It is starting to feel like fall. The mountains had their first snow. The aspens are golden and glowing. For those of us who attended Public Health in the Rockies, we had a front row seat to the beauty of Colorado. I hope you are welcoming the change in seasons and the air of possibility in a crisp fall evening.
With the new fall semester underway, the vibrancy within the school can be felt throughout. Students have settled into their classes, the dean’s advisory board met, and a new strategic plan unveiled. The leadership team of the Colorado School of Public Health has organized several events, including a State of the School Address Oct. 22, and a school-wide volunteer week, ColoradoSPH Community Building Week, November 11-15, to enrich and convene our community. Our theme of ‘come together’ resounds throughout each of these events. I hope you will take advantage of these opportunities and be part of our school community. We all do so much for the health and wellbeing of Colorado; this is a chance to celebrate, experience, and recharge that energy with your colleagues.
We are about to launch a schoolwide curriculum review and reform initiative. This initiative is vital to us staying current, relevant, and responsive to the communities we serve. Over the years, we have offered as many as 62 educational programs including Master’s Public Health (MPH), Master’s of Science (MS), Doctorate of Public Health (DrPH), Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD), and certificate programs. We also have combined degrees in collaboration with undergraduate programs. We deliver these programs much in the same way we have delivered them from the start of the school with each department taking ownership of the educational programs within their unit. Some other schools of public health have moved to centralized delivery of their MPH and we would like to learn from their experience. Here are just some of the reasons why curriculum reform is relevant now:
Responding to Emerging Public Health Challenges
Public health is constantly evolving with new challenges such as pandemics (e.g., COVID-19), climate change, social inequalities, and mental health crises. Curriculum reform allows the school to integrate up-to-date knowledge, skills, and best practices needed to address these issues.
Incorporating Interdisciplinary Learning
Public health challenges, like climate change as just one example, requires solutions that cut across various disciplines including medicine, environmental science, economics, data science, and policy. Modernizing our curriculum allows the integration of interdisciplinary approaches, preparing students to work in diverse, collaborative environments.
Improving Student Preparedness for the Job Market
The job market for public health professionals is evolving, requiring new skill sets such as data science, including the use of artificial intelligence, health communication and education, and leadership in crises. It also requires critical thinking skills to discern information from misinformation. Reforming the curriculum ensures that students are successful in an increasingly competitive and complex job market.
Integrating Technological Advancements
Advancements in technology, such as artificial intelligence and data analytics are becoming essential in public health research and practice. Curriculum reform can integrate these technologies, ensuring that students are proficient in utilizing these tools.
Emphasizing Social Justice and Health Equity
With the growing recognition of health inequities, many public health schools are focusing more on social justice and equity. Curriculum reform allows for a deeper understanding of these issues, ensuring that students are trained to promote equitable health outcomes for all populations.
Adapting to Globalization
Public health issues are global issues. Reforming the curriculum enables the inclusion of global health perspectives and prepares students to work across borders, dealing with global pandemics, migration, and international health policies. This aligns well with our Center for Global Health growing influence and impact.
Fostering Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving
As public health becomes more complex, students must be trained to think critically, analyze data, and solve multifaceted problems. A modernized curriculum can enhance the focus on these skills through case-based learning, simulations, and real-world application.
Enhancing Practical Experience and Community Engagement
We seek to reimagine public health education including even more experiential learning opportunities like internships, community-based projects, and service learning. Students must be ready to apply theoretical knowledge in a community-based setting—improving both competence and confidence and allowing for bidirectional exchange of knowledge.
Responding to Faculty Expertise and Research Innovation
We are a research-intensive institution. After all, we are among the top 20 in National Institutes of Health funding among schools of public health. As faculty research and expertise evolve, curriculum reform allows the institution to leverage leading-edge research and thought leadership, incorporating new findings and theories into the teaching process.
Increasing Flexibility and Accessibility
Curriculum reform can make public health education more flexible, offering part-time, online, or hybrid learning options alongside our signature programs. This can attract a more expansive, diverse student body, including working professionals and international students, enhancing the school’s reach and inclusivity.
Promoting Lifelong Learning and Professional Development
Reform can emphasize the need for continuous professional development, offering courses, and advanced training modules to ensure that graduates and members of the existing public health workforce are equipped for long-term success in their careers.
Fostering Collaboration with Shareholders
Engaging in curriculum reform often involves consulting with shareholders such as students, alumni, employers, nonprofits, and policymakers. This process will strengthen relationships with the public health community and ensure that the curriculum is aligned with the needs of the profession.
Improving Student Engagement and Retention
Modernizing the curriculum to include more interactive, relevant, and engaging materials and collaboration with our public health community can improve student satisfaction, retention, and overall academic performance as well as job placement upon graduation.
Showcasing our Brand as the Colorado School of Public Health
There are areas of expertise where we are the national and international leaders. A review of our curriculum will help us identify the areas where we excel and where we may need to invest more. In addition, we will identify areas that are less desirable and perhaps detract from our core identify.
The Process
The school will soon recruit a Faculty Curriculum Champion who will be responsible for leading this initiative. Our Champion will also determine if there are educational offerings we should consider and offerings that may have become less relevant. We will learn from other schools’ experiences to inform our path forward. The Champion will also chair a committee of faculty and students from each of our five departments and seek input from the employers of our students and the broader public health community. Much of this work is underway and we look forward to sharing developments as the process progresses.
Simultaneously, our Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Dr. Madiha Abdel-Maksoud, is leading an effort with her team to carefully review all 62 of our education offerings. This team will determine trends in enrollment and graduation with a careful eye on modernization and efficiencies. She will also ensure that our courses do not compete with one another. This will require extensive data analysis and careful assessments of curriculum. Dr. Abdel-Maksoud is committed to learning insights from faculty and students, beyond what the data may show. At the conclusion of these efforts, a set of recommendations will be made and reviewed extensively.
Prior to any implementation, curriculum changes will go to the Education Committee and on to Council on Education for Public Health for review and approvals. This will be a lengthy and thoughtful process, but we are excited to see the outcomes of this work.
In closing, I encourage each of you to actively participate in the curriculum review and reform process. Your insights, experiences, and unique perspectives are essential to shaping an educational framework that meets the evolving needs of our students. Together, we have the power to create a curriculum that inspires, challenges, and prepares the next generation for success. This is a shared responsibility, and your involvement will make a meaningful difference. Let’s collaborate, innovate, and drive positive change. The future of public health depends on it.
