Approval of New Educational Offerings.

The Boston University School of Public Health continues to expand its portfolio of educational opportunities for current students to meet degree requirements and for working professionals interested in continuing education. Faculty and staff engagement, resource requirements, regulatory issues, school- and university-level approvals vary for different educational opportunities. Here we define and describe distinct educational offerings and for each we outline the target audience, faculty and staff engagement, regulatory issues, and required approvals.

For-credit courses

  • These are credit bearing courses that are delivered on campus.
  • Approved courses are open to current and non-degree students who meet pre-requisites (depending on their program requirements).
  • Faculty serve as instructors and coverage/compensation is based on teaching coverage per credit.
  • Courses must be submitted to the Education Committee for approval (the process is outlined and forms are available at edu/sph/educationcommittee). If a proposed course is part of a degree requirement or an optional course for degree credit, a degree modification proposal must also be submitted to Education Committee and if approved, the degree modification will be submitted to the Office of the Provost through the eCAP system. All eCAP proposals are submitted by the Education Office once approved by the Education Committee.

Online, for-credit courses

  • These are credit bearing courses that are delivered online.
  • Approved courses are open to current and non-degree students who meet pre-requisites (depending on their program requirements).
  • Faculty serve as instructors and coverage/compensation is based on teaching coverage per credit. Staff support for course development is provided by the Education Committee as part of the approval process.
  • Courses must be submitted to the Education Committee for approval (the process is outlined and forms are available at edu/sph/educationcommittee). If a proposed online course is part of a degree requirement or an optional course for degree credit, a degree modification proposal must also be submitted to Education Committee and if approved, these modifications will be submitted to the Office of the Provost through the eCAP system. All eCAP proposals are submitted by the Education Office once approved by the Education Committee.

Directed study/directed research

  • These are well-defined areas of study/research that are student-directed and supervised by faculty.
  • Current students in any degree program have the option to complete directed study/research to earn elective credits toward their degrees. Some programs limit the number of credits that can be earned through directed study and directed research. Students prepare a proposal (forms can be found here) describing the scope of work, identifying the faculty supervisor and number of credits. The directed study/research must be approved by the faculty supervisor (a full-time SPH faculty member) or by the department chair if the supervisor is a part-time or adjunct faculty member.
  • Faculty serve as advisors to directed study/research and coverage/compensation is considered part of service and citizenship as mentoring/advising.
  • For global directed study/research, students register with the Global Programs Office, complete global health and safety training, and human subjects training.
  • No special approvals (Education Committee or eCAP) are necessary.

Practice-based and field-based, for-credit courses

  • These are credit bearing courses where students work with outside agencies on real projects that meet their needs.
  • Current students in any degree program may enroll. Some practice-based and field-based course hours may be applied to the MPH practicum requirement.
  • Faculty serve as instructors and coverage/compensation is based on teaching coverage per credit. Faculty may apply for additional teaching coverage as outlined in Section V.2 Faculty Expectations.
  • For global field-based courses, students register with the Global Programs Office, complete global health and safety training, and human subjects training.
  • Courses must be submitted to the Education Committee for approval and then to the Office of the Provost through the eCAP system (global field-based courses require approval of the eCAP proposal for credit-bearing global activity). If a practice-based or field-based course is part of a degree requirement or an optional course for degree credit, a degree modification proposal must also be submitted to Education Committee and if approved, the degree modification will be submitted to the Office of the Provost through the eCAP system. All eCAP proposals are submitted by the Education Office once approved by the Education Committee.