Like most colleges at CSUN, the College of Health and Human Development offers a range of Bachelor's degrees, Minors, and Master's Degrees. However, unlike most other colleges, we also offer two doctoral programs (Audiology and Physical Therapy). Currently we have around 6,100 majors, just over 300 faculty, and about 60 staff.
In this college, we prepare our students to be professionals who take care of others across their lifespan and help them deal with various challenges of living they may encounter along the way. We're also training our students to help others enjoy the best quality of life possible.
Come with me on a trip through one day of a life--perhaps your life--in the context of what we do in HHD.
- During this day you eat 3-6 meals, as recommended by your dietician or nutritionist (Family and Consumer Sciences)
- Wear a day-to-night outfit which is appropriate for admin council, guest lecture, lunch meeting, an evening board meeting, and a dinner date – this outfit was designed by one of our fashion design alumni (Family and Consumer Sciences)
- Somehow, you carve out time in that day to engage in the physical exercise prescribed by an exercise physiologist, who worked in conjunction with a physical therapist to help you to get back to your exercise routine after you broke your elbow. Maybe this exercise was with the award winning, nationally recognized, 3 WINS Fitness program. (Kinesiology, Physical Therapy)
- You recall that when you broke your elbow and the radiologic technician showed you the x-ray, you felt certain that you would never be able to lift weights again, but your physical therapist worked with you to make that possible. (Health Sciences, Physical Therapy)
- You also remembered that you really wanted to cry all the while you were in the emergency room after the fall that led to your broken elbow, but the nurse taking care of you was so funny, that you focused on their jokes instead of your pain. That nurse was so efficient and skilled, you hardly noticed when your blood was drawn or took stock of the range of treatments they provided you in the emergency room. Your COVID-19 test that evening was also easy and painless, as was the third booster shot you got a few days later, as recommended by another nurse. (Nursing, Health Sciences/Public Health)
- You get ready to deliver your guest lecture via Zoom from your office confident that your allergies won’t kick your butt that day because last week, an environmental health & safety officer analyzed the particulates coming from the AC vent and got PPM to change your filter (almost immediately). (Environmental and Occupational Health)
- Had no issues with making sure the materials for that day’s guest lecture were ADA compliant, because our friends in assistive technology have designed a range of tools to make such work easy. (Assistive Technology Studies and Human Services)
- Enjoy some peace of mind because your child’s psychologist recognizes the importance of bilingual education and supported your desire to speak both Spanish and English at home, so that’s one less thing you had to worry about. (Child and Adolescent Development)
- Enjoy further peace of mind because mom finally accepted that she no longer hears as well as a 50 year old, and finally had an appointment with an audiologist to prescribe and fit her with an appropriate hearing aid. (Communication Disorders and Sciences)
- At the end of that really long day, enjoy a well-earned glass of wine or other beverage as you unwind, happy that the next day is Saturday and you’ll be hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the largest urban recreation area in the United States, and the second largest in the world (Recreation and Tourism Management)
Welcome to Health and Human Development. You have just spent an entire day engaging mentally and physically with professionals trained in our nine departments and one college level master’s program.
- Child and Adolescent Development
- Communication Disorders and Sciences
- Environmental and Occupational Health
- Family and Consumer Sciences
- Health Sciences
- Kinesiology
- Nursing
- Physical Therapy
- Recreation and Tourism Management
- Assistive Technology Studies and Human Services (M.S. program through Tseng College)
Sp 2023
Interim Dean Mechelle Best