SPH News May 21, 2007
SPH News is a school-wide electronic newsletter distributed to SPH faculty and staff every other week during the school year. Please send news items to SPHNews@umn.edu.
SPH News will move to a monthly distribution for the summer. Issues will go out on: June 4, July 2, and Aug. 6. SPH News will resume biweekly distribution when the fall semester begins.
From the Dean
Back in 1999, the SPH began to grow and revitalize its education programs as part of a strategic planning process. In the succeeding eight years, we have developed one of the largest education programs in terms of student enrollment of any of the 38 accredited schools of public health. We are on track this year for another record year of student applications (about 1,350 at this writing).
I would like to believe that this is evidence that Minnesota has become a public health school of prime destination for many of the nation's prospective students. But as with any growth area, we experience stresses in leadership and management. How do we keep our edge in education programs? How do we stay alert to changes in the "market" for public health education? How do we respond quickly, effectively and efficiently to changing needs and not out-run our capabilities? And how do we assure continued excellence and quality?
These are a few of the important issues faculty, staff and administration leaders will discuss at an upcoming "retreat" on June 18 here on campus. The central question is, how can we improve an already fine program?
We already have considerable capabilities: excellent teachers, great staff, fine programs. It is a very solid "platform" from which we will consider how to become even better. I look forward to this discussion as a way to improve our communication, clarify our expectations, better integrate our faculty and staff leadership and management, and assure that we continue to offer our students the best education program available.
--John R. Finnegan, Jr., Ph.D.
Faculty News
The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative is accepting applications from researchers to participate in “The Future of Human Healthspan: Demography, Evolution, Medicine, and Bioengineering” conference, held Nov. 14-16 in Irvine, California. About 100 researchers will be invited to attend the conference. Applications must be submitted by June 7 and can be completed online at www.keckfutures.org/healthspan. The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative will pay all travel expenses, including lodging and meals, for invited attendees.
The Office of the Vice President for Research is offerning a new grant program designed to identify research questions of current significance to multiple disciplines. Modeled after the “Keck Futures Initiative,” the Minnesota Futures Grant Program will encourage U of M researchers to create collaborative connections through symposia and act upon those ideas through interdisciplinary research awards. Awards up to $250,000 will be granted. The deadline is Wednesday, Aug. 1.
• Learn more
Faculty volunteers needed for the SPH booth at the Minnesota State Fair. Raise public awareness about public health, inform hundreds of Minnesotans about your research, recruit individuals for a study, and have fun to boot at the Minnesota State Fair. The Dean's Office will support your efforts by offering creative ideas for approaching Fairgoers (infectious disease trivia anyone?), creating memorable literature and handouts (how about nutrition facts on a stick), and/or purchasing fun trinket items (improve your indoor air quality by planting SPH forget-me-not seeds). Bonus: Free tickets to the Fair and a free T-shirt for all booth volunteers. SPH day at the Fair will be Tuesday, Aug. 28.
Nominations are beginning for the SPH Community Partner Star award. Each year, the School celebrates and recognizes its many community partners at an event in the fall. Each division may honor up to seven community partners with a star award. Nominations are due June 30. Thinking about the community partners you have worked with over the past year, who would you like to recognize? Adjunct faculty members are already being recognized at the event, so please consider nominating individuals who have volunteered their time and talents to SPH students in other ways. Submissions should include the name, contact information, and a brief summary of the SPH partnership the individual is being nominated for. Save the date for this year's event: Thursday, Sept. 20.
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School News
Three candidates for the SPH Multicultural Affairs position will present this week. All SPH students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend. The presentations will be in Mayo D-199. The first candidate presents Wednesday, May 23, 9:30 a.m.; the second on Thursday, May 24, at 12:30 p.m.; and, the third candidate will present Friday, May 25, at 9:30 a.m.
The May edition of SPH Research Brief is on survey response rates. SPH assistant professor Michael Davern writes about what low response rates mean for survey quality at www.sph.umn.edu/brief. Research Brief is a monthly electronic publication in which SPH faculty members write about their current research.
Ian Greaves, professor of environmental health sciences, discusses asthma on this week's Public Health Moment.
• Go to Public Health Moment
Commencement photos now online. View a slideshow online of photos taken at commencement and/or download high resolution photos from commencement.
• Go to the slideshow
• Go to the photo download page
Program and registration is available for the MPHA Annual Conference. The conference will take place on Thursday and Friday, June 14-15 at St. John's University in Collegeville. This year's conference will include informative presentations on public health preparedness, food safety, childhood and adult obesity, and health care reform. The conference will include exhibits and displays about MPHA's and public health's history in Minnesota over the last 100 years. More at http://mpha.net/. For questions regarding registration contact Carol Berg; cberg@ucare.org 6-3635.
A vanpool will leave from the University each morning of the MPHA conference and will return at the end of each day. If you need transportation to the event, go to www.sph.umn.edu/alumni/mpha.html.
MPHA Conference exhibits, displays and poster presentations. You are invited to present an exhibit, display or poster presentation at the Minnesota Public Health Association's Annual Conference held June 14-15 at St. John’s University. There will be no charge for the tables for your display; however participants are asked to pay the conference fee for attending the conference or for the day of June 14 when the exhibit, poster or display will be presented. For more information, contact Jay Jaffee at jay.jaffee@health.state.mn.us or 651-201-5496. Please include your name, organization, address, phone number, and e-mail address as well as the topic of your display.
Call for poster abstracts for the 4th annual Women’s Health Research conference. The deadline to be considered for an award is Monday, May, 21 or Monday Aug. 6 to be recognized in the program. The conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 17 at the McNamara Alumni Center.
Submissions may include any topic regarding women’s health or gender specific research. For more information, please visit the website or contact: wmhealth@umn.edu or 6-1125.
