| Board Talk |
| Impending Public Health Workforce Shortage |
 There has never been a better time to pursue a career in public health. Recently, there has been significant press related to an ASPH assessment which found that in excess of 250,000 additional public health workers will be needed by 2020 in order to avert a public health crisis (ASPH Friday Letter #1507). Over 23% of the current workforce is eligible to retire by 2012. There are forecasted shortages of epidemiologists, health care educators, administrators, public health physicians and nurses. [ Continued ]
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| Looking Forward |
| Exhibits, exhibits, exhibits! |
 Recruiting season has begun and the SOPHAS schools are exhibiting
at a number of events across the country this spring/summer. In
most cases, the exhibit fee is covered by ASPH and general recruiting
materials are provided for SOPHAS schools wishing to exhibit at these events. In exchange, the schools agree to provide information about all 40 CEPH accredited schools. These exhibits are a wonderful example of the schools working together for the greater good! [ Continued ] |
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| Member Profiles |
Adapting to the Challenges of Rapid Growth:
Student Services at the
University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences |
| Kentucky is known for its production of thoroughbred race horses, tobacco and bourbon. Not surprisingly, our state is also known for the negative health consequences of our signature industries. These include high morbidity and mortality rates for cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, illnesses that can be prevented through public health education and intervention efforts. Like many other states, Kentucky also faces a public health workforce shortage and a lack of formal education for many public health workers. [ Continued ]
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| Spotlight on Public Health Partners |
| Gates Millennium Scholars Program |
The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program not only provides scholarship assistance for students, but through its dynamic Leadership Development Programs, it offers Gates Scholars and Gates Alumni a range of academic empowerment relevant to graduate education. The GMS program selects 1,000 students per year as Gates Scholars. Awards are based on the cost of tuition, fees, books, and living expenses for the academic year, as well as the availability of grants and other scholarships reported on the student's financial aid award letter. In addition, continuing Gates Scholars may request a fellowship for a graduate degree program in one of the following academic disciplines: computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health or science.
[ Continued ]
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| International Perspectives |
| The Public Health Foundation of India and the Member Schools of the Association of Schools of Public Health – Making a Difference Together |
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The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), led by Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, has made great progress in establishing a school of public health in India . Currently, plans are underway for PHFI to launch the first three Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPH) in late 2008. These schools will be located in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Gandhinagar (Gujarat) and Delhi . As the infrastructure of the IIPHs are evolving and being further developed, immediate plans are also underway to begin delivering diploma programs in each of these locations across India . In addition, five additional institutes are planned for the future as well as the development of Centers of Excellence in specific areas of the public health sciences. [ Continued ]
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| Four Students from Afghanistan Students Speak To Their US School of Public Health Experience |
| Decades of war and internal conflict have had negative affects on almost every aspect of the life in the Afghan community. The major infrastructures, including healthcare, have been severely affected. The country of Afghanistan has one of the worst health situations in the world, as well as a devastated economy. There are many factors affecting the population's health, making it a very complex scenario. Proper education is limited; most of the population is illiterate. In order to find underlying and root causes of the Afghanistan health problems there is a need for expertise and skills. [ Continued ]
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Multicultural Events: Building Community and Benefiting Community Partners |
 In mid-February, more than fifty Saint Louis University School of Public Health (SLUSPH) students from over a dozen countries gathered to celebrate their cultural heritage at the school's first multicultural eve. The event was held in the new gathering space at IHA (Intercommunity Housing Association) Pillar Place , a SLUSPH community partner. IHA is an intercommunity residence that provides safe, affordable housing and life skills training for the area's poor and marginalized. IHA boasts, in addition to job skills training, an award-winning community garden which SLUSPH students have helped the IHA residents nurture. [ Continued ]
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| Technology Watch |
| ASPH Student Communication and Technology- from Bulletin Boards to Social Networks |
| What bonds student affairs professionals more than a discussion around opportunities and obstacles to getting the word out to our students about an event or a deadline? These days, it is unusual for us to attend meetings where we do not hear about new innovations, the latest ways of using technology and how we can make our lives more efficient in the arena of connecting electronically with our students. Despite the explosion in new technological communication devices and strategies, often, student service professionals continue to be all too familiar with the refrain, “No one told me about that.” [ Continued ]
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| SOPHAS and ASPH Data Stats |
| SOPHAS and ASPH Data Stats |
| In September 2007, SOPHAS closed out its first cycle of applicants, and ASPH member schools of public health had the opportunity to analyze national applicant data from the 22 participating schools. For at least two decades, ASPH has collected basic applicant information from member schools, but this data disproportionately counted applicants applying to multiple schools and lacked many details that are now collected through SOPHAS. [ Continued ]
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| Recap of Leadership Workshop |
| Recap of Leadership Workshop |
 In November, the ASPH Student Services Council organized a Student Leadership Development Workshop which was held in conjunction with the ASPH annual meeting. The event was developed in response to Student Services Council members' requests to address the need for a leadership development opportunity for our schools' leaders, and was dedicated to the memory of John Wiggs, whose vision drove the initial planning. More than twenty of the accredited schools had representatives at the workshop.
