We commit to a shared environment that reflects the joy of learning and the dual realizations that, while we are fortunate to live in this time and place, what we put into the mix affects the unfolding of events.
Health Science Program Review Report, 2004
Our Department was founded in the 1960s, one of the results of the dissolution of the Home Economics Department. The word “science” was added to the department’s name as part of the public enthusiasm for the growing knowledge base of the physical and social sciences of the 1960s. The new department focused on school health and health administration in its early days, offering a B.S. in Health Science with approximately 40 graduates per year.
In the late 1960s, Chair Richard Bonvecchio seized the opportunity to establish a master’s degree in public health (MPH) due to a change in accreditation requirements of the Council on Education for Public Health. Within just a few years, he brought Dr. Sam Radelfinger to campus to establish the program and Dr. Helen Ross to prepare it for accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health. The new MPH in Community Health Education, one of the first outside of a school of public health, admitted its first cohort in 1970 and has received continuous accreditation since 1974. Our program was the first to receive a 7-year accreditation term in 1992 and the first to receive consecutive 7-year terms.
The department’s degree offerings grew during the 1980s and early 1990s, responsive to the needs of the region and the resources of the university. Highlights of this period include creation of undergraduate concentrations (Community/Occupational Health Education and Health Services Administration), development of community-based internships and fieldwork in both undergraduate and master’s programs, continuous curriculum development, introduction of a 30-unit MA program in Health Administration, support for the College’s new Gerontology program, collaboration with several departments on new General Education courses, and lead participation in several College-wide federal grants, including a community organizing health promotion project and a Health Careers Opportunity (HCOP) grant. Core values and principles were identified for the MPH program for the first time, including teachers as learners, a systems perspective, social justice, and that which is not given away is lost. MPH students developed a Diversity Statement which became a central and lasting guide for the program’s policies and operating procedures. New faculty lines and additional support from the President’s Office allowed the hiring of five faculty members between 1987 and 1990 (David, Roe, Perales, Gerstman, Gardner). Enrollment was strong, with increasingly large cohorts of undergraduate and MPH students (50 and 35 graduates per year, respectively). The rising national prominence of the MPH program brought opportunities for leadership, networking, and resources for both faculty and students.
The 1990s brought significant challenges to the Department, all tied to the volatile local and state economies. In the early 1990s, the state’s budget crisis led to an attractive “Golden Handshake” early retirement package for senior faculty – within 6 weeks of its surprise announcement, three senior faculty in the Health Science Department retired (Bonvecchio, Ross, Whitlock). Combined with the planned retirements of two other senior members (Peterson and Smolensky), the department was left with 1 senior, 1 mid-career, and 5 very junior faculty members. The lost faculty lines were never replaced. A few years later, the technology boom in Silicon Valley resulted in a swift and dramatic shift in majors within the university – by the late 1990s, the vast majority of all SJSU undergraduates were concentrated in Engineering, Business, and Computer Science. While the MPH program remained strong, the undergraduate major and MA programs suffered significantly; the problems were enhanced by declining public funding for public health region-wide and the difficulty undergraduates were having finding jobs upon graduation. New faculty members joined the Department: One to replace a faculty resignation in the area of health administration (Gardner resigned, Rangavajhula hired) and another to assume responsibility for Gerontology (Hikoyeda) as Dr. Debra David took on increasing responsibilities at the university level. We developed a new Core GE course: HS 1 Understanding Your Health, in an attempt to branch out into the lower division area, and redesigned our Human Life Span course (now HS 15) for Core GE as well. However, as internal and external challenges mounted, Health Science began operating in a deficit for the first time, a trend which accelerated throughout the late 1990s. By 1999, there were only 14 Health Science majors, GE enrollments were smaller than needed to make enrollment targets, and the department’s growing management crisis put the MPH program’s resources in serious jeopardy.
