Master of Public Health Virtual Information Session

OK, umm.

We'll talk at the end then.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll give everybody just a moment to get logged in, make sure that your sound is working and that you can hear us. So we'll begin in just a moment. Thank you so much for coming.

Alright.

Great. Thank you again for coming. It looks like we've got folks in. We'll go ahead and get started. My name is Jen Radwanski. I'm the Associate Director for Graduate Admissions here at Stockton University. And we're really excited to tell you more about our Masters in Public Health program here at Stockton. And so I am joined by my colleague, Doctor Stephanie Griffin, who is the program chair, who's here to tell you more wonderful things about this program.

1st a few housekeeping things you will notice. For those of you who are joining us live, there is a chat feature.

Located on the right hand side of your screen. Please feel free to use that if you do have questions, we would encourage you to hold all questions until the end of the session because more than likely we are going to cover everything that you need to know in this session. But just in case we don't, we're happy to answer those for our live audience. If you're watching this recording previously recorded, we are also going to share our contact information with you. So again, once you get to the end, if you have any questions, you're able to reach us as well.

For our live participants, just please keep a note that in the chat.

We would just ask you not to put any personal information in there. We will be sharing this recording with others in the future and any personal questions you may have, we'd be happy to answer them on a one-on-one basis with you off of the webinar. So with that being said, I am going to turn things over to Doctor Griffin to tell you more about her wonderful program. So Stephanie, take it away.

Awesome. Thank you for the introduction, Jen, and for having me here today. The faculty, staff, and current Stockton Public Health students are excited to share information about the MPH program with everybody here today, and I look forward to answering any questions. I get to be the voice of the program today, but umm, you know, it's my privilege to do that. But I have lots of information that I can provide from student perspectives and from other faculty perspectives too today. So I'm happy to take questions at the end of the.

So with that, we'll go ahead and get started.

The first question that we might ask ourselves is what is public health? So people have sort of preconceived notions about what that means. And maybe there's some folks on this call that have some experience in the discipline, but I would like to share this definition of it. So let's introduce this. If you are new to this field, you may not know that it's an art and a science, but our main goal is prevention. So we do we focus our efforts on preventing disease and promoting.

Quality of life by working with communities, private and public organizations, and society at large. Unlike a clinical model of health care, public health focuses on protecting the health of populations, identifying root causes and societal influences on health, and engaging stakeholders to promote the greater well-being and vitality of all who are potentially impacted.

The Stockton Masters of Public Health program provides students with the foundational skills, education, research, experience and service in public health settings, including state and county health departments, nonprofit agencies, hospital population health offices, Wellness centers, and academic institutions. The American Public Health Association describes the diverse settings and sectors of our economy. Open to public health majors and practitioners.

Here's a quote from the APHA. From conducting scientific research to educating about health, people in the field of public health work to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy. That can mean vaccinating children and adults to prevent the spread of disease or educating people about the risks of alcohol and tobacco. Public health sets safety standards to protect workers and develop school nutrition programs to ensure kids have access to healthy food.

Public health works to track disease outbreaks, prevent injuries, and shed light on why some of us are more likely to suffer from poor health than others. The many facets of public health include speaking out for laws that promote smoke, free indoor air and seatbelts, spreading the word about the ways to stay healthy, and giving science based solutions to problems.

Public health saves money, improves our quality of life, helps children thrive, and reduces human suffering. Public health professionals serve in a wide variety of settings across many sectors of our economy to advance and promote the health of the public. Some examples include hospitals, health care organizations, first responders, state and local health departments. You will find public health professionals working in schools as health educators. We are an academic settings, government agencies and private.

Institutions Working as scientists and researchers, We work alongside a diverse population of what we call allied professionals, including social workers, nutritionists, community planners, epidemiologists, public health physicians and nurses, occupational health and safety professionals, sanitarians, and public policy makers.

The Stockton MPH is based on a collaborative interdisciplinary approach. We bring together clinical and non clinical aspects of prevention.

And improvement of health through societal efforts. Our vision is healthy people thriving where they live, work, learn, play and worship. We serve people and communities and improve lives at the local, regional, national and global levels. Our mission is to promote health with an emphasis on HealthEquity and social justice practitioners. And we help produce practitioners and leaders who collaborate, advocate and empower the communities that we serve.

The MPH program prepares students to serve as evidence based practitioners and leaders.

