Update (4/20/09): Thanks to Daniel Kessler for the photos now included with the post.-----
9:53 -- Professors and staff have begun trickling in, talking with friends and taking out their laptops. One of the main benefits of the new renovation will be how the different departments and centers within the School of Public Health can work together and build community, and you really see the beginnings of that here today.
----10:09 -- As Dr. Brad Hatfield describes it, the school's strategic plan will guide our school for the next several years, helping the school accomplish its goals both in the short and long term. The vision, mission and values, Dr. Hatfield said, are generic, and that it is up to the faculty, staff and students of the SPH to bring shape and color to these--taking them from "vanilla" to something more flavorful.
Specifically, the plan has five objectives, first being to achieve and maintain the essential infrastructure and academic support that ensures a fully accredited School of Public Health. Part of this inovlves expanding the workable space and research laboratories in the building (hence the renovation).
Second, Build and extend the excellence in our graduate and undergraduate programs, specifically ensuring that students are effectively mentored through their life at the University. Under this goal, the school seeks to speed up the average time that it takes a student to complete their degree and decrease students leaving the school. Dr. Hatfield also empahsizes that the school will start a new program under which students will learn about the wide spectrum of issues within public health--PCH students learning Kines and vice versa.
Third, conduct and disseminate high quality research. By FY 2013, the school is aiming to increase research award dollars by 15%
Fourth, engage and enhance communities through service and outreach. For one, the school hopes to increase the number of collaborations it has with community organizations.
Fifth, Improve human resources, helping faculty and staff give feedback and develop further in their field or craft. As a benefit to everyone, this goal also seeks to be more intentional about recruiting the best faculty in each field.
If I understand this correctly, the purpose of this strategic plan is to start thinking in depth about where the school wants to be in five years. We'll be back soon.
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10:38 -- In talking through the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, one of the ideas that Dr. Hatfield put forward is how the school needs to provide more opportunities for collaborations across disciplines. Because so many of the issues within public health are not limited to one field, enabling these collaborations makes sense for everyone.
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10:41 -- CEPH Accreditation is coming up in the Fall (specifically, the site visit), and Blakely Pomietto stresses that numerous people have worked hard and come away with a new appreciation for not only the uniqueness and diversity of the school today but also the potential for growth within the school.
To attain CEPH accreditation, the school had to complete a self-study, which encompasses everything from mission and values to nitty gritty details like the minimum credits and requirements for the school's degree programs.-----
10:47 -- THE PASSPORT PROGRAM, a new initiative that the meeting has been hinting about, was just introduced by Pomietto. The program comes from the idea that students graduating school should be able to grasp concepts across the public health field, including explaining basic principles of epidemiology, understanding statistical methods of summarizing public health data, and communicating how health systems and health policy can influence people.
For undergraduate students, the program means that they will have to attend one event for each of the five disciplines. They will sign up for their passport online, receive an email reminder, attend the event and finally answer questions emailed to them. Students will attend a minimum of five events, but it seems as though there's great value to attending more.
The program will start in Fall 2009.
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10:57 -- The process of becoming an accredited school of public health (the Council on Education for Public Health is the accrediting organization) takes place over several years. The self study will be submitted on September 21, 2009, with the final decision coming in late Spring 2010.
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11:05 -- Report from Department of Public and Community Health -- As an example of Community Based Participatory Research, Dr. Elbert Glover threw it over to Dr. Sharon Desmond, who's Principles of Community Health I course has been planning a health fair for the community for Seat Pleasant.
The Healthy Turtle has been covering the upcoming health fair on the blog as of late, so scroll down and find the recent posts.
Report from Family Science -- Among other items, Dr. Elaine Anderson discussed how the department introduced a new course into maternal and child health, and took the assembly through their work with military families--starting with focus groups and now creating workforce development initiatives to work with military families.
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11:24 -- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics - According to Dr. Deb Young, the diverse faculty of seven from across the globe (including Wisconsin) is highly collaborative, working with other faculty on at least eight grant proposals. Because of this diversity, the faculty's research interests run a gamut from working with Asian-Americans in Montgomery County to improving oral health care for African immigrants and Latinas.
We're closing the live-blog now--apologies to the departments that we did not list here (if you would like to provide a summary of your department's report, email me at rmcmahon at umd dot edu). Enjoy the rest of the assembly.
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