Gerontology Undergraduate Certificate

The mission of the Undergraduate Certificate Program in Gerontology is to prepare students with knowledge and skills for promoting healthy aging among diverse aging populations and communities, and for addressing the challenges and seizing the opportunities of an aging society. It also aims to prepare students to better understand and facilitate their own aging and the aging of their loved ones. Students who earn this certificate will be well-positioned to apply their knowledge of gerontology to address aging related challenges in their disciplinary fields and in their personal lives, to work in entry level positions in senior focused organizations, and to pursue advanced level education and training in the field of Gerontology. The certificate is open all UVM students.

Requirements

Requirement DescriptionCredits
HDF 1200Aging:Change & Adaptation3
or SOC 1320 Aging: Change & Adaptation
HDF 2200Adult Development & Aging3
PHIL 1675Death and Dying3
HDF 2991Internship1-18
or HDF 2995 Undergraduate Research
Complete 1 of the following 3-credit electives:3
Health Care in America
Biology of Aging
Aging in Cross-Cultural Persp
Health Care Ethics
Nutrition in the Life Cycle
Psychology of Aging

Students should work with the Undergraduate Gerontology Certificate Program Director (reachable by email at  gerontology@office.uvm.edu) to learn when specific required courses are offered and to identify any alternative course options available if core courses are unable to be offered on a regular basis. Regarding the 3-credit elective requirement, courses other than those listed here may be approved. For example, there may be a special topics course that focuses on gerontology, or a course in a student’s major that is not listed here that focuses on gerontology.