In the dynamic and collaborative field of public health, the curriculum is based on the core competencies of public health. These include Biostatistics and epidemiology, environmental Health Sciences, health policy and management, social and behavioral sciences, communication and leadership, program planning and diversity, equity and inclusion. This is a 42 credit hour program and courses are offered in an online or hybrid format. Students may enroll full.

Or part time.

The program includes an applied practical experience.

You are required to complete one. It's also known as an internship. This typically includes 200 contact hours with an internship supervisor. Students will be eligible to enroll in this applied practice experience after they have completed 18 credits within the MPH program.

The applied practice experience provides real world application of current issues and practices in public health and can take place in settings including community based organizations, healthcare organizations, academic settings, non governmental organizations, government agencies and so on.

Here is a description of our MPH faculty and along with a few pictures. So I currently serve as the MPH Academic Program Chair here at Stockton, and I have the pleasure of working with this tremendous team of faculty and staff who are dedicated to student success.

Out of the 11 faculty teaching in our MPH program, 8 are full-time faculty in the College or, I'm sorry, in the School of Health Sciences. All have extensive academic and applied public health experience working with diverse populations in a wide range of settings. We are really fortunate to have experts and esteemed professionals teaching in our program, but it is also important to note that our faculty are active researchers and scholars in public health.

They have so much to share with our students and our students have great working relationships with our faculty and they they work with students in such a way that it demonstrates Stockton's guiding principles of putting students first.

That's really the main goal of our education here, Students first.

So for accreditation, that may not be a term that folks are familiar with, but the MPH program is in the process of seeking accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health, which is known by its acronym SEIF. This is the nationally recognized body that establishes the rigorous standards and oversight for public health programs and schools at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

C for Accreditation helps us assure the full range of certification and employment opportunities are available to our graduates.

And the process includes a multi level review and it ensures that we meet nationwide standards developed by public health practitioners and academics. We have designed our MPH program to meet the accreditation standards and are already working toward this initial application, so we submitted it this semester. The process has already started, which is great for everybody currently in the program and for future students as well.

Stockton offers small class sizes and the flexibility students need today to meet and balance all aspects of their busy lives.

With online and hybrid courses offered either full time or part time, students have a lot of control about the pace with which they move through the program. We offer competitive tuition rates compared to other MPH programs in the state, and our program provides well-rounded education that sets our graduates up for success. As practitioners and leaders in public health, our faculty are supportive with a focus on and dedication to student success.

Our students are bright, engaged, and passionate about public health. We hope to count the participants in today's webinar among our community soon. This image here is an image from the Bachelors of Science Public health students. We have a 40 year history of teaching bachelor's level education. The MPH is a newer program. We're in year 3 now of that. But this over 40 year history in public health education helps us inform our MPH program as well. We have over.

Graduates from the bachelor's program and our alumni work in a variety of settings, many in leadership roles. So the next slide here, we're going to watch a quick video about Stockton Public Health and just the public health field in general.

And the music cuts out and then it's back to boring old me. So thank you for watching that video with me. Uh, I just wanted to show, let's see, we're gonna go ahead and look at this, umm, path to the certified health education specialist. So that was mentioned in the video too. This is a certification that is important for practitioners in the field. Many of our undergraduate students have achieved certification as health education specialists. They're called Chez is the acronym that they go by.

And that's through the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, called NCHECK. The certification promotes and sustains a credentialed body of professionals who have mastered the skills, responsibilities, and competencies of the health education profession. The National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, or NCHECK, like I mentioned, determines eligibility for becoming certified. So we're working with this organization to ensure that our MPH students in addition to our undergraduate students.

Are eligible and ready to take this certification exam after completing their coursework here at Stockton.

And I myself am sitting for the chairs examination next year, so I have one more year to, umm, complete my preparation for that sort of occasion. We can, I guess, study together. So the other one I wanted to mention is the certification in public Health or CPH. This is offered through the National Board of Public Health Examiners.

The CPH demonstrates, not demonstrates knowledge, sorry, of the key sciences and domains in the field of public health, as well as commitment to ongoing and continuing education related to emerging and established public health issues and needs. So there's 10 domains that are covered by UH, the CPH exam and those aligned perfectly with our curriculum. Alumni of the Stockton University Master of Public Health degree program are eligible to sit for the certification in public health.

Because we are working on our accreditation. So those things are all tied together. The CPH credential is the first and only of its kind that demonstrates knowledge of the key sciences and domains in the field of public health, as well as commitment to basically a future career in this field. So this is an important certification to consider if you want to be a practicing public health person or a leader in the field. Those are important things to consider. I believe Jen's gonna.

Back on there she is.

I'm here.

