Advising in the College of Health
Who will be advising you?
All students receive academic advising from professional advisors who guide students on building their schedules, answering curriculum-related questions, and providing support in acclimating to college life. While students are assigned a specific advisor, COH advisors act as a team, providing students with a greater support system. Advisors are available to students by email, virtual meetings, and in-person meetings.
Students are also assigned a faculty mentor who will develop and maintain a professional relationship with ther mentees to encourage and support them as they pursue their academic and career goals. All questions about the support the COH provides should be directed to cohadvising@lehigh.edu
Choosing your classes
Calculus is not a required course, but it is recommended for students who plan to declare a BS in population health. The Mathematics Department uses a Calculus placement tool, ALEKS, from McGraw-Hill. Every student who intends to take a Calculus class at Lehigh in the fall of 2024 must use the ALEKS system for placement. ALEKS is an evaluation that provides a second recommendation for your Calculus course based on your results. If the recommended calculus course is Math021, please note that the College of Health recommends Math 051 instead, which meets pre-med requirements and is helpful for future biostatistics courses. Math 021 is a part of an engineering calculus sequence so is not necessary for College of Health students. ALEKS does not give credit like an AP exam. Instead, its purpose is to make sure students are ready for calculus. It will also indicate the topics and areas you can improve and provides modules to work through to prepare you for the fall semester. After completing the suggested modules, you have the opportunity to test again and improve your placement recommendation. More details about ALEKS will come in time for registration. Be sure to look for email alerts for when ALEKS testing starts.
Pre-Med Students
If you plan to attend medical or veterinary school, you can get started on those prerequisites. Otherwise, you can explore and register for the first-year eligible coursesIt is recommended that you explore courses in both the population health and community & global health majors. Sample course schedules are provided for your convenience as are a list of courses available to first-year students. College of Health students are often planning to attend medical or veterinary school following their graduation from Lehigh. Since no specific major is required for pre-health students, this path is possible for students regardless of their choice to pursue a BA or a BS. Additional information about this plan is available on our website.
Major requirements, college distribution requirements, and degree requirements…what’s the difference?
When you select a major, you will need to meet all the requirements of that major. Usually, there are what we call “core” requirements and electives. Core requirements are specific courses that you are required to take. With electives, you are able to select courses based on your health interests, with approval from your academic advisor. The number of total major credits varies by major.
There are also college distribution requirements. These are subject requirements that must be met regardless of a student’s major and are specific to each college. Sometimes a course may even overlap with major requirements. Some, like English and the First Year Seminar, are required to be taken during your first semester. Others can be taken any time before graduation.
All students in the College of Health must meet the requirements below prior to graduation.
First-year Seminar (1 course)
HLTH 095: The Value of a Degree in Health
Science Writing (4 courses)
WRT 001 or WRT 003 Critical reading and composition
WRT 002 or WRT 005 Research and argument
Select 2 additional upper-level writing-intensive courses from list below, or in consultation with an advisor
CGH 313 Health Policy & Politics
CGH 314 Advanced Commercial Determinants of Health
CGH 315 Medical Mysteries
CGH 316 Global Environmental Disasters & Policy
CGH 317 Sex, Drugs, & Trauma
CGH 319 Public Health Law
CGH 322 Contemporary Indigenous Health
CGH 332 Aging, Health, and Social Policy
Determinants of health (2 courses)
CGH 103 Biological & Environmental Determinants of Health
CGH 104 Sociocultural & Political Determinants of Health
CGH 105 Commercial Determinants of Health
Bioethics (1 course)
POPH 003 Justice, Equity, & Ethics in Population Health
POPH 319 Population Health Bioethics
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (1 course)
CGH 002 Introduction to LGBTQ2+ Health
CGH 021 Culture and Health
CGH 022 Global Perspectives on Health
CGH 122 Indigenous Healing Traditions
CGH 311 Religion, Spirituality, and Health
CGH 312 Curses, Possessions, and Supernatural Illnesses
CGH 318 Sexuality Education
CGH 322 Contemporary Indigenous Health
Sustainability (1 course)
CGH 102 Community Health & Engineering
CGH 108 Food Justice
CGH 106 Global Environment & Human Welfare
CGH 316 Global Environmental Disasters & Policy
Finally, there are degree requirements. To earn a degree, you will need to complete at least 120 credits by the time you graduate. Those credits comprise your major courses, distribution courses, and any other credits you earn. Those “any other credits” outside your major or distribution requirements can come from any course at Lehigh! We want you to try other things, so don't fear that a course “won’t count for anything.” Take the course because it looks interesting. All credits “count” toward your degree; as long as you are paying attention to meeting your major and distribution requirements, you can do some exploring too!
College of Health Contacts:
Jen Topp, Assistant Director, Student Experiences
cohadvising@lehigh.edu
610-758-1877
Professor Christine Daley, Department Chair
chd320@lehigh.edu
Web site: https://health.lehigh.edu/