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UMassOnline Launches Nation's First Fully Online Master of Public Health in Nutrition

Posted on: Thursday, 1 November 2007, 12:00 CDT

Building on its reputation of breaking new ground in distance education, UMassOnline today announces the launch of the nation's first fully online Master of Public Health in Nutrition degree program. The MPH program, offered through the Amherst campus, marks another significant milestone by offering programs that are in demand and meet the needs of adult learners. Applications for the inaugural class, slated for fall 2008, are currently being accepted.

"The Amherst campus has done outstanding work in pioneering such a vitally important program to the online learning audience," said David Gray, CEO, UMassOnline. "Offering the MPH in Nutrition program online will enable adult learners around the globe to collaborate and effect positive change in public health."

The online MPH in Nutrition program prepares students to tackle today's intensifying societal problems of obesity, malnutrition, and food insecurity. The program is in response to widespread demand for professionals trained in an interdisciplinary approach that encompasses both nutrition science and public health perspectives, according to Dr. Nancy Cohen, interim dean of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences.

The program's online format, which has no residency requirement, enables professionals from anywhere in the world to collaborate in virtual classrooms and earn their fully accredited master's degree from UMass Amherst, without interrupting their careers.

"To train people worldwide in public health and nutrition, to interact with colleagues doing fascinating work around the globe, is extremely exciting," says Cohen. "I foresee some very important discussions and projects emerging from this program."

The online MPH in Nutrition is a natural outgrowth of the school's existing on-campus MPH in Nutrition and online MPH in Public Health Practice. The new program consists of roughly half public health courses and half nutrition courses.

"The MPH component offers students program planning skills and teaches them to assess communities' most pressing needs," says Cohen. "They'll learn to apply public health skills to nutritional issues and to use their scientific knowledge and background to inform public health issues."

The program targets working professionals, including those with doctoral and MD degrees, registered dietitians, health educators, WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) nutrition educators, and others who wish to increase their impact on societal health issues. Candidates studying part time can expect to earn their master's degree in three years.

Cohen expects that students who haven't yet tried online learning will be pleasantly surprised at its effectiveness. "Both UMass Amherst and the Department of Nutrition have a long history of online teaching, and our courses are highly interactive. You really feel you're part of a group."

For more information or to apply to the Online MPH in Nutrition, visit http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/MPHinNutrition.html.

About UMassOnline

UMassOnline, the largest online learning provider in Massachusetts, provides the highest quality education offered by the University of Massachusetts' system in a flexible, online format enabling students, professionals, and lifelong learners to take courses anywhere, anytime. With more than 66 undergraduate and graduate degree, certificate and professional development programs and over 1,400 individual courses, UMassOnline offers one of the largest accredited online programs available. All UMassOnline courses are taught by the same award-winning faculty who teach on campus, offering online students the same rich experience as the face-to-face classroom. Learn more about UMassOnline at http://www.umassonline.net

About UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences

The School of Public Health and Health Sciences addresses complex health issues by integrating traditional core areas of public health with related health science disciplines. The School fosters a unique environment in which transdisciplinary research collaborations can flourish. It features award-winning faculty, numerous opportunities for community-based student internships, and outreach programs and partnerships that promote health and the quality of life in diverse populations. The School offers a wide range of on- and off-campus academic programs in communication disorders, kinesiology, nutrition, and the public health concentrations of biostatistics and epidemiology, community health studies, and environmental health sciences. Learn more at www.UMassULearn.net/mphn.

Source: Business Wire

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