Syllabus

Schedule

Each week opens on Wednesday at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. Each week closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Week 8, which ends on Sunday.

Week 1: Apr 28 – May 5
Week 2: May 5 – May 12
Week 3: May 12 – May 19
Week 4: May 19 – May 26
Week 5: May 26 – Jun 2
Week 6: Jun 2 – Jun 9
Week 7: Jun 9 – Jun 16
Week 8: Jun 16 – Jun 20

Weekly Schedule

*See course for required and suggested weekly readings.

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Week 1: Introduction to and Overview of Community Health Assessment

Weekly Outcomes

• Examine what constitutes a community needs assessment.
• Explore communities to determine appropriateness for assessment.

Lectures

• Course Overview
• Week 1 Overview
• Final Project Overview
• Week 1 Focused Lecture: Community Assessment

Assignments

• Week 1 Introductory Video

  • Introduce yourself in a 3-minute biographical video. Share as much information as you wish about your background and experience, educational journey and your family and leisure activities. In your video, identify what you hope to learn in this course and your experience, if any, in conducting a community needs assessment. 

• Week 1 Discussion: Communities for Assessment Project
  • Initial Discussion Post: In an essay, reflect upon two possible communities you are considering for your assessment project. In your post, provide brief information about each community such as physical description (urban, suburban, rural) and the location of the communities in relation to where you reside. Explain why these communities are of interest to you and what you would hope to learn by assessing either community. Support your post with a minimum of two external references.

    Response Posts: Respond to at least two co-learners. Identify variables you and your co-learners should consider as you make your final selection of a community in week 2. Explore how you will decide which community to assess for your final project using specific examples from your co-learners’ and your communities. Be specific as to your decision-making process.

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Week 2: The Use of Logic Models in Community Health Assessment

Weekly Outcomes

• Identify variables for selecting a community to assess.
• Explains steps of a theoretical model for planning a community health assessment.

Lectures

• Week 2 Overview
• Week 2 Focused Lecture: Affordable Care Act Requirements for Community Assessment

Assignments

• Week 2 Discussion: Community Selection

  • Initial Discussion Post: In an essay, identify your final selection of the community you will be assessing. Why did you select this community over the other one you considered? Identify two possible challenges you may encounter in assessing your selected community and how you may approach these challenges. Support your post with a minimum of two external references.

    Response Post: Compare and contrast your reasons for selecting your community with that of a co-learner. Of the challenges and possible approaches to the challenges you identified, compare the similarities and differences to those of the co-learner. Support your post with a minimum of one external reference.

• Week 2 Assignment: Theoretical Framework
  • In a minimum 500 word (excluding references) paper, describe the theoretical framework (logic model) you have selected to conduct your community assessment. You may select one of the logic models presented in this week’s module or conduct your own literature review to identify another community assessment model of your choosing. Identify which phases/steps in the logic model you will employ in conducting your assessment and why you think the step(s) are relevant for your assessment. Follow the AMA format example paper for this assignment. Your paper should be double-spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman. Provide a minimum of four external, scholarly references for this paper. Note: You do not need to include a title page or abstract for this assignment.

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Week 3: Creating a Community Demographic and Socioeconomic Profile

Weekly Outcomes

• Demonstrate ability to conduct qualitative data collection.

• Identify quantitative data related to the socioeconomic and demographic factors that may impact health in a community.

Lecture

• Week 3 Overview
• Week 3 Focused Lecture: Quantitative and Qualitative Data

Assignments

• Week 3 Discussion: Windshield Survey

  • Before you complete this week’s discussion and assignment, please complete the following tasks:

    a) Collect qualitative data by conducting a windshield survey in your community. Take pictures of your key observations and be prepared to include them in your final project paper. 

    b)  Conduct a face-to-face or telephone interview with someone who is considered a leader (chief of police, hospital administrator or another hospital leader, director of The United Way or other community agency, etc.) in your community. Take notes/quotes that you can incorporate into your weekly discussion post, week 3 assignment and the final project paper. 

    c) Research and collect available quantitative socioeconomic and demographic data about your community. Examine indicators such as age, sex, ethnicity, income levels, housing, employment, education, literacy, and other socioeconomic and demographic factors relevant to your community. 

