Health Promotion

Career potential

The emphasis on living, playing, working and eating right to live a longer, healthier life has never been greater. Magazines devote full issues to healthy living, and television news shows frequently feature stories on the topic. Promoting a healthy lifestyle, which includes mental health, as well as physical, social and environmental health and safety, has become an essential profession, one that offers great growth potential and numerous opportunities.

A Bachelor of Science degree in Health Promotion from the University of North Texas will prepare you to help people develop healthy habits. Health promotion professionals use biology, epidemiology, marketing, kinesiology, psychology and sociology as foundations for planning and implementing health promotion programs.

As a professional in health promotion, you may work as:

• a health educator in a secondary school
• an administrator of a community health care program
• a facilitator of a corporate health fitness program

The growing emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion has increased the need for public and community health professionals in leadership positions who are trained in the principles of health promotion.

UNT's Career Center can help you prepare to pursue your career. The center has information about jobs and employers, and the staff can help you with resume and letter writing, job search strategies, and interview preparation.

Majoring in health promotion

The health promotion program will teach you the principles of health and how to develop a healthy lifestyle. Other courses include epidemiology, school and community health promotion, and program planning. If you major in health promotion with a career option in school health, you can become certified to teach in Texas schools. The community health career option will prepare you for a career in a health care or community health agency, or in a local, state or national government health agency. However, this track is a non-certification track option.

Health promotion faculty members have various areas of expertise, including nutrition, behavioral change strategies, chemical dependency, epidemiology, exercise, human sexuality, culture and health.

As a student, you will have access to UNT's 139,000-square-foot Pohl Recreation Center, which includes a lap pool, leisure pool, soccer gymnasium, weight and fitness room, walking and jogging track, aerobics rooms, climbing wall and courts for basketball, badminton and volleyball.

You may also be eligible to join Eta Sigma Gamma, a health promotion student group that organizes on-campus educational opportunities, service projects, outings, social events and trips to professional meetings. The society is a good source of information about other professional organizations that can help you in your career.

Many departmental scholarships are available for outstanding students in health promotion. You may apply for these scholarships upon entering UNT. You may declare a major in health promotion immediately upon enrolling at UNT.

Getting hands-on experience

If you major in health promotion, you must participate in a community health promotion internship or student teaching field placement during your last semester of study. You must consult with the internship coordinator and your academic advisor one semester before the internship or student teaching.

Upon completion of 12 semester hours at UNT with at least a 2.5 GPA, you may work in a job related to your major through UNT's Cooperative Education and Internships office. You may earn academic credit and money while gaining valuable work experience. Co-op employers pay extremely well, and the jobs usually last several semesters, often until graduation.

More than 1,800 employers work with the office to provide excellent learning opportunities, many of which become permanent full-time positions upon graduation. The office also assists with placing students in internships, which last for one full semester or summer.

Preparing for UNT: High school students

If you are a high school student, we suggest you prepare for college by becoming computer proficient and taking:

• English … 4 years
• Math … 4 years
• Social science — economics, geography, government, history … 4 years
• Science … 3 years
• Foreign language … 3 years
• Fine arts … 1 year

You will need to take courses in most of these subjects under the university core curriculum required of all undergraduates, in addition to your major courses. Talk with your high school counselor about preparing for college, including the entrance exams (SAT Reasoning Test or ACT) that you should take during your junior year.

Preparing for UNT: Transfer students

As a benefit for transfer students, UNT participates in the Texas Common Course Numbering System. This system makes it easier to transfer credits for general academic courses from one Texas institution to another.

If you're attending a Texas community college, you should consult the UNT Transfer Guide, the UNT Undergraduate Catalog and an academic counselor to discuss your degree plan. Proper planning will help you receive the maximum amount of transfer credits.

Charting your path through academic advising

Health promotion faculty members will help you each semester to select the courses you will need to earn your degree and achieve your career goals. You should meet with a faculty member before declaring your major. The Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion and Recreation also has a degree plan advisor to assist you. The department office is in the Physical Education Building, Room 209.

Curious about courses and other features of this major?
See the current catalog.