Administrative Considerations

The University of Washington’s MPH in Community-Oriented Public Health Practice (COPHP) program is fully committed to a problem-based learning pedagogy that is unique among degree programs in our School of Public Health and rare across the country. This intense method of teaching and learning places uncommon demands on teachers and students alike. To teach all aspects of public health practice and to craft a broad curriculum, we draw faculty from other departments in our school and from the practice field as well as from the academy. We select students who bring work experience in public health practice, who share our dedication to social justice, and who are fully prepared to undertake problem-based learning. In this chapter, we discuss the customized set of administrative skills and practices that we have developed to support COPHP and govern admissions, marketing, student support, faculty support and recruiting, instructional technology, educational evaluation, institutional relationships, anti-racism and social justice strategies, and alumni relations. Together, these processes ensure the success of COPHP in producing effective public health practitioners while keeping our fee-based program affordable to students.

Keywords: Admissions, Administration, Advising, Alumni relations, Antiracism, Case editing, Faculty meetings, Faculty recruiting, Faculty retreats, Faculty support, Institutional relationships, Instructional technology, Internet presence, Marketing, Peer mentors, Peer review, Self-reflection, Seminars, Social justice, Student feedback, Student support.