Course requirements for the graduate certificate in WGS will build upon existing graduate curriculum, most of which are accessible to all disciplines. This program requires 9 credit hours of elective coursework; 1 credit hour of professional development; a research component worth 1 credit hour; and community project, grant application, or creation of WGS course syllabus worth 3 credit hours, for a total of 14 credit hours.

Loveland Scholarship

WGS Graduate Certificate Plan of Study

A. Core Courses (5 credits)

1. ​​​​​​​WGS 795 (1 credit): Practicum/Professional Development
2. WGS 796 (1 credit): Special Topics/Research Area of Choice
3. WGS 797S (3 credit): Comprehensive Project/Capstone

B. Graded Coursework (from graduate-level courses bearing a prefix other than WGS) (9 credits). Students will select three courses from a pre-approved list of classes. One course must pertain to “Social/Cultural Development”; One course must pertain to “Tools for Making Change”; and one course will be an elective in a field of their choosing.

The following list of approved classes comes from the 2018 Level of Interest Survey, as well as from discussions with a variety of departments on the NDSU campus. This list does not preclude participation from other departments or programs.

Social/Cultural Development

• EDUC 712 Social, Cultural, and Political Dimensions of Schools
• ENGL 656 Literacy, Culture and Identity
• HDFS 813 Social and Emotional Development Across the Lifespan
• SOC 610 Social Inequality
• SOC 612 Sociology of Gender

Tools for Making Change: Grant Writing/Leadership 

• EDUC 730 Leadership, Planning, and Organizational Behavior
• EDUC 808 Empowerment and Transformative Education 
• PH 704 Leading and Managing Public Health Systems
• SOC 624 Feminist Theory and Discourse 
• MGMT 630 Leadership in Organization

Open elective in a field of choice

• CJ 665 Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in Criminal Justice
• ENGL 654 Language Bias
• HIST 626 Women in American History
• HDFS 714 Contemporary Youth Issues 
• SOC 617 Sociology of the Family 

Forms

Application Form

Verification of Completion Form