New students, programs begin at the University of Iowa

If the University of Iowa wasn’t offering a new undergraduate degree program in public health this year, first-year student Autumn Moen said she would remain undecided about her studies.

“I’d probably still be at Iowa, but I’d be an open major and really confused about life,” said the 18-year-old Iowa City native.

Moen, who graduated from City High in May, is now one of 32 first-year students (18 from Iowa) who enrolled directly into new Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Sciences programs offered by the UI College of Public Health. And the group is among the thousands of students who began classes Monday at UI, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

“I really like how program brings the social sciences and the sciences together,” she said.

The World Health Organization defines public health as "the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts of society." The UI programs are designed to appeal to students interested in either focus of study.

"Public health recognizes that health has relatively little to do with procedures and prescriptions that are delivered in a clinical setting and much more to do with what happens in people’s everyday lives," Sue Curry, dean of the college, recently wrote. "Health is found in the safety of our homes and the neighborhoods where we live, in the quality of the water we drink and the air we breathe, in the availability of fresh, nutritious food in the schools our children attend, and in the stores and markets where we shop for our families."

The new programs are the first of their kind offered in Iowa, but the college is a bit behind the curve on offering such programs.

More than half of the colleges of public health in the nation already have added an undergraduate degree to their offerings, and more such programs are on the way. The Council on Education for Public Health, the group that oversees and accredits public health programs, has spent more than a decade setting up a process for accrediting such programs at schools that don't already offer graduate programs in public health.

UI officials expect the new programs to grow quickly — with the incoming students tripling next year and continuing to expand until the total enrollment reaches about 500 students annually.

Most of those future students are likely to be admitted directly into the college, but many of them will be returning students who apply into the program after finishing two introductory courses and meeting several other requirements.

"Many of today’s public health professionals are, to be sure, biostatisticians and epidemiologists, but they are also psychologists and social workers, environmental specialists and safety engineers, health communicators and policy analysts," Curry wrote.

Moen  is signed up for the science track. She said another draw toward the program is the option for her to complete her undergraduate students and earn a Master of Public Health degree in only five years rather than the regular six.

“That’s really appealing,” she said.

With both degrees in hand, Moen said she expects of have her choice of jobs. UI officials said the new undergraduate program will open occupational doors for students not looking to continue their studies immediately after earning a four-year degree.

As the undergraduate enrollment in the program grows, college administrators will have to adjust the schedule for the courses offered to graduate and professional students. With the right amount of planning, they said, all the courses should fit within the college’s five-year-old building on the site of UI’s old law school.

Reports from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health estimate that the U.S. will face an estimated shortage of 250,000 public health workers by 2020. That shortage is likely to be made worse, according to a 2008 report from the association, given that nearly one-fourth of the current public health workforce was eligible to retire in 2012.

Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at 319-887-5435 or jcharisc@press-citizen.com. Follow him at @jeffcharis.

UI's new public health undergraduate program

• Number of students: 32; 14 in the B.A. program and 18 in the B.S. program
• Average GPA: 4.09
• Average. ACT score: 28.8.
• Cities represented: Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Eldridge, Ely, Iowa City, Sibley, Waukee, Webster City and West Des Moines
• Other states represented: Illinois, Georgia, Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

UI's incoming freshman class

• Nearly 5,700 new first-year students are estimated to be enrolled at UI — an increase over the 2015 record enrollment of 5,241. The total enrollment won't be official for a few more weeks.
• All first-year students are participating in living learning communities this fall.
• About 6,650 undergraduate students — new and returning -- are living in university-owned or managed housing.