new degree courses
Check out these new degree courses and certifications in 2020. Source: Greg Baker/AFP

2020 may be the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but don’t let it overshadow all the new degree courses and certificates currently being offered by universities.

If you want to take the path less travelled when it comes to your college major, choose from these new offerings and become a pioneer in burgeoning industries.

Afraid you can’t enter countries because of COVID-19 travel restrictions? Heave a sigh of relief as many of these new programmes and degree courses are offered online.

Double degree in Sport Management

In just four years, students can earn bachelor’s degrees from both Ohio University in the US and the University of Bayreuth (UBT) in Germany with this new double degree. Both are internationally-respected institutions known for developing leaders in the sports industry.

Programme coordinator and chair of marketing and service management at UBT Herbert Woratschek said, “Ohio University is considered to be the top university in the US, and the University of Bayreuth is considered as pioneers in Europe in this field.

“The value for the participants is to receive a top international education with experience in the very different sports systems in different cultural settings. Thus, their career opportunities are outstanding.”

According to OHIO News, Ohio University Business School and UBT faculty will help students find internships with professional sports organisations through consulting projects with executives from adidas, Puma, and other partners.

UBT has a strong regional and national network with leading German sporting goods manufacturers and sports organisations. Ohio University’s network of sport management alumni is the largest in the world.

Online Certificate in Cannabis Studies

  • new degree courses

    A marijuana grower and dealer prepares to sell his new harvest for sale due to the announced nationwide twenty-one day lockdown in South Africa amid worries that he won’t make any sales during that period at an undisclosed location on March 25, 2020. Source: Emmanuel Croset / AFP

Interested in learning more about the product development and manufacturing of cannabis?

This online certificate consists of four three-credit courses, designed to develop specialised skills and a deeper understanding of how to safely and ethically perform jobs in the cannabis industry.

Department Chair of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy Navindra Seeram said, “Being one of the first undergraduate certificate programmes in cannabis studies in the country, the university will be leading the scholarship of this growing field to improve scientific rigour and address public health and safety concerns.”

Undergraduate Certificate in Public and Population Health

The pandemic has shown us who the real heroes and heroines are in this world — those at the frontlines in healthcare.

Offered in collaboration between the KU Edwards Campus and KU Medical Center, the programme focuses on key concepts in public and population health, where students will develop an understanding of the connection between public health and the community.

Professor and vice chair for education in KU School of Medicine’s Department of Population Health Won Choi said, “Public and population health have always been critical for promoting health and preventing disease, but the current pandemic has revealed even more the importance of public health measures like social distancing to reduce morbidity and mortality.”

Bachelor’s in Social Sciences of Oceans

Looking for an oceans-focused degree? There is no better place to study this specialised degree than at the University of Hawaiʻi (UH).

The Mānoa College of Social Sciences (CSS) and Interdisciplinary Studies are jointly offering this degree that will teach students how to address the complex problems related to oceans and island societies.

Topics will cover the social sciences, including anthropology, economics, ethnic studies, geography and environment, political science, sociology and urban planning.

This is an accelerated online programme offered in five-week segments with one course at a time.

Two new graduate degrees will be launching this fall at Chapman University’s School of Pharmacy. Students who apply to the Master of Science programmes in Patient Safety and Regulatory Affairs don’t need to have healthcare backgrounds to be admitted.

Professor and director of the Master’s in Patient Safety Jerika Lam said that patient safety experts are often in liaison positions that have a wide-ranging impact on patient outcomes and health,

“They can be embedded in an organisation so that they work with the administration as well as the foot soldiers to help create policies as well as safety protocols to make sure lives are protected on the ground floor when patients are admitted and continuing through to a smooth discharge and coordination with primary providers.”

Professor and program director of the Regulatory Affairs programme Enrique Seoane-Vazquez said, “This is a specialised area with a lot of great opportunities in Orange County, California, and around the globe. It’s an area that’s expanding in the future. And we have state-of-the-art curriculum, instruction and training.”

He said that such scientifically-minded professionals are needed to help companies navigate the complexities of guiding new products from concept to market.

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