certificate program consists of 27 credits including Advanced Health Assessment, Advanced Pathophysiology, and Advance Pharmacology. Eighteen credits are required in the FNP Role courses (3 six-credit courses). The 3 FNP Role courses each require 220 hours of clinical practice during the semester, in addition to weekly classroom time. The student and faculty work together to locate a suitable and appropriate clinical site and preceptor for each student.  A total of 660 clinical hours is required to complete the FNP Certificate.  These hours include practice in women's health, pediatrics, family practice and internal medicine, including older adults. 

Nurse Educator, Post-Master's Certificate (Fully Online Program) 
The Certificate in Nursing Education is for registered nurses who already have an MSN. It is for nurses who are interested in developing the knowledge and skills needed to teach nursing. The program is a minimum of nine (9) credits that prepare experienced nurses with knowledge of curriculum development, teaching, and evaluation strategies. Courses are offered that enable students to develop course syllabi, prepare for individual class presentations, and utilize evaluative measures. Both classroom and clinical teaching strategies are discussed. A minimum of 180 clinical hours are required. Students work with an experienced preceptor during their practicum experience as a way to experience the role of a faculty member, staff development educator, or patient educator. 

Family Nurse Practitioner, Post-Master's Certificate 
A certificate program is offered for nurses who have already earned an MSN degree in another area. The certificate program consists of 27 credits, including Advanced Health Assessment, Advanced Pathophysiology, and Advanced Pharmacology. Eighteen credits are required in the FNP Role courses (3 six-credit courses). The 3 FNP Role courses each require 220 hours of clinical practice during the semester, in addition to weekly classroom time. The student and faculty work together to locate a suitable and appropriate clinical site and preceptor for each student.  A total of 660 clinical hours is required to complete the FNP Certificate.  These hours include practice in women's health, pediatrics, family practice and internal medicine, including older adults. 

Enroll in One Training or Complete A Full Medical Spanish Certificate

Three Levels of Medical Spanish Training Options

  • Beginning Medical Spanish I

  • Beginning Medical Spanish II

  • Intermediate Medical Spanish 

Two Levels of Medical Spanish Certificates

  • Medical Spanish Certificate Level I: Beginning Medical Spanish I, Beginning Medical Spanish II, and Intermediate Medical Spanish
  • Medical Spanish Certificate Level II: Advanced Spanish for Health and Human Services Professionals and two additional courses from the following: Conversation for Heritage Speakers, Spanish IV-Latino America, Conversation, Practical Spanish Phonetics, Culture and Civilization of Puerto Rico, Latin-American Civilization, Theory and Practice of Translation, or Professional Translation

Why SCSU for Your Noncredit Medical Spanish Training?

Convenient: All classes are fully online, with live synchronous sessions taught by experienced trainers.

Affordable: Other programs can cost thousands of dollars. Each SCSU noncredit class costs only $299. Complete each certificate for only $997 (or less for those learners who test out of Beginning Medical Spanish I and/or Beginning Medical Spanish II.)

Stackable: Students who complete both certificates will meet the requirements for the Medical Spanish minor if they opt to convert the non-credit certificates into Southern credits.

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Environmental Health Training

The Environmental Health Training (EHTP) course is designed to help prepare and train sanitarians, including those presently and aspiring to be employed in local health departments, in a variety of areas important to the field of environmental health. Topics covered in this course include, but are not limited to, food sanitation, sub-surface sewage disposal, and general environmental health topics such as lead, water, and asbestos. The program consists of three modules: Food Protection, Sewage Disposal, and General Environmental Health Topics.

The EHTP is a workforce development program co-sponsored by the Southern Connecticut State University Department of Public Health and the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

Register here

Are you a social worker looking to improve your practice? Do you want to specialize in helping those experiencing trauma as a result of experiencing a disaster? If you want to learn more about career opportunities, job growth, and average salaries for those working in Disaster Mental Health, check out My Next Move.  

For Credit Certificate Program 

Participating in credit-level programs requires formal admission to SCSU.  

Graduate Certificate Programs 

Disaster Mental Health, Graduate Certificate (Fully Online Program) 
A fully online, 12-credit graduate certificate. May be taken concurrently with or independently from another graduate degree.