UF College of Public Health and Health Professions moves closer to accreditation as a school of public health
The University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions has been named an associate member of the Association of Schools of Public Health, signifying the completion of the college's first major step toward receiving accreditation as a school of public health.
The criteria for associate membership are acceptance by the public health education accrediting body - the Council on Education for Public Health - into the accreditation process, and an affirmative vote by the membership of ASPH.
UF established a new college of public health in December 2003 that was integrated into the existing College of Health Professions. The college was renamed the College of Public Health and Health Professions.
"The associate membership status puts us in a strategic position to move into full membership status once we are accredited," said Mary Peoples-Sheps,Dr.P.H., director of UF's public health program.
Full membership allows the UF program to compete for federal and ASPH funding that is limited to association members; participate in association activities which significantly influence public health policies; and to place students in ASPH fellowships with a variety of national agencies, she said.
"We have come a long way in the past 18 months," Peoples-Sheps said. "It is gratifying to have achieved associate membership in ASPH, not only because it represents an important milestone, but also because this accomplishment gives us momentum to move toward full accreditation as a school of public health."
The Council on Education for Public Health will review the UF program in two to three years, Peoples-Sheps said. In the meantime, the public health program will continue to enhance the curricula in its five concentration areas: biostatistics, environmental health, epidemiology, health management and policy, and social and behavioral sciences. In addition, the program will increase the number of faculty in those areas and promote the faculty's public health research agendas.
"A strong College of Public Health and Health Professions has always been our goal," said Robert Frank, Ph.D., dean of the college. "This represents another step in the path toward that end. A vibrant and progressive public health presence on the campus of the University of Florida places us in the company of the very top health science centers in the nation."