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Graduate Certificate in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

 

The Certificate in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) at the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) is offered through the Center for Global Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at Emory University (CGSW) and aims to train graduate students to be competitive for WASH-related careers. Please be advised, the Graduate Certificate in Water, Sanitation & Hygiene is not available for online or distance learning at this time. It is only offered to enrolled RSPH students. The WASH Certificate is not offered as an online course at this time.

Program Competencies

  • Describe the multidisciplinary nature of WASH-related issues;
  • Practice WASH-related laboratory methods;
  • Examine potential solutions for WASH-related challenges at the household and community level;
  • Recognize the role of policy in shaping the WASH landscape;
  • Identify entities working in the WASH sphere; and
  • Students must complete a WASH related APE. They must also generate WASH-related knowledge through completing a capstone or a thesis (ILE). HPM students please contact Kathleen “Kat” Peters, the WASH certificate coordinator at kpeter5@emory.edu, to learn about alternative thesis and capstone requirements.

Program Requirements

Any RSPH student graduating who fulfills the following criteria will be awarded a WASH certificate:

  • Complete a minimum of 8 credit hours of WASH-related coursework. (Please note: your WASH related ILE counts for 4 of the total 12 credit hours required) with at least one methods course, one biology course, a WASH elective course and a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or greater. Please see the course summary for approved WASH coursework.
  • Attend two CGSW-sponsored seminars per year (4 total in two years); and
  • Successfully complete a WASH-related ILE and APE

This is a self-guided certificate program. You must undertake the following steps in order to successfully complete the WASH certificate program:

      1. Send an email with your intention to pursue the WASH certificate program as soon as possible to Kat Peters (kpeter5@emory.edu), the WASH Certificate Coordinator. You will be added to the CGSW listserv which will inform you of upcoming seminars and other WASH-related activities.
      2. Students who plan to use a WASH-related capstone/thesis/APE that is not supervised by a CGSW faculty, affiliated investigator or staff member must fill out a Provisional APE/ILE Approval Form in order to receive approval from Dr. Christine Moe, CGSW Director. Without this provisional approval, there is no guarantee that the ILE (capstone/thesis) and/or APE will fulfill the certificate requirement.
      3. WASH certificate-seeking students who would like to use a non-listed, WASH-related class towards the certificate requirements must apply for provisional approval from Dr. Christine Moe. Without this provisional approval, there is no guarantee that the intended class will fulfill the certificate requirement. Please complete a Provisional Course Approval Form and return it to Kat Peters and Dr. Christine Moe.
      4. Students are required to respond to the certificate coordinator inquiries. If a student no longer wishes to pursue the Certificate, they MUST inform the coordinator ASAP. Non-response could result in removal from the program.

Please contact your ADAP or Certificate Coordinator with questions/concerns

Additional Information:

  1. Your certificate requirements are the certificate requirements for the year you matriculated into, or started, the MPH or MSPH program.  For example, if you matriculated into the MPH program Fall 2025 but did not declare interest in completing a certificate program until Summer 2026, you must still follow the Fall 2025 certificate requirements.
  1. Students may not count required coursework for their degree program towards a certificate, with the exception of electives.  If you are pursuing more than one certificate program you may double count the courses for the certificate, as long as they are not required for your degree program. The RSPH course catalog lists all degree program requirements by Department.

Examples of what cannot “double count” include:

  1. For GH or Global Epidemiology students’ classes that are being used to fulfill the “GH Methods” Requirement of their degree.  The most overlap in these requirements are seen in WASH and CHE.
  2. For any Epidemiology or Global Epidemiology students, classes that are fulfilling the “Substantive” or “Methods” selective may not be used towards a certificate.
  3. For EH and GEH students, EH 520, “Toxicology,” may not be used as an elective course for GME or any other certificate program.
  4. For HPM students, HPM 502 may not be used to count towards any certificate requirements.
  5. For BSHES students, no BSHES required courses such as BSHES 532, BSHES 538, or BSHES 539 can count towards any certificate requirement.
  6. Students who are pursuing multiple certificates, may “double count” elective courses towards two certificates.  For example, if a GH MPH student takes GH 560: Monitoring and Evaluation, and it is not being used towards the GH Methods Requirement, it could be used as a course for both CHE and WASH Certificate requirements.

More Information

UPDATED FOR FALL 2026!  Fall 2026 WASH course summary

NEW! RSPH and Public Health Acronym List

CGSW Faculty, Affiliated Investigators, Fellows and Staff:   Who We Are

 

 

 

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