Framing the Future

In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the Welch–Rose report of 1915 (Welch & Rose, 1915), the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (in the United States) convened the task force, Framing the Future: The Second Hundred Years of Education in Public Health. The 56 members of the task force, representing a wide array of constituents and aided by a 32-member Blue Ribbon Employer Advisory Group, set about over the course of three and a half years to reenvision education for public health. When the task force was formed in the fall of 2011, there was much astir in the field of education in public health. New undergraduate degrees were appearing across the country (Leider et al., 2015), the MPH competencies (Calhoun, Ramiah, Weist, & Shortell, 2008) were in need of a review, and questions about the role of public health in the wake of the passage of the Affordable Care Act were being raised. Given the presumption of the task force—that change was inevitable and important—we created opportunities to hold conversations across the country. We sought to learn, to inform, and to capture the transformations already underway. We also invited others to join us on the expert panels that were formed to conduct the work of the task force. In the end, 154 people contributed to the six reports of the task force, and countless others weighed in through 45 town halls and conference presentations, webinars, and open, iterative comment periods. Though the task force itself declined to issue a written report, the six reports available online (www.asph.org/educate/framing-the-future) provide an essential starting point for transformation and innovation across the spectrum of educational opportunities in public health.

Perhaps most unexpected was the positive interest generated around the role of 2-year degrees in the continuum of education in public health. In the United States, these are usually referred to as junior colleges or community colleges, and when “community” is in the name, it signifies a governmentally supported postsecondary school. The Welch–Rose report did not anticipate the nascent enthusiasm for public health in the undergraduate arena, nor the call from the Institute of Medicine for all undergraduates to be exposed to public health (Institute of Medicine, 2003); the task force realized early on that engaging in the 4-year baccalaureate arena necessitated an examination of the role of community colleges. The expert panel report “Community Colleges and Public Health,” produced in partnership with the League for Innovation in the Community College, provides fertile ground for those interested in capturing the imaginations of young students (and often the adult learner), promoting pathways into public health and other graduate and professional degrees, and providing opportunities to build a workforce within new health care possibilities.

The expert panel report reflects two phases of effort: the first phase expressed what the expert panel believed community colleges and public health could do together to advance an expanded definition of the educational sphere in public health. This section of the report identifies similarity of missions and functions, for example, to serve communities, to prepare the workforce, to promote interprofessionalism, to educate the citizenry, and position community colleges as active players in the educational continuum for public health. The report is informative about the roles community colleges can play in offering general education courses in public health, crafting Associate in Arts (AA) transfer degrees to the growing number of public health baccalaureate degrees, hosting continuing education programming for the existing workforce, and offering academic certificates or Associate in Science (AS) terminal degrees. Given the relative ease of access to community colleges across the United States, both geographically and financially, they are well positioned to provide an important entree to our field.

The second phase of the effort described, in elegant detail, prototype curricula for associate degrees for transfer and also for entry into the workforce. These provide clear guidance to institutions wishing to capitalize on growing opportunities in the health care field, the continued expansion of baccalaureate offerings, and the persistent need to increase the diversity of the health workforce. Curricular models and course syllabi are provided in various areas of concentration for useful and viable transfer degrees. A forward-thinking approach to what is being called “health navigator” programs is envisioned as associate degree and academic certificate programs designed primarily for entry into the workforce. Prototype curricula for the transfer degrees include fundamental public health content such as the US health care system, health care management, food safety, environmental health, sanitation, and disease control. The health navigator programs are designed to prepare graduates for new roles in the health system, that of a navigator or coach. In either case, the narrative speaks to the great potential for community colleges to become a destination of choice for those seeking a gateway to an array of health career paths. Though not addressed directly, community colleges also provide an important gateway in the other direction—back into secondary schools. The opportunities to educate an even larger audience of high school students through dual enrollment should not be overlooked in the urgent desire to support a better informed public in all matters of public health.

This issue of Pedagogy in Health Promotion: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning highlights several examples of how community colleges are assertively entering the public health arena, expanding on a rich history of training in the allied health professions, and taking their rightful place in the educational continuum. As the landscape for higher education changes and notions of the value of a credit or a degree evolve along a new space–time continuum, community colleges may well become the critical local resource for ongoing professional development in our field. Whether through technological or credentialing innovations (e.g., open online courses, digital badges, etc.), the ever-expanding spectrum of potential students will seek relevant academic experiences where convenience meets quality. The Framing the Future effort looks forward to learning from the best ideas, witnessing the changes we have anticipated, and welcoming new partners to help us achieve the universal mission of public health.