The Dental Hygiene Baccalaureate
Degree Completion Program will be nationally recognized
for its innovative and flexible curriculum, whose graduates
will be able to function optimally in dynamic career
settings.
The philosophy of the Baccalaureate
Degree Completion Program is to prepare the registered
dental hygienist for a Bachelor of Science Degree concentrating
in areas of nontraditional dental hygiene.
The program will offer a dynamic
and interdisciplinary background that will increase
career opportunities and allow for intellectual and
professional growth. The program will allow exploration
into a variety of alternative practice settings and
will promote life long learning.
1. Increase the number of dental
hygienists receiving baccalaureate degrees who will
then contribute to the knowledge base of the profession.
2. Maintain a contemporary dental hygiene degree completion
program based on feedback for change.
3. Provide a dynamic interdisciplinary curriculum.
4. Maintain admission policies to ensure admission of
a diverse and qualified student body.
5. Support and encourage continued formal education
and advanced educational degrees.
6. Provide individualized student centered education.
7. Increase awareness of professional associations and
activities.
1. How does your curriculum
plan address the needs of traditional and mid-career
and adult students?
The mission of the Degree Completion
Program is to offer an individualized, diversified curriculum
to its students allowing unlimited time commitment for
completion of a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene.
Along with the fulfillment of the
basic dental hygiene education, the program requires
completion of the University of Detroit Mercy Core requirements
that focus on math, computer literacy and humanities
(religion, philosophy, culture/language, and art/music/drama).
In addition to the core coursework, additional studies
in dental hygiene related courses are required of students
transferring from outside dental hygiene programs.
Due to prior completion of many
of the core courses, many degree completion students
have additional credits needed in electives in order
to complete the Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene
degree. These electives can be fulfilled in any area
of choice. Directed Studies can be individually developed
to allow licensed dental hygienists the option to complete
studies in areas of interest in the dental or dental
hygiene field or other health related areas.
Other options for students pursuing
a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene degree include
exploration into areas outside the realm of clinical
dental hygiene. Students interested in healthcare education,
business, management/administration, research, psychology
or counseling are able to choose coursework from other
colleges within the University of Detroit Mercy. Students
may also choose elective coursework as prerequisites
for entrance into a Master's or professional degree
program.
2. Describe the Delivery system
(availability of day, evening, weekend courses).
The Degree Completion Program
for licensed dental hygienists is a program that can
accommodate a full or part-time student. The terminal
degree, a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene (BSDH),
requires 126 credit hours for fulfillment and is granted
by the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry.
There is no time limit for completion.
A Degree Completion Program applicant
must have received either a certificate in Dental Hygiene
or an Associates degree in dental hygiene in order to
be admitted into the program. Due to the past coursework
in prerequisite and dental hygiene courses, the degree
completion students frequently enter into the program
at the beginning of their senior year.
The University of Detroit Mercy
Core Curriculum required to complete the BSDH will be
taken at the Mc Nichols campus. These courses are offered
during the day, at night, or in the Weekend College
(Friday and/or Saturday) and are offered during each
semester.
Those students who are required
to take the Dental Hygiene Core classes do so at the
Outer Drive campus. The courses are limited to day,
time, and semester specific to each course. (Two courses
are offered Friday during the day, Winter semester;
One course is offered Tuesday evening, Summer semester.)
At this time, no on-line coursework
is available to degree completion students.
Many students of the degree completion
program are graduates of other dental hygiene programs.
A significant number come from community college programs.
An individual transcript evaluation is performed for
each applicant to determine the maximum number of transfer
credit hours allowable. Currently a maximum of 63 credit
hours is accepted from accredited community college
dental hygiene programs. A number of community college
dental hygiene programs have articulation agreements
with the University of Detroit Mercy. These agreements
have allowed a larger number of credit hours to be transfer,
up to 96 credit hours. Therefore, degree completion
students will need between 30 and 63 additional credit
hours to fulfill the BSDH. The last 30 credit hours
for any student are required to be taken at the University
of Detroit Mercy to fulfill the senior residency requirement.
If any of the UDM or Dental Hygiene
core coursework has been successfully completed prior
to a student's admission into the degree completion
program, and if additional credits are required to fulfill
the 126 credits needed to complete the BSDH, electives
are added in the student's area of interest. Electives
can be fulfilled by either additional coursework or
by directed studies.
Directed Studies, which are supervised
by dental or dental hygiene faculty within the School
of Dentistry, may include research, publication of research,
forensic dentistry, clinical or didactic teaching and/or
a host of other applicable opportunities in other dental
specialties. These opportunities will allow exploration
into fields associated with dental hygiene but may not
specifically deal with the traditional aspects of the
profession.
Other elective opportunities may
be fulfilled by taking coursework in many of the other
colleges within the university. Classes in business,
management/administration, psychology, and/or counseling
are a few examples of areas that may interest degree
completion students.
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