NEWLY REVISED
Graduate Certificate in Applied Gerontology
The Graduate Certificate in Applied Gerontology (GCAP) is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to successfully pursue or advance careers within aging services organizations or academic research in aging.
Students wishing to earn a GCAP must complete the required 18 graduate credit hours with an overall GPA of 3.00 or better. No student may complete all 18 credits within a single school or college. A maximum of half of the credits (9) may be doublt-counted toward one's degree program.
This graduate-level certificate is designed for two audiences:
- Graduate-degree seeking students in fields such as Nursing, Social Work, Humanities, Sociology, Psychology, Architecture, and Human Movement Sciences etc.
- Returning students currently working in the field of aging who hold a Bachelor's degree and do not wish to complete a graduate degree.
Why take the certificate?
More Americans are living longer than at any other time in history. Aging is a dynamic field of study where demographic and generational shifts are cracking open all disciplines and demanding innovations in how we care for older adults - from Nursing to the Arts, from Architecture to Health Sciences. The GCAP is:
- taught by nationally recognized scholars;
- focused on bringing practice and research together;
- fully interdiscplinary;
- evidence of graduate-level specialization in the field of aging for your current and future employers.
What makes this unique?
The GCAP encourages students to link practice and research to improve the quality of life of older adults. Our nationally recognized faculty are dedicated to mentoring students in their chosen paths through the field; be it into academic research and publishing in the field of aging, or innovating practice methods in the care of older adults in the community.
What does it entail?
1) Core Courses (6 credits)
- NURS 760 Processes of Aging (3 credits) (online) Sample Syllabus
- SW851 Social Issue and Policy Analysis: Age and Community-Policy to Practice (3 credits) Sample Syllabus
2) Choice Core (6 credits)
Students must choose 6 credits from the following list:
- DLSP 547 The Educational Dimensions of Practice with Older Adults (3 credits)
- PSYCH 680 Psychology of Aging (3 credits)
- SW 685 Social Gerontology (3 credits)
- SW791 Current Topics: Death and Dying (3 credits)
- THR 699 Creativity in Health Settings (3 credits)
3) Electives (6 credits)
Student will work with the Certificate Coordinator to approve the selection of 6 credits from the remaining Choice Core classes and additional electives, which could include a "Practicum" in the student's home department or area of choice.
Sample Electives.xls
Specific 2013-14 courses will be available approximately 3/31/13.
4) Integrative Portfolio
Students must complete an Integrative Portfolio as a final project under the guidance of the Certificate Coordinator and an assigned advisor. This Portfolio includes paper/materials from core courses and an introduction and reflective conclusion that integrates the key concepts from the interdisciplinary coursework and identifies potential impact on their future practice in research or aging services.
Those students who wish to earn the GCAP can be admitted for the certificate program as non-degree graduate students provided they posses a bachelor's or higher degree with a minimum overall undergraduate grade point average of 2.75. Admission as a non-degree graduate student does not consistute admission to a master's degree program. Students may also pursue the certificate while enrolled in another graduate program or as a post-graduate student.
Students wishing to pursue the GCAP must submit an application to the Program before completion of 6 credits in teh certificate sequence. There is a time limit of three years from initial enrollment for completion of the certificate program.
Application for Graduate Certificate 2013
How to Apply?
Students must:
1) Meet the Certificate coordinator (Rhonda Montgomery; rm@uwm.edu) to discuss academic goals
2) Be accepted by UWM's Graduate School in order to apply. Visit the UWM Graduate School website for an online application
3) Apply for the certificate program by completing the Certificate in Applied Gerontology application below or call 414.229.3289 to receive a copy by fax or email.
NOTE: Students are not admitted to the program until their application is submitted to Dr. Montgomery.
Email your completed application to Dr. Rhonda Montgomery; rm@uwm.edu) or send to:
Dr. Rhonda Montgomery
Department of Social Work
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
PO Box 786
Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413
Learn more about Scholarships. For information about other forms of financial aid options and eligibility visit the UWM's Department of Financial Aid website or call 414.229.4541.
Download specific grievance policies and procedures for the Applied Gerontology Certificate Program.
