Needs Assessment and Planning Health Promotion Programs is a senior- level online course for students seeking a bachelor's degree in health promotion. Historically this course has had the learning objective of helping students demonstrate an understanding of how to plan the assessment process, from the analysis of a planning model through to the completion of a planning model paper. Recently the addition of a community walking survey as a key component of the course has established a link between engaged learning and distance education. The inclusion of this community-engaged learning component as a supplement to the traditional needs assessment and program planning project will offer online students of health promotion the opportunity to learn community assessment skills while substantially increasing their knowledge of community health issues.