Graduate Certificate - Youth Development Specialist

Information is subject to change.
Please revisit this page again before the semester starts to make sure you have all the current information.
Drops and Refunds:
Students adhere to the drop and refund policies and deadlines of their home university.
Course Information
Youth Development

Course Description
This course introduces students to the developmental period of adolescence. Students examine this developmental period through the lens of theory and research of positive youth development. The course emphasizes how the developmental tasks of this life stage are influenced by (and influence) family and home, school, peers, and other contextual forces. Students critically examine theoretical and research literature and become familiar with major issues and transitions adolescents face as they successfully navigate this developmental stage.
Contacts
Instructor

Rachelle Vettern
Office: 701-231-7541
Fax: 701-231-8568
rachelle.vettern@ndsu.edu

Campus Coordinator

For course access questions, contact the teaching university’s campus coordinator. For enrollment questions, contact your home university campus coordinator.
View the Campus Coordinator Directory >>

Disability Support Services

To request accommodations for this course, contact the disability support office at your home university. You must register each semester and for each course. Read more about the Great Plains IDEA process for requesting accommodations.


Textbooks

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (softcover)
American Psychological Association
Edition: Sixth
ISBN: 10: 1-4338056-1-5
Publisher: American Psychological Association (2010), Washington, DC

Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Cultural Approach (Purchase textbook in print or electronic version)
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Clark University
Edition: 6th Edition - 2018
ISBN: 978-0134596877
Publisher: RENT PEARS


Course Access
 
Approximately three weeks before the first day of class at North Dakota State University, campus coordinator Stacy Duffield will touch base with students via email.  She will encourage students to look for an email the week before classes start that will include instructions for accessing courses at NDSU.  
 
One week before NDSU classes begin, students will receive Stacy's email which includes their ID number, user ID name, and instructions for setting up their Blackboard account at NDSU.  Students may then set their own password and security questions, choose to forward emails to a different account, and activate their NDSU Live account. 
 
Courses may not be visible to students until the first day of classes.

Exam Proctor

This course does not require an exam proctor.

Synchronous Components

This course does not include synchronous components.

University Members
Members of the Great Plains IDEA are universities accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Member universities recruit, admit and graduate students, teach in an academic program and contribute to the leadership and maintenance of the alliance. Membership in the alliance is a selective process that engages institutional leadership at all levels.

Wearbon_Kristen_Headshot_for_Website1.pngThe online Family and Community Services Program is teaching me to observe, evaluate, and assist families using a strengths-based approach. In my previous role as alumni advisor, one of my responsibilities was speaking with parents from various backgrounds to prepare them for their scholar's graduation and matriculation. Using what I learned in Resilience in Families and Family Resource Management I was able to highlight families' assets and internal resources to help them help their scholar succeed, in addition to providing them with new information and external resources. All of my courses have contributed in some way to how I now approach my work and interact with those close to me. I am a better employee, sister, daughter, friend, and mentor because of the online Family and Community Services program!

– – Kristen Wearbon, Family and Community Services Student,
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