Health Administration and Human Resources

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Dr. Daniel J. West, Jr., Chair, Health Administration and Human Resources
570-941-4126 • daniel.west@scranton.edu
http://matrix.scranton.edu/academics/pcps/hahr/

Department faculty: Professors – Peter C. Olden, Daniel J. West, Jr.; Associate Professors – William G. Wallick; Steven J. Szydlowski, Assistant Professors –Terri Freeman Smith, Robert J. Spinelli, Kenneth J. Zula; Faculty Specialist - Rita DiLeo.

The Department offers course work leading to a Master of Health Administration (MHA) and a Master of Science degree in Human Resources (HR). The following policies and procedures apply to all these curricula. Specific curricular requirements are listed under the respective programs. Also, refer to the department web page at http://matrix.scranton.edu/academics/pcps/hahr/.

Admission Requirements

The applicant for admission to any Departmental program must possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and provide the Office of Admissions with evidence of satisfactory undergraduate preparation. The ordinary standard for admission is an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00 on a grading scale of 4.00. Students falling below this level may submit other evidence of their ability to successfully complete a graduate program, such as grades in other graduate level courses, scores from the Graduate Record Examination, and/or a record of progressively higher work responsibilities. The Health Administration program may require a GRE or GMAT score, depending on the strength of other qualifications and information submitted by the applicant. A personal interview prior to acceptance is required. New MHA students may start course work in the fall semester only. Applicants for the MHA program are encouraged to apply by May 1 (prior to the fall semester of desired entry); however, applications received after this date and up to August 1 will be considered for admission on a space-available basis. Applicants must be accepted by CGCE before starting courses. International students whose native language is not English must demonstrate their proficiency by submitting acceptable TOEFL scores. Please refer to International Student section for information on acceptable English proficiency tests and test score requirements.

The Health Administration program accepts applicants with or without professional work experience. Students accepted into the Health Administration program with little to no work experience are required to enroll in an administrative residency to gain practical experience. Applicants should be prepared to discuss their career goals and employment possibilities with the program director during a personal interview, which is required prior to acceptance, and explain how they see the curriculum supporting their longer-term goals.

Capstone Experience

Students in all programs must prepare a comprehensive capstone project. It may combine written, oral, and experiential components and will require understanding, integration, and application of what has previously been learned throughout the curriculum. These projects are done in HAD 509 -Administrative Issue or HR 520 - Capstone: Applied HR, which are the respective capstone courses for the Health Administration and Human Resources programs.

Financial Aid

The Department has several graduate assistantships available to MHA students. Applications for assistantships are made through CGCE. Students must be accepted in one of the departmental programs by March 1 to be considered for an assistantship for the following fall semester.

Scheduling

For the HR program – classes are offered only online during six eight-week sessions. HR 500 and HR 501 are required to be taken prior to any additional course work.

For the HAD Program - Classes are offered from 4:30 p.m. to 7:10 p.m. and from 7:20 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. Required summer courses in the MHA program may have a modified class time. Courses are scheduled so as to enable full-time students to attend classes two or three nights a week; part-time students usually attend one or two nights a week. Each course meets one night a week in either the fall or spring semesters or more often during the intersession or summer sessions. Fieldwork experiences in Health Administration may be spread over two semesters to accumulate the needed hours.

Degrees in Health Administration can be received in 30 months of full-time academic study which include 24 months of coursework and 6 months of administrative residency, although some students attend on a part-time basis and earn their degrees in 36 to 48 months and may qualify for other fieldwork options upon admission. Generally the first courses taken in the Health Administration program are HAD 519 and HAD 501 .

Employment Opportunities

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Department of Labor, employment in the field of health administration is predicted to grow at a faster than average pace through the year 2015. Overall employment in the field of human resources is projected to grow by 22% between 2008 and 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations.

Other Information

Applicants and students should refer to the Academic Regulations section of the Graduate Studies Catalog for additional relevant policies.