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Find Your FitPenn State is a large community, but it is a
community. Health and Human Development can
help you connect, meet people, get involved, and
get comfortable.
JumpStartJumpStart combines a dynamic two-day retreat for
first-year students with a seven-week, first-year seminar
that is designed to launch your transition to college life
by connecting you with a network of peers, student
mentors, faculty, and alumni.
Interest HousingThe Health and Human Development Interest
House in Beaver Hall is designed for students who
are exploring health-related majors or who are
committed to healthy living. Residents strive to follow
a balanced lifestyle of physical, emotional, social,
academic, spiritual, and intellectual well-being. Yoga,
stress management, nutrition, and physical fitness
programs are offered to residents.
Advising and Student ServicesThe Student Services Center is home to academic
advising for students. It offers resources and advising
for students to explore majors, minors, careers, and
information on college policies and procedures.
“My personal and professional goal in life is to become a positive, influential teacher of young children.”
Maddison Booge, Human Development and
Family Studies
The college offers 9 majors that are consistently ranked among the top of their kind in the nation.
SocializationBuild relationships with your classmates and your
instructors with events like the Dean’s Ice Cream Social,
Take a Professor to Lunch, Exercise is Medicine, Research
Night, the Involvement Fair, Majors Night, and the
Education Abroad Fair.
DiversityThe College of Health and Human Development
embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion as core values
in both its mission and vision. Our goal is to empower
a broadly diverse generation to become leaders and
scholars who promote human health, development and
quality of life throughout the lifespan.
LEAPStart your Penn State career in a small-college
atmosphere. LEAP is for first-year students and
provides the chance to begin their journey at Penn
State University Park by way of a learning community.
Student OrganizationsYou have the opportunity to get involved. This might
be in one of our college organizations or in one of the
many department or student organizations.
Meet People
A sample of some of our student organizations:
HHD Student Council
HHD Honor Society
Biobehavioral Health Society
National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Health Policy and Administration Club
Penn State Hotel & Restaurant Society
HDFS Undergraduate Student Organization
Kinesiology Club
Student Athletic Training Club
Student Nutrition Association
Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management Student Society
Grow Your ExperienceBeyond the Classroom
Strengthen your skills and knowledge with learning
opportunities in the workplace. All of our programs
have dedicated internship coordinators and advisers
who can help you find just the right fit for your
educational and professional goals. Our students
graduate with real-world experience with employers
who may offer future career opportunities.
Class projects connect you to alumni and industry
partners who provide challenging problems for
you to solve.
Research
As an undergraduate in the College of Health and
Human Development, you will have the opportunity
to work with some of the brightest and most well-
respected researchers in the world. Research
experiences can last a semester or throughout
your entire Penn State career and can complement
classroom experiences and help form connections
with faculty members in your respective field of study.
Working with faculty mentors, you can engage in
active learning in the laboratory, local communities,
and throughout the world. Through these experiences,
you share in the excitement of discovery, develop
important skills, and explore career choices.
More than 1,000 of the college’s students participate each semester in service-learning activities that bring them into direct contact with patients, clients, and consumers.
Build Your NetworkAlumni Mentoring
The College of Health and Human Development
Alumni Mentoring Program connects students and
alumni by matching students who are juniors in
their major with professionals who can offer advice
and information about career options or other
issues relevant to particular fields. The mentoring
program includes an initial orientation and a goal-
setting, face-to-face meeting, followed by fifteen
months of ongoing interactions. Students can
explore internships, course choices, and plans after
graduation with their mentor. Many of our students
have returned to be mentors, reflecting the value of
the program to both students and alumni.
Women’s Leadership Initiative
The Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) was
conceptualized and is supported by alumni of the
college and women leaders throughout the nation. WLI
provides opportunities for emerging women leaders to
develop the core values, attitudes, and competencies
that are the foundation of quality leadership.
“The student engagement opportunities that RPTM provided have been extremely beneficial. I was able to interact with professionals in the field and build great friendships with my peers.”
Cassaundra Soars, Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management
Explore Your WorldGlobal Health MinorThe Global Health Minor is designed to give students
exposure to issues affecting the health of various
populations in the world. Offered by the Department
of Biobehavioral Health, any Penn State student can
apply to be part of the minor.
Emphasis is placed on encouraging students to
more fully recognize the global interconnectedness
of current population health problems and to think
critically about how particular global health challenges
might best be solved.
The minor supports the goals of those who are
planning careers in research and teaching or in
health services, be it in universities, government
agencies, international agencies, non-governmental
organizations, or private industry.
Study AbroadThere are more than a dozen faculty-led study abroad
programs offered through the College of Health and
Human Development. These opportunities are led by
faculty from the departments of Biobehavioral Health;
Health Policy and Administration; Human Development
and Family Studies; Kinesiology; Recreation, Park, and
Tourism Management; and the School of Hospitality
Management. Most programs are open to
students from any major in the college.
These opportunities can take you
around the world to places such as
South Africa, Costa Rica, England, Italy,
China, Fiji, Australia, Japan, France,
Chile, Spain, and many more. Program
lengths range from a week to an entire
semester.
Penn State also offers numerous
other study abroad courses through
Global Penn State where you can
study in more than 200 locations in
nearly sixty countries.“Going to Tanzania was a life-changing trip. Even when I wasn’t doing fieldwork, it was still a learning experience to be engrossed in the culture.”
Marc Neith, Biobehavioral Health
On average, more than 2,500 Penn State students take part in study abroad programs each year.
Nearly 10% of the students who take part in study abroad programs are Health and Human Development students.
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