    Initial Discussion Post:  In an essay, discuss what you learned from your windshield survey and interview with a leader in your selected community. Be specific about your observations and the impressions of the individual you interviewed including his/her role and perceptions about the community. Did the interview support or differ from your windshield survey observations and how did this help you better understand your community? Provide a minimum of two external citations to support your post.

    Response Post: Read your co-learners posts and using specific examples from what you have learned from your and other’s experiences, share how this exercise will inform your work in the field after you complete your degree. Refer to at least one other student’s post in your response, and provide a minimum of one external citation to support your post.

• Week 3 Assignment: Socioeconomic and Demographic profile of your community

  • Write a minimum 750-word paper  (excluding charts and references) quantitatively describing the socioeconomic and demographic profile of your community. Use data to compare and contrast such indicators as housing, age, ethnicity, employment and other socioeconomic and demographic factors with those of a neighboring community, the county, state and national rates. Include charts and graphs of your data to support your findings. Identify and describe major community assets such as hospitals, colleges, churches, and community agencies.   Follow the AMA format example paper for this assignment. Your paper should be double-spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman. Provide a minimum of four external, scholarly references for this paper. Note: You do not need to include a title page for this assignment.

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Week 4: Creating a Community Health Profile

Weekly Outcomes

• Locate, analyze and use data on community health indicators to characterize the health status of a community.

Lecture

• Week 4 Overview
• Week 4 Focused Lecture: Health Indicators

Assignments

• Week 4 Discussion: Interview

  • Before completing this week’s discussion and assignment, please do the following:

    a) Conduct a face-to-face or telephone interview with someone who is considered a health leader (hospital administrator or another hospital leader, director of health department, physician, nurse ) in your community. Take notes/quotes that you can incorporate into your discussion post this week, your week 4 assignment and final project paper. 

    b) Research and collect currently available quantitative health indicator data such as disease rates, mortality rates, life expectancy, mental health and substance abuse rates, obesity rates, injury rates and other health-related factors relevant to your community.

    Initial Discussion Post: In an essay, discuss the results of the interview with the healthcare leader in your community. Identify the role of this individual and his/her specific impressions about health, health care and health issues in the community. What strategies are currently being employed to address some of the health issues? Provide a minimum of two external citations to support your post.

    Response Post:  Compare and contrast your interview results with that of a co-learner. Be specific as to what the similarities and differences in feedback are between the individual you interviewed and that of your peer. Explore why those differences may exist. Provide a minimum of one external citation to support your post.

• Week 4 Assignment: Health Profile

  • Write a minimum of 750-word paper (excluding charts and references) describing the health profile of your community. Examine indicators such as disease rates and compare those rates with a neighboring community, county, state and national rates. Include charts and graphs to support your findings.  Follow the AMA format example paper for this assignment. Your paper should be double-spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman. Provide a minimum of four external, scholarly references for this paper. Note: You do not need to include a title page or abstract for this assignment.

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Week 5: Selecting a Priority Health Issue or Problem

Weekly Outcomes

• Explain the rationale for the selection of a health issue or problem.
• Determine the relevancy of the health issue/problem to the community.
• List and categorize community assets for addressing a health issue/problem.

Lecture

• Week 5 Overview
• Week 5 Focused Lecture: Selecting Priority Health Issues

Assignments

• Week 5 Discussion: Prioritizing Health Issues
  • Initial Discussion Post:  In an essay, describe why it is important to prioritize health issues in a community. Identify several criteria that public health professionals may use to determine priority health issues and outline the relevance of the criteria for your community. Provide a minimum of two external citations to support your post.