Significant leadership changes occurred in the Department in Fall 2001: Dr. William Washington completed his second term as Chair and retired to a position at Meharry Medical School. Dr. Kathleen Roe was elected Chair. Dr. Edward Mamary became MPH Program Director. Other director positions were created and filled at various times by the now-senior faculty members Dr. Dan Perales, Dr. Nancy Hikoyeda, and Dr. Tina Foley. The precariousness of our position was underscored by a drastic resource reduction by the Dean, cutting us down to only our full-time faculty positions and an additional .50 allocation. Two requirements were attached to even this reduced level of funding: 1) the Department must “adopt” the struggling interdisciplinary Gerontology Program, and 2) the Department must meet enrollment targets within 3 years. The faculty committed itself to a thorough and purposeful review of our resources, our curriculum, our opportunities, and our responsibilities to the university, students, our professions, and the region.
We redesigned our department leadership, creating three Program Directors (MPH, Undergraduate, and Gerontology) who work closely with the Chair to determine overall department strategy and coordination. Each Director leads a Program Core Faculty (MPH, Undergraduate, Gerontology/Community Partnerships) which is responsible for daily oversight of their respective programs and recommending strategic direction to the Directors and then full faculty. This change in leadership structure, and the shared communication and responsibility it created, was crucial to all of the changes that would occur and the ultimate rebirth of the Health Science Department.
Our first project was a serious and strategic redesign of our undergraduate programs. Careful analysis suggested several avenues for curricular re-alignment and innovation, and we quickly got to work! We adjusted the day and time of all of our courses to provide a more coherent schedule and offer more courses during the times students want to take classes. We reconfigured the Health Science major to provide more flexibility for students, encourage multiple points of entry, and capture more of the FTES generated by our own majors. We created a required Health Science Core and four Options: Option 1: Health Science + electives; Option 2: Health Science + minor; Option 3: Gerontology Concentration; Option 4: Health Services Administration. We reconfigured the Health Science Minor to be more flexible in meeting students’ personal and career objectives. We successfully staged the merger with Gerontology, incorporating multigenerational perspectives into the curriculum and providing organizational and faculty support for the program.
Another early decision was to implement recommendations from the most recent Program Planning process, particularly elimination of the M.A. in Health Administration and the M.S. in Gerontology. It took three years to graduate all of the students in progress, but as of AY 2005-2006 there are no more students in either degree program.
In 2001 for the first time in department history, we developed a strategic general education plan, and began developing courses with broad appeal, such as Women’s Health, Health Statistics, and Community Mental Health. Queued up for development are courses in Global Health, Writing Workshops, and Infectious Diseases.
We used the opportunity provided by the various leaves and university assigned time of several faculty members to hire dynamic new part-time instructors for increased sections of HS 1 and other GE courses. We developed a system of Course Leads, regular meetings, department orientation, and a thank-you luncheon for better part-time instructor support and recognition.
In 2001, we worked with Toucan Ed to develop a “new look” for our department through coordinated outreach materials. Through focus groups, student interviews, and faculty brainstorming – and many, many drafts – we developed our department slogan Make a Choice that Matters! and invested in high quality and coordinated department outreach materials – a beautiful brochure, poster, and display – that disseminate that message. In 2003, MPH student and Muskie Fellow from Ukraine, Ihor Perehinets, updated our website to be more user-friendly and to showcase department events and accomplishments, along with providing useful advising information. A new department display case rounds out the new, upbeat, and engaging presentation of the Health Science Department.
Once the undergraduate program showed signs of rebounding, we were able to turn our attention to broader strategic efforts on behalf of the entire department. Between 2001 and 2004, we painstakingly reviewed every aspect of our department operations. Our analysis began with revising our department and program missions, and identifying both shared and program-specific core values, principles, and definitions. Working in Core Faculty groups, we developed broad goals and outcomes for each academic program, with corresponding essential course objectives and assessment methods for each. Midway through the process, we convened our Department Advisory Group – an extremely productive day-long meeting of leading public health professionals in the region, professionally facilitated by Jill Cody. One of the results of that meeting was establishment of a formal articulation between Stanford/Foothill’s Physician Assistant Program and our MPH Program – the first such articulation in the country. We also began the process of developing a plan with our colleagues from Foothill College that would allow seamless matriculation into our Health Science major from five of their allied health career certificate programs: Respiratory Therapy, Dental Hygiene, Radiologic Technician, Physician Assistant, and Paramedic. In Fall, 2006, this would debut as our newest HS Concentration (Option 5) in Health Professions.