• Submit abstracts online
APHA Student Awards. The Oral Health Section of the American Public Health Association has annoounced its annual pre-professional and post-professional student award categories for 2007. The awards will be presented at APHA's 135th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Nov. 3-7. Applications are due Tuesday, May 29. Decisions will announced by July 2. Applications should be postmarked or electronically sent by Wednesday, May 29 to:
Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Award Committee
C/o Kathy Lituri, RDH, MPH
Secretary,
APHA Oral Health Section
Boston University School of Dental Medicine
715 Albany Street, 560, #340, Boston , MA 02118
E-mail: lituri@bu.edu
For additional information about the awards please visit www.apha-oh.org/.
Call for Abstracts-Ninth Annual MCH Summer Institute. The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health invites you to submit poster abstracts to display during the Ninth Annual MCH Summer Institute on Addressing Health Disparities, “Culture, Communications and Health.” The Institute will be held at the Hubert H. Humphrey Conference Center on July 24-25. The deadline to submit abstracts is 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 7. For conference information and the poster submission form, please visit: www.epi.umn.edu/mch/events. For questions contact Jan Pearson, pearson@epi.umn.edu 6-8644.
Performance Appraisals for Civil Service/Bargaining Unit Staff are due to the Dean's Office by June 29. The school will use the "Performance Planning and Review" form designed by the SPH Staff Association.
• Download the form online. Contact Judy Peterson at peter042@umn.edu or 4-7196 if you have questions.
What is Public Health? Looking for an overview of basic public health concepts? The Midwest Center for Life-Long-Learning in Public Health offers a free 2.5 hour online training titled What is Public Health that will provide just that. A certificate awarding 2.5 contact hours of continuing education credit will be awarded upon completion. Also available is an undergraduate course, PubH 3202: What is Public Health, which explores the concepts in greater depth.
• More information and online registration
Looking for more distance education? The Midwest Center for Life-Long-Learning in Public Health is part of the national network of Public Health Training Centers (PHTC). To accommodate the public health training needs of the public health workforce, approximately 60 percent of the training and training tools offered by the PHTCs are distance-based. These trainings are compiled in a database that is searchable by competency, subject area and by keyword. Visit the National PHTC Network Database of distance-accessible trainings at www.asph.org/phtc/search.cfm.
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Events & Courses
There still time to register for the Public Health Institute. The institute, held May 21-June 8 on the Twin Cities University campus, provides students with a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in a chosen field of study. SPH students are invited to attend and are able to earn academic credit for their coursework. Visit www.cpheo.sph.umn.edu/institute for the complete three-week Institute schedule.
Daniel Zismer, Executive Vice President, Essentia Health, and President, Essentia Health Services, will present a seminar, 11-12:15 on Wednesday, May 23 in D330 Mayo. Zismer is a candidate for the ISP director faculty position in the Division of Health Policy and Management. Refreshments will be provided.
Sex Ed and the State. See a documentary about sex education in public schools created by SPH student Jim Winkle. In the film, Minnesota lawmakers, advocates, opponents, educators and others debate the best strategy to fight adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The documentary will be screened at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 7 at the Oak St. Cinema.
As a part of the 2007 Summer Public Health Institute a leadership forum will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30. Geoffrey Lieu is the keynote speaker. The forum will be held in the private dining area of Carlson School of Management.
Jeffrey Kahn will discuss Ethical Decision Making in Times of Threat June 5 from 7:45 to 9 a.m. The lecture will be held in the private dining room at Carlson School of Management. The event is free and open to the public.
The next SPH Roundtable Series: Genes and the Environment: The Emerging Role of Genomics in Public Health will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, June 8. The roundtable, which will be held at the Carlson School of Management is free, but registration is requested. Keynote address will be from Muin Khoury, the first director of the CDC's National Office of Public Health Genomics. For more information on this Roundtable visit http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu.
The National Maternal Nutrition Intensive Course will be held July 25-27 in the Cowles Auditorium at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute. This continuing education program focuses on the improvement of maternal and infant health through the delivery of risk-appropriate, high-quality nutrition services. For more detailed information and registration visit: http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu
UPCOMING CPHEO COURSES
8 Hour Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Refresher
May 24 and June 7. For more information and registration visit http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu/niehs
Evacuation Coordination: Train the Trainer
June 14, 2007
For more information and registration visit http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu/niehs
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Other Events
The 2007 Health Disparities Awards Dinner will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29. Register to phdr@umn.edu or 5-1654 by 5 p.m. on Monday, May 21.
"Protecting Human Subjects in Research: Oversight and Omission" will take place Tuesday, May 22, 12:15–1:30 pm, 5-125 Moos Tower. Sarah Edwards, University College of London, will review some of the pressing topics in contemporary research ethics and give an idea of the sorts of methods needed to investigate them.
Costs and Benefits of Responsible Conduct of Research Conference. The Dept of Health and Human Services' Office of Research Integrity is sponsoring the Costs and Benefits of Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Education Programs Conference, May 31-June 1, 2007.
• Learn more online or contact Carol Foth at 4-1854 or fothx0001@umn.edu.
The NORA Symposium (National Occupational Research Agenda) – Research to Practice will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13 at the Radisson University Hotel. For more information about the free event visit http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu.
The Center for German & European Studies (CGES) at the U of M will be hosting Germany's minister of health and her delegation for a two-day trans-Atlantic forum. The American & German Healthcare on "Healthcare and Innovation" forum will be held on Monday, July 16 and Tuesday, July 17.For more information or electronic registration, please go to the Center's Web site: www.cges.umn.edu.
• Events on the AHC Web Site
• Events on the SPH Web Site
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Last modified on Sunday May 20, 2007