PROGRAM OPTIONS
The Family Life program offers an intensive 36 credit hour experience which can be completed within three years. One–week and required courses are offered each June and repeated in January with required pre– and post–study readings and projects. Six courses are face to face and six courses are online. Up to nine hours of equivalent graduate work taken at other accredited colleges or universities may be transferred. All Family Life Ministry courses offered in the one-week workshop and intensive formats will require readings and/or projects prior to and after the on-campus portion and must be completed by the date established by the Graduate Studies Office. Those interested in receiving Continuing Education Units and not graduate credit may enroll for the entire week(s) or any portion of the workshop(s).
The Family Life Ministry program with a concentration in Gerontology is an intensive 45 hour experience which can be completed in 3 years. One of the required Gerontology courses is held face to face, the other four courses are online. This masters program educates students about lifespan development, later life and their own place in an aging society. The program is designed to prepare students for ministry, service and careers in the aging services network (health, medicine, business, volunteer and professional ministries and caregiving services.)
PURPOSE
The Family Life Program strengthens lifespan family education for church workers and other professionals through advanced study of the changing nature of present-day families and those for decades to come.
OBJECTIVES
Students who complete the master of science in family life degree program will be able to:
- Frame lifespan family education on the basis of theological perspectives
- Apply a family science knowledge base and systems approach to issues and prevention through lifespan family education
- Generate lifespan family education applications for children, adolescents and adults in the study of:
Human growth and development Human sexuality
Internal dynamics family Parent education and guidance
Family resource management Families in society
Ethics Interpersonal relationships
Family law and public policy Family life education - Develop competencies of selection, assessment and applications in lifespan family education
- Expand personal-professional competencies in the areas of critical thinking, reflection and application
- Acquire skills in the processes of communication, decision-making and problem solving in the professional and personal domains of family and aging education
- Build interaction skills, a caring capacity and spiritual nurturance for personal-professional intervention and prevention areas of family and aging education
- Apply a Christian, multi-cultural, family strengths world view to all ages and stages of human development
- Apply a Christian family strengths model as opposed to a world view of pathology and deteriorating family structure
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Master's degree in Family Life - 36 hours
FL 555 Lifespan Development (online) 3 hours
FL 585 Family Life Ministry 3 hours
FL 560 Professional Ethics (online) 3 hours
FL 543 Theory and Dynamics of Family Relations 3 hours
FL 547 Family Law and Public Policy (online) 3 hours
FL 545 Foundations of Christian Marriage and Family Intervention 3 hours
FL 546 Family Dysfunctions: Assessment and Intervention (online) 3 hours
FL 544 Lifespan Family Education (online) 3 hours
FL 540 Family Resource Management: A Christian Framework (online) 3 hours
FL 533 Aging and the Family 3 hours
FL 583 Sexuality and the Family 3 hours
FL 528 Parent Education 3 hours
MASTERS OF FAMILY LIFE WITH GERONTOLOGY CONCENTRATION (48 hours)
Required Courses in Family Life (36 hours)
Asterisked courses are required for the Gerontology track
- Theo 585 Family Life Ministry (3)
- Soc 545 – Theology, Theory and Dynamics of Family Relations (3)
- Psy 546 – Family Dysfunctions – Crisis Intervention (3)
- Psy 555 – Lifespan Development (3)*
- Soc 533 - Aging and the Family (3)*
- Theo 483 – Sexuality and the Family (3)
- Psy 545 - Foundations of Christian Marriage and Family (3)
- FL 540 - Family Resource Management (3)
- Educ 428 – Parent Education (3)
- Soc 546 – Family Law and Public Policy (3)
- Psy 570 - Professional Ethics (3)
- Educ 545 – Lifespan Family Education (3)*
Additional Course Requirements in Gerontology
- Nine hours of gerontology and aging studies courses (9)
Application Project
- Educ 597 "Internship for National Council on Family Relations Certification" (minimum 3 semester credits/125 clock hours) This course is required as part of the master's program only for those seeking certification as a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) with the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). Information on CFLE is located at www.NCFR.org. This internship is an elective option in the gerontology track. Gerontology students who complete their practicum in an intergenerational setting may substitute this into the certificate program for Gero 599 Practicum. Students who do not take the practicum are required to take an additional three hour elective in gerontology. (3)