Department faculty expanded their involvement in university leadership, including key roles in Service Learning, the Center for Faculty Development, the Academic Senate, the Program Planning Committed, the WASC Steering Committee and Special Visit Coordination, and the WAC Academic Alliance, as well as assuming the leadership of key College committees, particularly the CEED and Curriculum Committees. In 2005, we hosted an exciting 2-day external review by James Girvan, Dean of the College of Health Sciences at Boise State University, which involved over 60 students and 25 alumni and community partners and resulted in extremely helpful observations about our capacity and planning, and keen recommendations about our future directions.
The integration of the Gerontology Program into Health Science was complete by 2004 and has enriched both parties significantly. Health Science is able to provide a stable home and resource base for the smaller Gerontology Program, while the department benefits from the intergenerational perspectives, community ties, and faculty expertise of Gerontology. By the end of the three-year phase-in period, we were all glad to have done it!
The commitments and accomplishments of the Health Science faculty were acknowledged through local and national recognitions during the period 2000-2005. Kathleen Roe was elected President of the National Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and received the SOPHE Mentor of the Year Award and the Dorothy Nyswander Award for Leadership from the Northern California SOPHE Chapter. Ed Mamary was elected Co-Vice President of National SOPHE in 2002 and Dan Perales was elected SOPHE Treasurer in 2004. Kathleen Roe was named to the National Task Force on Accreditation in Health Education and is currently Co-Chair of the Transition/Implementation Task Force. Kathleen Roe was a founding member and Ed Mamary served two terms as Secretary of CAMP (Council of Accredited MPH Programs). Kathleen Roe was named the SJSU 2001 Outstanding Professor and SJSU’s nominee for the Wang Family Award (CSU) and the Teacher of the Year Award (Carnegie Foundation). Tina Foley was named the College Outstanding Lecturer in 2005. In 2004, the Department received the SJSU Provost’s Award for Excellence in Service Learning and in 2006, Dr. Nancy Hikoyeda was named the Outstanding Lecturer for Service Learning. In December 2005, the Department was thrilled to be named the first recipient of the Society for Public Health Education’s Open Society Award.
Our students and recent alumni were also recognized during this period: Lauren Droira was selected by the SJSU President as one of two Outstanding Graduating Seniors (May 2002). Health Science students were selected for the highest recognition by the College Dean each year since 2002 for their work towards equity and diversity (CEED Awards 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). Four students from HS 104 Community Health Promotion – German Blanco, Ryan Duhe, Ken Lee, and Andrea Nance – were awarded the Provost’s Award for Excellence as a Service Learning Leadership Team in 2006. Matthew Staley was the winner of the SOPHE Graduate Research Paper Award, Kevin Roe was the recipient of SOPHE’s Vivian Drenckhahn Scholarship, Anne Roesler represented SJSU at the CSU Graduate Research Competition, Sabrina Valade was awarded the Sally Cassanova Pre-doctoral Fellowship, Anne Roesler and Edgar Ednacot were awarded CSU Forgiveable Loans for Doctoral Study. J. Henry Montes (MPH 2004) was named the College GOLD Award winner (Graduate of the Last Decade) and Mary C.B. Nacionales (MPH 2000) was the recipient of the American Public Health Association (Public Health Education and Health Promotion Section) 2004 Early Career Award.
The re-election of Kathleen Roe to a second term as Chair (2005 – 2009), the hiring of two new tenure-track faculty (Pollie Bith-Melander and Anne Roesler), the maturity of our full-time faculty group, the strong department organizational structure, our dedicated office staff, formal commitments with community partners, new department-level responsibility for resource management, restored enrollments, and motivated, creative students offer a powerful alignment of vision, commitments, and resources. We are excited about the future!
The new leadership of our university, along with the renewed capacity of our department, promises a period of thoughtful, strategic action dedicated to the highest standards of teaching, scholarship, and service. We are delighted with the extended appointment of our university president, Don Kassing, grateful for the tone and decisions during the first years of our Provost Carmen Sigler, and particularly excited with the leadership of our new Dean, Inger Sagatun-Edwards, during her first year 2005-06. We look forward to continuing to serve under their administrations and aligning our department efforts with their vision for our institution.
