Occupational Safety and Health Training Project Grant in Industrial Hygiene

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kimbrough LJ
• Description:
  The Industrial Hygiene (IH) Program at the University of North Alabama (UNA) was created in the mid 1970's in response to the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The UNA IH Program is one of four ABET-accredited programs at a baccalaureate level in the USA. It is one of the first undergraduate programs of IH established in the nation and the only one in the State of Alabama. The program offers the degree of a Bachelor of Science (or Bachelor of Arts) with a major in IH. The IH curriculum is designed to prepare professionals for the comprehensive practice of IH. It is broad in scope and includes complementary education in the allied sciences of safety and environmental health. It also contains a very important component of chemistry courses, and offers, without the need of any extra coursework, the option of a double major in industrial hygiene and general chemistry. The objectives set for the UNA NIOSH-Training Project Grant (TPG) during the cycle (2012-2017) were threefold: (i) support efforts for continuous academic improvement; (ii) promote the recruitment of qualified students into the OH&S field; and (iii) expand the educational opportunities and services of the IH program. Enrollment in the program is at an all-time high with a trend upward in the last five-year cycle (6% average annual increase). The annual enrollment during the 2015-2016 academic year is the highest on record for the UNA IH Program. With the provision of NIOSH scholarships, a number of high-caliber students have been attracted to the IH field. In the last five years, the average enrollment of the UNA IH Program has been of 52 students per semester with a range of 40 to 63 students. Stable enrollment at the current level is indicative of great success when records that precede the TPG award are taken into account (12 students per semester in 2000; 53 in 2016). The level of enrollment has necessitated the consistent offering of IH courses and yielded viable graduation outputs (average of 11 graduates per year). Among UNA graduates from the TPG cycle (2012-2017), two are members of under-represented minorities. In relation to program quality and continuous improvement, the level of progress achieved is a result of deliberate effort aimed at meeting goals/objectives and correcting shortcomings. The approach for continuous improvement has been modeled after expectations set by Applied Science Accreditation Commission (ASAC) of ABET for the accreditation of IH undergraduate programs. This model has provided a suitable benchmark with the added value of third-party evaluation and recognition of accomplishments through accreditation. The program completed a new evaluation for re-accreditation in 2014-2015. The program continued its accreditation through September 30, 2021, after submission of an interim report documenting additional assessment of a learning outcome deemed by the evaluation to be incomplete (submitted June 2016). The most relevant changes adopted either as a result of the self-evaluation or as a response to the final statement of accreditation were expansion of capstone project opportunities to include pre-professional internships and improvement of an assessment tool to evaluate ABET Student Outcome (d), "an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams". In regards to expansion of educational opportunities and services of the IH program, UNA continues to add degree options which require supporting components in OH&S provided by the IH Program. During this grant cycle, UNA introduced three new Bachelor of Science programs which require IH supporting courses as part of the curriculum. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Education Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Curriculum Development Industrial Health Programs Industrial Hygiene Programs Occupational Health Programs Occupational Safety Programs Training Effectiveness Training Grants
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053028
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2019-100186
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, T03-OH-008624, 2017 Sep; :1-9
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Leshan J. Kimbrough, CIH, CSP, UNA Box 5049, Florence, AL 35632-0001
• Email:
  Lkimbrough2@una.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Alabama, Florence
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f41b52bcc5068b375687137b76a4945673d1c79f05507df5bafaf0c23d3cf91fb1a0b9bb76218648fe86c86952404238b103f295191816b38c22100413efdb3e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/218741/cdc_218741_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 124.89 KB ]