Information for Current Students
These resources are available to our graduate students in the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior.
You will be assigned a faculty advisor to assist in planning a program that meets your educational goals and to answer questions relating to graduate studies. The advisor will also assist you in selecting your field training experience placement site and chair your MPH culminating project.
You should plan to consult with your advisor before registration each semester. Prior to your meeting, ensure you have run an updated "Academic Advising Report" or AAR to bring with you. This document will help as you navigate curriculum requirements. This Report is available within your HUB account. To access:
- Go to HUB
- Click on "Plan" (top left)
- Click on "My Academics" tab
- Click on "View my Advisement Report"
Direct all administrative questions relating to meeting degree requirements (e.g., class registration, graduation forms) to the graduate program coordinator at sphhp-chhb-mph@buffalo.edu.
If you do not know who your advisor is, please contact the graduate program coordinator at sphhp-chhb-mph@buffalo.edu. If, for any reason, you wish to change advisors, submit a request in writing to the MPH program director and provide a copy to the current advisor. Changes will be made only with the approval of the new advisor.
The PhD program is based on a mentor-mentee model in which you will be matched with a faculty advisor who shares your research interests. As part of the application for admission, you will identify one or more faculty members would could function as your advisor and describe how your planned doctoral research relates to the potential advisor’s research activities and interests.
Your faculty advisor will involve you in their research and supervise your independent research, including the dissertation.
Community Health and Health Behavior Policy on Good Academic Standing and Probation
In addition to following the Graduate School policies on Academic Standing (including the Graduate School’s definition for "Good Academic Standing") and Academic Probation, the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior will adhere to the following provisions:
All Graduate Students
Students who fail to earn a full “B” or better in a required course (note that a B- does not suffice) will be placed on academic probation and fail to be in good academic standing. They will be required to retake the course. Students who earn a full B or better upon retaking the course will have met this particular requirement for regaining good academic standing. Students who do not earn a full B or better upon repeating the course will be dismissed from the program.
Students who do not earn a full B or better in an elective course will be informed that they cannot count that course toward their degree program; repeated instances of this may result in dismissal from the program.
In addition, academic integrity is a fundamental university value and ethical behavior is a cornerstone of the public health profession. Therefore, during their time in the program, any student with a “severe” or “most severe” academic integrity infraction or two or more “less severe” academic integrity infractions may be dismissed from their program at the end of the academic semester in which the infraction occurred. Most severe, severe and less severe academic integrity infractions will be classified per the Academic Integrity’s Sanction Chart on the Graduate School Policy Library.
PhD Students Only
There are a variety of grounds upon which a PhD student may be put on academic probation, including but not limited to failing to make timely progress in their research and unprofessional conduct. Any member of the CHHB graduate faculty may request a meeting of these same faculty to propose putting a student on academic probation. CHHB graduate faculty will discuss the case and vote on whether to put the student on academic probation. If a full-time student fails to complete their comprehensive exam by the end of the first semester of the third year, this will automatically prompt a meeting of the CHHB graduate faculty who will review the student’s progress and vote on whether to put the student on academic probation. If the majority of the faculty votes for probationary status, the student will be placed on academic probation for the coming semester. If the majority of the faculty votes to retain good academic standing, the student will remain in good academic standing for the coming semester. The department procedures for determining and communicating the terms for regaining good academic standing are the same as those outlined in the Graduate School academic probation policy.
All MPH students are held to standards relating to conduct, ethics, and academic integrity.
SUNY and the University at Buffalo have mandated standards for behavior to establish a just, safe, orderly and positive climate on UB's campuses. These standards are described in the Student Code of Conduct webpage on the UB website.
The MPH program also upholds and enforces standards of professional conduct and ethics adapted from the American Public Health Association Code of Ethics. These standards are described in our Public Health Code of Ethics Download pdf(301 KB), adapted from the American Public Health Association.
Finally, the MPH program upholds and enforces academic integrity according to the UB Graduate Academic Integrity policies and procedures within and across all UB classes and extracurricular activities. These are described in the Office of Academic Integrity webpages on the UB website.
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Financial Aid: Applications, types of aid, cost of attendance and financial literacy.
Registrar: Class registration, academic and student calendars, grading, degree audits, student data, enrollment and degree verification, transcripts, class schedules, final exam scheduling and diplomas.
Student Accounts: Tuition and fees, comprehensive fees, billing and payment, late fees, liability deadlines, financial aid refunds and New York State residency.
Veterans Affairs: UB benefits available to students with military experience.
Student Health Services: Appointments, records and other health resources.
Counseling Center: Help for students with depression, anxiety and other mental health concerns.
Accessibility Resources: Anyone with a disability who needs reasonable accommodations to access education, employment, or any service or activity at UB should contact Accessibility Resources.
Student Medical Insurance: Insurance costs and benefits available from SBI Student Medical Insurance.
Student Affairs: Wide range of services, from dispute mediation to late-night entertainment on campus.
Complaint / Grievance Policy: Access information about filing a complaint or grievance through the University at Buffalo Graduate School Policy Library.
Campus Parking and Transportation: Parking permits and bus schedules.
As a current student, there are opportunities to help you supplement the cost of your education. These opportunities can be at the department, school, or university levels.
The Department of Community Health and Health Behavior can provide, pending application and approval, financial support for travel including $200 toward a student’s first meeting regardless of whether he or she is presenting, and then $200 for every subsequent meeting at which he or she presents either a poster or an oral presentation.
