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Overview and Objectives

The portfolio programs in Gerontology prepare students for academic research or practical careers in the field of gerontology. Increasingly, prospective employers nationwide are demanding a certificate program in gerontology. There are growing and diverse needs for professionals with core knowledge and understanding of aging research and best practice approaches. The certificate program requires 12 credit hours distributed between foundation courses and elective seminars. In addition, students may engage in aging research (basic or applied) or practicum with both well and frail older adults, and will be given credit for this course work as part of existing requirements in their major program of study (home department).

The program's diverse faculty draws on the scholarship of more than 50 faculty affiliates from 10 graduate programs, including LBJ School of Public Affairs, College of Communication, College of Pharmacy, School of Social Work, School of Nursing, College of Education, College of Natural Sciences, College of Business, College of Fine Arts, and College of Liberal Arts, subsuming 22 academic departments. The wide array of graduate courses offered by this outstanding faculty provides exposure to cutting edge scholarship from multiple perspectives and offers students an unusual opportunity for cross-disciplinary inquiry at the graduate level.

Program objectives include:

• to promote dialogue among the many faculty and graduate students throughout the university who have research interests in gerontology;
• to provide a forum for the exchange and interaction among the multiple and diverse perspectives on gerontological issues within the university;
• to promote interdisciplinary collaboration among the many faculty and graduate students interested in meeting the increased demand for gerontological research and instruction that crosses traditional disciplines; and
• to provide an organized curriculum of courses related to gerontological topics. It is expected that over the course of the semester students will develop
  • an understanding of the nature and scope of social, economic, physical, educational, and behavioral issues of aging;
  • an understanding of the conceptual, theoretical and institutional bases for the analysis of issues and problems in an aging population; and
  • knowledge in key methodological issues in the study of age related processes.