Curricular initiatives and priorities: Our department’s long-term planning calls for implementation of several strategic initiatives in the 5- year period 2005-2010. We have committed to these initiatives as a department-wide responsibility – and opportunity. We will continue to examine our undergraduate curriculum and its option structure to ensure the best possible education and professional preparation for new professionals interested in community and public health. We will launch the first cohort of our MPH Distance Program in Fall 2007 after a long and careful assessment and planning process. We will complete our CEPH accreditation MPH self-study in 2006 and host the re-accreditation site visit in May 2007. We will monitor quickly moving developments in the field of public health and health education, adjusting our curriculum and perhaps our major and MPH program to respond to the emerging accreditation and certification requirements for professional practice. We will continue to implement our strategic plan for General Education, focusing on new courses in Global Health and Infectious Diseases. We will continue our commitment to service learning and our community partnerships, with additional AmeriCorps and VISTA volunteers through our relationships with The Health Trust, local public health departments, and community-based organizations. We will extend the highly effective structure of our MPH fieldwork to our undergraduate internships, thereby providing more varied, guided, and productive experiences for undergraduate students and their host organizations. We will continue to explore our growing relationship with The Health Trust, as a model of university-community partnership that benefits students, the community, staff and faculty, and the participating organizations through engaged and strategic joint action and scholarship. We will continue to assess program outcomes and refine our curricula across the department, with particular attention to integrating appropriate technology and practice-based learning in all courses.
Service: Our university and community service commitments will continue in the period ahead. We will continue to offer leadership on university and College committees and in our national professional associations. Health Science faculty members currently serve on the University WASC Accreditation Steering Committee, Academic Senate Curriculum and Research Committee, Program Planning Committee, GEAPS, and BOGS Area E Committees. Nancy Hikoyeda is currently President of the regional Stanford Geriatric Education Center, Dan Perales is on the Board of the Prevention Institute, Anne Roesler is on the Board and Steering Committee of United for Peace and Justice, and Kathleen Roe serves on the Grants Committee of The Health Trust. Ed Mamary and Kathleen Roe are Site Reviewers for the Council on Education for Public Health, and the SOPHE elected leadership positions of the faculty continue. Dan Perales and Kathleen Roe will participate in an invitational Summit on Eliminating Health Disparities in August 2005 and have active roles in the upcoming annual meetings of the Society for Public Health Education and the American Public Health Association (New Orleans, November 2005).
Scholarship: We are excited to continue and better support our growing portfolio of scholarly work within the department. Two faculty members are working on text books based on courses they have taught for many years – Bud Gerstman on a Biostatistics text and Kathleen Roe on a text for Community Health Promotion. We look forward to bringing more grants through the SJSU Foundation. Ed Mamary is completing a funded research project on the experiences of African American men who have sex with men and HIV risk. Our new faculty member, Pollie Bith-Melander, has been able to continue her scholarship through NIH and other grants on HIV/STDs and women’s health in Cambodia. She is also conducting a needs assessment of the local Cambodian community with support from SJSU Graduate Studies and Research. We will continue our extensive evaluation contract and project work with groups as diverse as the Statewide Nutrition Network, the Public Health Institute, and local health departments (Dan Perales), rural health departments (Ed Mamary), and HIV prevention community planning in San Francisco, the Santa Clara County Diabetes Coalition, The Health Trust (Kathleen Roe). We commit to increasing the number of annual publications to better disseminate what we learn, and to continue our active participation in national conferences through scholarly presentations. We are excited to implement our revised graduate research requirements, and hope that the new structure will encourage more student-faculty publications resulting from Masters Theses and research-oriented Graduate Projects. We will continue to serve as manuscript reviewers and guest editors for the leading journals in our field, as well as on the Editorial Board of Health Promotion Practice. While committing ourselves to developing the structures and resources that allow more frequent scholarly research and publications from faculty members, we remain committed to scholarship that meets the needs of the profession and the communities we serve, that brings forward community assets and effective interventions, that results in accessible publications and products, and that provides valuable and desired learning opportunities for our students and community partners.
As stated in our 2004 Program Review Report, “we commit to a shared environment that reflects the joy of learning and the dual realizations that, while we are fortunate to live in this time and place, what we put into the mix affects the unfolding of events.”
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