    Response Post: Review the essay of a co-learner. Describe how his/her prioritization criteria and approaches do or do not align with Hanlon’s Method for Prioritizing Health Problems outlined in Guide to Prioritization Techniques (NACCHO)? Outline a scenario where Hanlon’s Method would be the most applicable in prioritizing health problems. Provide a minimum of one external citation to support your post.

• Week 5 Assignment: Chosen Priority Health Issue
  • In a 500-word paper (excluding references), identify a priority (only one) health issue in your community. Use data to support why this is the priority issue for the community. Compare this health issue for your community with a neighboring community, the county, state and national data as a means to justify this health issue as a priority. Identify any socioeconomic, demographic, cultural or lifestyle factors that may contribute to the priority issue. Follow the AMA format example paper for this assignment. Your paper should be double-spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman. Provide a minimum of four external, scholarly references for this paper. Note: You do not need to include a title page or abstract for this assignment.

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Week 6: Mapping Community Assets

Weekly Outcomes

• Identify the importance of community capabilities and assets in an assessment.
• Explore the various capabilities and assets of the selected community.
• Explain important considerations in a community mapping process.

Lecture

• Week 6 Overview
• Week 6 Focused Lecture: Community Assets

Assignments

• Week 6 Discussion: Mapping
  • Initial Discussion Post:  At this point in the course, you have completed an assessment of your community’ socioeconomic, demographic and health indicators, and you have identified the priority health issue for your community. Read Robinson’s article, “Asset Mapping: A Tool for Building Capacity in Communities”. In an essay, identify which of the five-steps in the asset mapping process you consider to be most important and why. Compare and contrast this step to the other steps outlined in the article as to the level of importance in assessing your community. Provide a minimum of two external scholarly citations to support your post.

    Response Post: Respond to a co-learner who identified a different step than the one you selected. Compare and contrast your rationale for the step you identified versus that of your co-learner. Provide a minimum of one external scholarly citation to support your post.

• Week 6 Assignment: Community Assets, Resources and Capabilities
  • In a 750-word paper (excluding references), examine the assets, resources, and capabilities of your community. Be specific about the assets and relate them to the health priority of your community. For example, do not just identify the fact that your community has “many community organizations”. Instead, outline which organizations exist in your community and what are their missions and how they affect your health priorities. Do not just state that your community has many educational resources. Instead, be specific by identifying schools, colleges, universities and other educational programs that benefit the community.  Follow the AMA format example paper for this assignment. Your paper should be double-spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman. Provide a minimum of four external, scholarly references for this paper.  Note: You do not need to include a title page or abstract for this assignment.

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Week 7: The Community Assessment Report

Weekly Outcomes

• Organize and plan an assessment report.
• Identify limitations of the assessment process and possible mitigation strategies. 

Lecture

• Week 7 Overview
• Final Project Overview

Assignments

• Week 7 Assignment: Final Project Part 1
  • Prepare a 17-22 page final paper presenting the work you have completed throughout this course. Your paper should be double-spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman.
• Week 7 Discussion: Final Project 2

  • Prepare a maximum 10-minute PowerPoint video summarizing the results of your community assessment. Before recording your presentation, please review UNE’s Guide for Crafting Better Presentations. Post your video to the discussion topic.

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Week 8: Communicating the Results of a Community Assessment

Weekly Outcomes

• Present a community needs assessment to an audience.

Lecture

• Week 8 Overview

Assignments

• Week 8 Assignment: Final Project Part 2

  • Peer Feedback:

    Watch the presentations of three co-learners assigned to you by your instructor. Provide each of them with a written review of their presentation. Review the final project guide for instructions on completing the review. Send each co-learner his/her peer review via course messages no later than Friday night at 11:59 pm ET (Copy your instructor on the messages).

