$2.8 Million Grant Strengthens Public Health Connectivity

UT System commits support for major initiatives to improve public health in Texas

A grant of $2.8 million will strengthen connectivity among the five campuses of The University of Texas School of Public Health, as part of major public health initiatives of The University of Texas System.

Guy Parcel, Ph.D.

Awarded by the UT System through the Library, Equipment, Repair and Rehabilitation program, the funds will help to upgrade interactive television (ITV) capabilities. Using ITV, faculty members and guest speakers can address students at the home campus in Houston and the regional campuses in San Antonio, Brownsville, El Paso and Dallas. The students can respond or ask questions during the session.

“This grant will expand the quality of ITV and what we can offer across all our campuses,” said Guy Parcel, Ph.D., dean of the UT School of Public Health.

The development of a state-of-the-art network for distance learning was one of the recommendations of a report on the “Future of Public Health in Texas,” presented by a task force of UT faculty and public health practitioners. In response to the report, in August 2005 the UT System Regents authorized the use of $10 million in endowment money for equipment and renovations to facilitate initiatives that ultimately will improve the health of Texans.

Stephanie McFall, Ph.D.

Raul Caetano, M.D., Ph.D.

Hector Balcazar, Ph.D.

Joseph B. McCormick, M.D.

Additional proposals by the School of Public Health are under consideration, Parcel said.

The task force was convened by Kenneth Shine, M.D., UT System’s executive vice chancellor for health affairs.

“Strengthening the research and practice of public health in Texas is extremely important,” Shine said in a recent newsletter. “Childhood immunization rates in Texas place us 47th among the 50 states. Mammography rates for breast cancer screening are well below the national average. Whooping cough, tuberculosis, diabetes and high blood pressure are areas in which Texas does not do well. Texas Commissioner of Health Dr. Eduardo Sanchez reports that 85 percent of those who work for the Texas State Department of Health do not have professional training in the field.”

Texas’ investment in public health is half the average national investment, Shine noted. “Yet dollars in public health are repaid as much as 10-fold or more in disease prevention.”

The public health task force recommended strengthening the UT School of Public Health, ranked among the top 10 in the nation, and further developing the regional campuses, not just as satellite programs of Houston, but as important and distinctive resources for the state.

Some of the task force’s recommendations already have been implemented:

In recognition of increased responsibility for the success of each campus, the assistant deans who headed the campuses were named regional deans.
In collaboration with UT Austin, the School of Public Health now offers certificates to health professionals who wish to improve their professional skills in public health.
Several undergraduate campuses are developing the Bachelor of Arts in Public Health degree.

With assistance from Andrew Brown, director of planning, the regional campuses are developing strategic plans in conjunction with their host campuses to more fully integrate public health with other academic programs and to best serve the needs of their communities.

In addition, Joseph McCormick, M.D., regional dean of the Brownsville Campus and the James H. Steele, D.V.M., Professor in Public Health, has been appointed the first Chancellor’s Fellow in Public Health. He is focusing on System-wide public health education, academic and community relations, and multidisciplinary research.

Key Recommendations

Recommendations of the UT System Public Health Task Force include:

Regional public health campuses must work in close collaboration with host campuses including joint program development, educational and research efforts, community outreach and faculty recruiting.
An integrated long distance learning system must be developed to take full advantage of the talent available at the various campuses to provide education for students (in many cases it is not feasible to have all required disciplines represented by faculty at a given campus).
Additional faculty will be required to create critical masses of investigators at regional campuses. The task force recommended an increase from an average of nine faculty members on each campus to approximately 15 faculty.
Create a range of new degree opportunities for students at all campuses. This would include an undergraduate Bachelor of Public Health degree, as well as additional master’s and doctoral degrees.

Regional Deans

San Antonio Regional Campus, established 1979, Stephanie McFall, Ph.D., interim regional dean.
El Paso Regional Campus, established 1992, Hector Balcazar, Ph.D., regional dean.
Dallas Regional Campus, established 1998, Raul Caetano, M.D., Ph.D., regional dean.
Brownsville Regional Campus, established 2001, Joseph B. McCormick, M.D., regional dean.

By Ina Fried, Public Affairs