I would like something complementary.

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by soupbone, May 24, 2012.

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  1. soupbone

    soupbone Active Member

    I knew that posting about the exam wouldn't be quite what I meant. I just want to make sure that whatever certificate I choose, it gives me enough content specifically in industrial hygiene that I'm able to be as close as possible to sitting for the exam.

    I'll try and post the other schools curriculum for comparison oncei get home. Thanks for the recommendation!
     
  2. soupbone

    soupbone Active Member


    Rebel, this is the one I was comparing to:

    Public Health – Certificate in Occupational and Environmental Health

    "The American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) requires, in addition to a bachelors degree in science and appropriate experience, 12 credit hours in industrial hygiene related coursework for certification as a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH). This graduate certificate will allow occupational health professionals to meet that 12 credit requirement, should they plan to obtain a CIH through ABIH."

    "The selection of courses is based on their applicability in fields where human contact with environmental hazards is probable, and sometimes inevitable. The coursework is practical and effective in dealing with environmental and occupational threats. All classes can be taken online."
    Section 1: Students will be required to take the following mandatory classes (each 3 credits):
    Section 2: Students may select one or both of the following courses (each 3 credits):
    Section 3: Students must select one of the following courses if only one was selected from Section 2 (each 3 credits):
     
  3. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    This might be completely unhelpful, but maybe 3-4ish years back, there was a major IL university offering 100% tuition-free/scholarships to anyone willing to do their IH degree. I can't even remember for sure, but I think it was a MS and I think it was University of IL at Chicago. Maybe there are still options like this floating around? I seem to recall the field being dramatically underserved.
     
  4. soupbone

    soupbone Active Member

    Thanks Jennifer! I've looked everywhere and can't find anything about what you posted, but I'm sure it must have been a local issue right? A DL degree like that for free would have been awesome.

    I'm having a tough time because most certificates have more of a management focus rather than preparing you to take the CIH exam. And the ones that I can find are really expensive, mostly because they are offered through each university's medical school. Still on the hunt!
     
  5. soupbone

    soupbone Active Member

    Okay, I've taken a step back and reviewed the eligibility criteria to actually sit and take the CIH exam and I believe I've hit a roadblock. From their site:

    Eligibility for Certification | American Board of Industrial Hygiene

    "You possess at least a 4 year Bachelor’s Degree from a regionally-accredited college or university:
    in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Engineering,*or
    in IH or Safety from an ABET-accredited program,*or
    with at least 60 semester hours of science, math, engineering, or science-based technology (15 hours at the junior, senior, or graduate level)."

    While I have a BS, it's in Emergency Management, not any of those majors. I'm also fairly certain that I don't have 60 hours at the junior, senior, or graduate level in those topics either. So I'm now winding what the best path would be. Consider this as well from their site:

    "You have completed at least:180 academic contact hours* or 240 continuing education contact hours of IH coursework with at least half of those hours in the areas of Fundamentals of IH, Toxicology, Measurements and Controls2 hours of ethics training or coursework"

    I'm not sure if this can be combined or added to the 60 hour requirement, but it's highly possible that I would need both. Any suggestions? I've placed a call into the ABIH to maybe offer advice but now I'm not really sure where to start. These are two other programs that I'm interested in,
    but neither are ABET accredited:

    http://www.nymc.edu/academics/schoolofhealthsciencesandpractice/programs/graduatecertificateinindustrialhygiene/index.htm

    Public Health – Certificate in Occupational and Environmental Health
     
  6. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    I'm 99% sure I found out about it HERE. At least that's the most likely. It was when I was looking into NP programs, I'll look too.
     
  7. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

  8. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

  9. soupbone

    soupbone Active Member

    Thanks guys, I'll take a look at those. I'm curious now if the better route into IH might be through Hazardous Materials. I'm not sure since IH focuses on a lot more than just HazMat (toxicology, workplace hazards, air quality, etc.), but in searching LinkedIn, most people in the field have some sort of HazMat training/degrees. Any thoughts? I'm just worried that this may be limiting me, but it might offer a chance to gain employment while continuing toward the CIH.
     
  10. soupbone

    soupbone Active Member

  11. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    You only need 15 credits at the junior, senior, or graduate level. The other 45 credits can be lower level. At the most, it should cost you $2,000 to earn those credits. I wonder if they'll take a credit bank. You could save money by earning some credits through Straighterline and putting those credits on a credit bank transcript at one of the Big 3. If they won't take a credit bank transcript, you can almost completely test out of natural science/mathematics degree at TESC. IIRC, there are at least 6 tests that are worth 6 credits.
    Sanantone's BA in Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Degree Forum Wiki

    Another option would be for you to get a master's degree that will cover about 36 of those credits and test out of the rest.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 6, 2014
  12. soupbone

    soupbone Active Member

    Thanks for that correction. With that being said, with my master's degree, I'm pretty certain that I satisfy the 15 hour requirement. With both my associate and bachelor's degree, I'm sure I have the remaining 45 hours covered. I have an AAS and BS.

    I'm now thinking that the old saying "you get what you pay for"might also be true in this one instance. The University of West Florida courses are a steal, and if I knew for a fact that they prepared me to sit for the CIH, then I would be scheduling them today. My concern is that there's only one industrial hygiene course and the rest are broad occupational, health, and safety courses. This would leave me lacking in several industrial hygiene areas.

    The New York Medical College program is specific to industrial hygiene and was designed for students looking to sit for the CIH. It's expensive though at $910/hour compared to UWF's $411.32/hour. I'm so confused still but NYMC allows you to break you payments up into 4 payments per semester. I'm not taking loans so this is all coming out of pocket. That's why this is such a huge decision and I'm trying to be smart about it.
     
  13. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    If you already have the science, math, and/or engineering credits, then all you need are the continuing education credits. Continuing education courses should be much cheaper.
     
  14. soupbone

    soupbone Active Member

    You know that's a valid point. What I may do is schedule the fundamentals of industrial hygiene course through NYMC and then search for CEU courses that my office might be able to actually pay for. That way I'm moving forward and not delaying this process and the NYMC course will count toward the IH specific course work that is required to sit for the CIH. Sounds like a plan. Now to look for some decent DL CEU options.
     
  15. kered

    kered New Member

    In regards to complimentary resume items, has anyone taken any of the edx or mooc certificates?
    There is a certificate course on Operations Management from UPenn-Wharton coming up on Coursera that has caught my eye, and there seems to be many terrific resume additives on there.
    Anyone have any experience or luck in regards to this? I wonder if there is any drawbacks to listing something like that on a resume?

    Best,
    D
     

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