UIS Graduate and Undergraduate Catalog
Academic Year 2006 - 2007

Graduate certificates provide students with an opportunity to gain specialized knowledge at the graduate level while requiring less coursework than would be required for a full degree. A graduate certificate can be a good choice for students who have completed a baccalaureate degree, but who do not seek a full master’s degree; for students who are pursuing a master’s degree and wish to use the graduate certificate coursework as an area of specialization; and for students who have completed master’s degrees and who desire additional coursework related to their job responsibilities.

COLLEGE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND ADMINISTRATION

GRADUATE CERTIFICATES

Graduate Certificates offered in: Public Sector Labor Relations, Management of Nonprofit Organizations, Environmental Risk Assessment, Law for Social Workers and Human Services Professionals

These certificates are designed to provide specialized knowledge and skills required for effective management of public agencies or their subunits. The curricula focus on improving the administrative knowledge and performance of individuals employed at all levels of government and nonprofit organizations. Certificates are awarded on completion of the course work.  Brochures detailing content, policies, and procedures for each are available from the departments hosting the certificates.

Graduate certificates provide students with the opportunity to gain substantial graduate-level expertise in specified areas without having to pursue a full master's degree. Students who are pursuing a master's degree, however, may also enroll in course work that leads to a certificate. 

Entrance and Course Requirements
Students must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution and meet campus requirements for admission to graduate study. Candidates for the certificates will be expected to complete course requirements with a grade of B or better.

Descriptions for courses leading to a certificate are located in this catalog under the departments offering the individual courses (public administration, legal studies, environmental studies, accountancy, management, business administration, and human services). 

Graduate Certificate in Public Sector Labor
Relations   (16 hrs.) 

Contact:  Either the Public Administration department at (217) 206-6310, mpa@uis.edu, or www.uis.edu/publicadministration/certificates.htm;
or the Legal Studies department at (217) 206-6535 or
les@uis.edu.     

The certificate in public sector labor relations is intended for professionals in the field of public sector labor relations, for individuals in the field of public sector human resource(s) management who wish to upgrade their skills in labor relations, for individuals interested in pursuing union leadership roles, or for those who are beginning their careers and wish to prepare for a career working in or with public sector labor relations.

Individuals may take these courses and earn the certificate part time without being formally enrolled in any degree program, or may complete it as part of a degree program.

A grade of B or better must be earned in each of these classes to qualify for the certificate.

The certificate in public sector labor relations includes the following courses. 

Required
PAD 509 Workplace Democracy  4 Hrs. 

Choice of:
PAD/LES 467 Labor Arbitration or
LES 423 Dispute Resolution   4 Hrs. 

Choice of:
LES 463 Labor Law or
PAD/LES 452/449 Nondiscrimination Laws in Employment  4 Hrs.
and

Choice of:
PAD 465 Public Sector Labor Relations Seminar or
PAD 511 Collective Bargaining  4 Hrs. 

Graduate Certificate in Management of Nonprofit Organizations (20 Hrs.) 

Contact: The Public Administration department at (217) 206-6310, mpa@uis.edu or www.uis.edu/publicadministration/

The graduate certificate in management of nonprofit organizations requires 20 hours of coursework from the menu below. All of the courses are offered at night or on weekends. Individuals may take these courses and earn the certificate part time without being formally enrolled in any degree program, or may complete it as part of a degree program.

A grade of B or better must be earned in each of these classes to qualify for the certificate. 

HMS 584 Introduction to Nonprofit Management  4 Hrs.
PAD 543 Marketing for Public and Nonprofit Organizations 4 Hrs.
PAD 544 Fund Raising for Public & Nonprofit Organizations 4 Hrs.
ACC 505 Financial Mgmt for Nonprofit Organizations 4 Hrs.
HMS 538 Social Services Administration
   or PAD 502 Organization Dynamics
   or BUS 541 Organizational Behavior  4 Hrs.
MGT 431 Human Resource Management
   or PAD 505 Human Resource Management   4 Hrs.
PAD 448/LES 486 Legal Aspects of Nonprofit Organization Management  2 Hrs. 

Graduate Certificate in Environmental Risk
Assessment (16 Hrs.)     

Contact: The ENS department at (217) 206-6720, nrach1@uis.edu, or www.uis.edu/environmentalstudies

Risk assessment is a frequently used tool in environmental analysis. The environmental risk assessment sequence offers a certificate for students who wish to acquire a level of competency in this science. The sequence of course work is technically oriented to provide students with the professional education necessary to perform risk assessment operations in their workplaces. Students learn to relate risk assessment methodologies, procedures, and results to environmental policies.

Courses taken for the certificate represent a statement of competency in a specific field and draw on courses in the student's area of academic focus within the environmental studies curriculum. Students who have already taken one or more of these courses can apply them to the certificate. Courses taken to earn the environmental risk assessment certificate can also be used toward a master's degree in environmental studies.

To receive a certificate, students must take the following three core courses and complete the risk assessment practicum, for a total of 16 credit hours. They must also earn a B average. 

ENS 421 Environmental Economics  4 Hrs.
ENS 521 Environmental Risk Assessment  4 Hrs.
ENS 522 Risk Assessment: Air, Land, and Water  4 Hrs.
ENS 523 Risk Assessment Practicum  4 Hrs.

Total   16 Hrs. 

Additional risk/decision theory courses:
ENS 526 Risk Management and Communication  4 Hrs. 

Sponsored, risk-based research opportunities at state and federal facilities are available for those seeking independent research experiences. Full-text course descriptions can be found online at www.uis.edu/UIScatalog/index.html.

Qualified applicants should complete an application form and submit it to the Department of Environmental Studies. 

Graduate Certificate in Law for Human Services and Social Work   (16 Hrs.) 

Contact: The legal studies program at (217) 206-6535, les@uis.edu, or www.uis.edu/legalstudies/ 

The certificate is geared to provide an introduction to legal processes and legal rights issues to professionals involved with providing services to the health care, medical communities, and government agency clientele. It is structured to provide sufficient substantive familiarity with law and legal concepts in the particular areas to allow certificate holders to hold themselves out as having a basic educational background in these areas. It also would help those who are regularly called upon to testify or take judicially ordered or sanctioned actions as part of their jobs.

Social workers and people who work in a variety of human services positions spend considerable amounts of time explaining its requirements to their clients, figuring out what must be done to comply with it, providing testamentary or other evidence in response to legal mandates, or simply dealing with agencies and other human services workers within the framework provided by the legal system. This four-course certificate program provides familiarity to basic legal and institutional information needed by professional human services workers and offers a way that newcomers to the professional service arena can document familiarity with legal application skills. 

LES 501 Introduction to Law for Graduate Students   4 Hrs.
LES 474 Law of Evidence  4 Hrs.
LES 551 Administrative Law or
      LES 482 Ethics in Government  4 Hrs.

One of the following:
LES 448 Juvenile Law
LES 449 Non-Discrimination in Employment Law
LES 446 Family Law
LES 552 Health Care Law, Patient Privacy and HIPPA   4 Hrs.

This selection of courses is designed to promote a focused yet comprehensive introduction to legal processes and basic informational materials. It simultaneously provides: knowledge of the legal institutions and their interrelationship; familiarity with administrative agency structure, dictates, and constraints; information on appropriate and inappropriate approaches to materials or operations within the governmental or judicial system, whichever better meets the student’s professional concerns; and substantive legal materials on an area of particular interest or professional concern to the student.

Student advising for those who are going for a certificate only, without a degree in legal studies, will be handled by the chair of legal studies, who has been designated the certificate program adviser.