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Building a good investment
Iowa City Press Citizen - November 19, 2007
By James A. Merchant, dean of the UI College of Public Health
Eight years ago, the Iowa state Board of Regents and the University of Iowa established the UI College of Public Health -- the university's first new college in 50 years. Since that time, the college has grown steadily, doubling the size of its faculty, tripling the number of students enrolled in its programs and establishing a reputation as a national and international leader in public health research, service and education.
In October, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new College of Public Health Academic Building. This building will, for the first time, bring the college's primary faculty together and provide dedicated classrooms and teaching laboratories. Most importantly, this new facility will allow daily interactions among all faculty and all students, interactions essential for academic synergy, the hallmark of higher education.
Despite rapid growth and recent interest in naming the college, still the question is asked, "What is the College of Public Health?"
By the numbers, the college is 80 primary faculty, 76 secondary faculty from every other academic college at the university and 71 adjunct faculty drawn from professional settings such as the University Hygienic Laboratory, University Hospitals and other Iowa hospitals and health departments.
It is the 947 graduate, professional, certificate and undergraduate students who are taking public health courses this year, many of whom are working toward one or more of the 43 degree, residency and certificate programs offered by the college. At present, all this instruction is provided in borrowed classrooms located in nine different university buildings.
But the college is more than the academy. It is a vigorous interdisciplinary research program driven by its 28 research centers and programs representing the breadth of public health -- agricultural safety and health, emerging infectious diseases, health outcome research, clinical trials, environmental health, tobacco control and substance abuse, injury prevention, and health services and policy to name but a few.
While all of these units will continue to be housed in their 15 other locations on- and off-campus, the faculty who direct and collaborate in these research programs will be brought together in an academic home. Hence, each of these research programs will be enriched through improved communications and interactions provided by proximity, dedicated conferencing and meeting spaces and upgraded informatics support essential for creation of new knowledge in our increasingly competitive research climate.
But the college is much more than the academy and its many research programs. It is a comprehensive public health resource for the state of Iowa. The faculty, staff and students of the college reach out to the residents of every one of Iowa's 99 counties, providing essential public health services, such as cancer data collection and analysis, smoking cessation counseling, occupational health services and farm safety programs.
The college also provides assistance to a wide array of not-for-profit organizations and commercial interests, including community hospitals, local school districts and small businesses. For state government it provides service, research and policy advice -- all highly appropriate for a state-supported college.
Thus, the College of Public Health is a comprehensive public health resource for all Iowans. As the university moves forward with construction of the college's academic home, it is fitting to take this opportunity to thank, especially, the hundreds of people who have expressed their support for the college -- as well as all the people of Iowa who, through their elected representatives, have provided $20.7 million in capital appropriations and Academic Building Revenue Bonds, nearly half of the funds necessary to finance this new facility.
This is an investment that will return several-fold in healthier families, safer and healthier communities, better health services and preservation of our land and natural resources through future generations of our graduates.