Expanded mission, unlimited optimism

In May 2009, the faculty in the accredited College of Public Health at The Ohio State University voted to expand the scope of activities provided by the well-established Office of Workforce Development and recast it as the new Center for Public Health Practice (CPHP).

Effective since July 1, I have had the honor to serve as the new center director and the privilege to lead and work with a highly qualified and motivated staff. Those of you who know Joanne Pearsol, Adam Negley, and the rest of the CPHP staff can appreciate my enthusiasm for this outstanding group of public health professionals. I am impressed with the training and organizational development services provided to our public health workforce.

My new position with the center coincided with my other new appointments as associate dean of academic affairs and associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences in the College of Public Health. I moved into these positions at Ohio State following 19 years of administrative and faculty positions at the former Medical College of Ohio (1990-2006) and the University of Toledo Colleges of Medicine and Graduate Studies (2006-09).

Establishing new mission and vision statements, plus writing a new strategic plan, were among the major priorities for the center when I began. The new statements and plan were developed and approved by the center staff, presented to the college faculty, and implemented in October. The new mission and vision statements follow:

Mission:The Center for Public Health Practice integrates the work of practitioners and academicians to improve the health of people.

Vision:The Center for Public Health Practice is the partner of choice in advancing public health.

The new strategic plan for the center consists of four goals, summarized below:

Goal 1: Expand and diversify resources.

Goal 2: Establish Ohio State's College of Public Health as an epicenter of collaborative public health relationships.

Goal 3: Optimize technology for learning and marketing.

Goal 4: Expand and diversify business portfolio.

Operational strategic initiatives and specific tactics reflect the expanded scope of current and targeted activities addressing applied and practice-based public health education, research, and service projects. We anticipate that many of the projects will be conducted jointly by sustaining existing partnerships and reaching out to new collaborators, as well as, providing services and programs for a variety of sectors within and beyond public health.

View/Print/Download the strategic plan in full.

In closing, I am thrilled to be part of Ohio State's newest college. This is Ohio State's time. We are on an aggressive course to become a top tier school of public health nationally. Our new Center for Public Health Practice, and our partners in public health, will help us get there.

Sincerely,
Michael S. Bisesi, PhD