[ Continued ]
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| Visit Day at APHA 2008 |
| Announce 2008 Visit Day and an educational session for prospective students |
| Last fall, with the permission of APHA, we launched a free registration process for any prospective applicants wishing to visit the exhibit hall on the last day to meet with the schools of public health. Many of you reported that traffic on this normally slow day was quite brisk. In fact, over 400 prospective students showed up! This year, APHA has agreed to repeat this opportunity and we will be working hard to promote this fantastic opportunity. Registration materials will be available by early summer. [ Continued ]
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| Marketing and Recruitment |
| Marketing and Recruitment: A Review of Strategies |
| On November 2, more than 26 admissions professionals attended the workshop on Recruitment and Marketing Strategies for schools of public health at the second annual ASPH Student Services Conference. The participants discussed successful recruitment strategies and outcomes. Most schools reported that their websites were a key factor in marketing their programs as well as a presence at select Graduate Recruitment Fairs, mainly those hosted by Idealist.org. Most schools were using the website as their primary recruitment tool, with some schools reporting a decrease in print material to advertise their programs. One challenge related to website maintenance for specific departments, as a graduate school audience has come to expect an up-to-date, dynamic website. Also, prospective students continue to seek out personalized responses to their questions. Many schools reported difficulty in managing large quantities of applicant and student emails. [ Continued ]
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| GRE Scores |
| Chronicle of Higher Education |
| One other major initiative the SOPHAS committee is working on is to convince ETS and the GRE board to allow GRE designations to be sent to centralized application services. GRE approved a designation for SOPHAS in 2006 in error, and a year later notified us that they would be deactivating this designation. Representatives from several schools met with ETS staff in July 2007, and based on that meeting, we were hopeful that the GRE board would revise its policies. However, we were notified in December 2007 that the GRE board decided not to allow designations for centralized application services and that the SOPHAS designation would be discontinued in July 2008. As some of you may have seen, an article about this situation was featured in the February 4 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education. [ Continued ]
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| SOPHAS’ Cupid Role Reprised! |
| SOPHAS’ Cupid Role Reprised! |
 SOPHAS has once again played an integral happy part in the personal lives of student affairs professionals at ASPH member schools. On Saturday, November 10, 2007, a beautiful fall day in St. Louis , Missouri , Nancy Murphy, Director of Student Services at Saint Louis University School of Public Health, wed Arthur Culbert, former Associate Dean for Admissions at Boston University School of Public Health. Nancy and Arthur met while representing their respective schools and serving together on the SOPHAS Centralized Application Workgroup. [ Continued ]
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| Remembering a Friend in Student Services |
| Ms. Nancy Alfred Persily Passes Away |
 Ms. Nancy Alfred Persily, a long time champion of public health and dedicated faculty member, passed away on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 after a long battle with breast cancer. Nancy was known in many capacities, from an advocate for research in aging to her work as associate dean for academic affairs. However, she was best known by the student service committee as a passionate advocate for students. She frequently reminded all of us, often when we needed to hear it the most, that we are here for the students and made us remember why we love what we do. [ Continued ]
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| Call for Articles |
| Please contribute! |
| The editorial committee highly encourages SPH faculty and staff to submit articles for future issues of the newsletter. Suggested topics are: use of technology, legal issues, international student perspectives, best practices, successful partnerships, and research on student services. Ideas for other topics are welcome! There is no word limit to articles and graphics/pictures are highly encouraged. If you would like to submit an article to the newsletter, please either forward an abstract or a full article to Allison Foster at afoster@asph.org.
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