    Reflection/Self-Evaluation:

    After watching and providing feedback on your co-learners’ presentations, and receiving feedback from your peers, review your own presentation again. Complete a written self-evaluation including at least one specific positive aspect of your presentation and one suggestion for improvement that you can incorporate into your next presentation. The reflection/self-evaluation should be a minimum of 150 words. 

    Submission for Grading:

    You will submit the three peer reviews and your reflection/self-evaluation as four separate PDF documents under the Week 8 Assignment area . Make certain each document has a heading identifying the name of the student and whether it is a peer review or reflection/self-evaluation. No late submissions will be accepted.

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Public Health page

UNE Libraries:

• Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Brightspace.
• Public Health Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/public-health/
• Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

UNE Student Academic Success Center

UNE's Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of free online services to support your academic achievement. Writing support, ESOL support, study strategy and learning style consultations, as well as downloadable resources, are available to all matriculating students. The SASC also offers tutoring for GPH 712 Epidemiology, GPH 716 Biostatistics, GPH 717 Applied Epidemiology, GPH 718 Biostatistics II, and GPH 719 Research Methods. To make an appointment for any of these services, go to une.tutortrac.com. For more information and to view and download writing and studying resources, please visit:

• UNE Student Academic Success Center

Information Technology Services (ITS)

• ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Policies

Passing Grade Statement

A grade of 80% or higher is required to pass the course. A grade lower than 80% will result in you having to repeat the course. Obtaining two "Fs" in the program will result in dismissal from the program.

AMA Writing Style Statement

The American Medical Association Manual (AMA) of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course. Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.

Online resources: AMA Style Guide

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement

Learning to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) responsibly and ethically is an important skill in today’s society. AI is not a substitute for developing and enhancing skills in creativity, logic, critical thinking, analysis, evaluation, theorization, and writing essential to a public health professional. If you choose to use AI tools, such as ChatGPT and DALL-E2, they must be used wisely and intelligently to deepen your understanding of a subject matter and support learning. You are not allowed to use AI tools to generate your work. Content produced using AI tools cannot be used as a substitute for your original work.

Students in the Graduate Programs in Public Health (GPPH) must take ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of AI-generated content used in any work. You are expected to think critically about the results and alignment with the questions or tasks in the assignment and never substitute AI-generated results for professional human judgment and logic. GPPH students are also expected to understand that the information generated is not always accurate and, in some cases, propagates discrimination and bias. You must stay abreast of AI best practices, and the changing risks and benefits, and monitor AI for biases and risks for vulnerable populations and underrepresented groups.

Within GPPH, using AI-generated content in academic work falls under our academic integrity policies. All instructors will continue to use our AI detection software for each assignment submitted so it will be flagged.

Using any AI tool in your work must be acknowledged in-text every time it is used, not in your list of references. You will include a summary of what the AI tool was used to do, followed by the AI tool brand name, version/extension #, manufacturer/owner, and date used in parentheses.

For example, 

Themes from participant responses were identified using a chatbot session (ChatGPT, model GPT-4, OpenAI, May 17, 2024).

Failure to acknowledge the inclusion of AI-generated content in any work submitted violates our academic integrity policies and will be considered an infraction with the associated penalties for plagiarism as outlined in the Student Handbook.

The Student Orientation has a module "Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Students", please refer to this module for more information about navigating the use of AI.

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the guide on how to navigate your Similarity Report.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Students are responsible for submitting work by the date indicated in Brightspace.

Quizzes and Tests: Quizzes and tests must be completed by the due date. They will not be accepted after the due date.

Assignments: Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your Enrollment and Retention Counselor if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. Tuition charges may still apply. Students are strongly urged to consult with Student Financial Services, as course withdrawals may affect financial aid or Veterans benefits.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit https://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.

Attendance Policy

6- to 8-week courses: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Sunday at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

10+ -week courses: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Friday at 11:59 pm ET of the second week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your Enrollment and Retention Counselor if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. Tuition charges may still apply. Students are strongly urged to consult with Student Financial Services, as course withdrawals may affect financial aid or Veterans benefits.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.