Umm, so this is all really awesome information and hopefully you're sitting there going, yeah, I think that this is, you know, what I want to do and, and how do I apply? So that's where Stephanie and I work together as far as, umm, getting you the information you need on the application. So let's talk a little bit further about how you go ahead and apply now that you have all this great information. So first of all, you do have to have a completed bachelor's degree in order to apply for this program. Your bachelor's degree can be in progress.

So let's say you're graduating in May with your bachelor's degree. You can start your application now. For the MPH program, you need to have a final cumulative GPA of a 3.0 upon graduation. UMM, and you do need to have Biology and Statistics with a minimum of AB average UMM for each of those courses. For the application itself, there's a couple of materials that you'll have to add. Umm, first of all, there is an essay required for all of our Graduate School applications. You'll be able to see that essay prompt once you pay your 50.

Application fee or if you are qualified for a waiver code, you would put your waiver code in. So one of those two has to be put into the system and then you'll be able to see the essay prompt. You will also be submitting 3 letters of recommendation. Those are all done electronically. All you'll need to do is submit the e-mail address, name and title of your recommenders and we will automatically send something to them to complete that will get attached to your application. These need to be individuals who can.

Speak to your academic success or if you happen to work in the field of public health or a related field, speak to your leadership abilities and your skills and abilities. You know, to be working in the field of public health. It does not mean, you know, let's say you have a next door neighbor that you've known for 20 years and, and they can speak to your credibility and all of that. That's wonderful. That's very important. But what we're really looking for is umm, someone again, who can speak to your academic and professional success. Umm, so that's critical.

The next two items you'll need to upload your resume as a PDF and then you'll also make sure to have all of your transcripts, official transcripts sent to us and we'll load those for you. You need to have all official transcripts sent from any institution you attended. If you received an associates degree, even if you took one class at another two year or four year institution other than Stockton, those all need to be sent to us to be loaded. If you are a Stockton student, we can load your transcripts for you, however.

If you've attended anywhere else and done so, umm, in the last five years, we should be able to pull them anything PR five years prior, uh, you'll still need to have those resent to us in addition to your Stockton transcripts, uh, we do have rolling admissions. So as your application, uh, is completed, it is being reviewed. Uh, so earlier is always better. And so that's important. That gives you more time to figure out financial aid, figure out your finances, allows you to register for courses earlier, umm, so that you can figure out your own personal schedule and.

The grand scheme of things, umm, the, we do have 1 little typo here. We're all human, right? Uh, priority deadline is July 1, 2025. Umm, so we caught almost everything. Stephanie and I looked at this multiple times, but you know, we are all human. So yes 2025 umm, if you do have any questions about that, we'd be happy to chat with you further. Umm, you know, for the deadline and again, applications will be reviewed after that, but priority deadline to make sure that you're in prior to and getting all the resources you need.

I strongly recommended by July. So other admissions options, uh, if you, these are things that if you are a Stockton student, umm, these are, these are specific to you. Umm #1 direct entry. Uh, so you must have AGPA of a 3 / 3.0 overall being biochemistry, anatomy. And then you'll also be doing a brief essay. We are going to waive your application fee as well as your letters of recommendation for that direct entry application. Umm, so there is a separate.

For that, and again, this is for Stockton students and that's going to be good for one year after graduation or you know, during your senior year at Stockton or one year after UMM. So this is a really good opportunity if you're not quite sure right now. You do have a year to utilize that option if you meet the requirements, umm, for uh, students who are just coming into Stockton and even students who have already started and maybe thinking of this in our early on in their undergraduate career, you have the opportunity for the BS in public Health.

To MPH dual degree program or the BSHS so the Health Sciences Bachelor of Science degree accelerated dual degree as well. So this is going to allow you to overlap some of your graduate and undergraduate classes in your last semesters here at Stockton and complete a masters degree in one year following so basically a 4 + 1 program and so you'll be completing a masters degree in a shorter period of time this is a really great opportunity again if you meet the.

And Doctor Griffin can give you the contact information for the dual degree preceptors if you are a current undergraduate student interested in those options. I do want to also just share if anyone is watching this recording. I know we don't have anyone here in the live audience right now, but if you're watching this recording later and you are an international applicant interested in in the public health program, unfortunately at this time the public health program is not equipped to support international students based on format of the program.

However, we do have a number of international programs that are that may be of interest and of a similar nature. We'd be happy to chat with you about that on a separate call. And we do have a separate international graduate student counselor who'd be happy to share some other options with you, but just wanted to put that out there too. So with that said, we've shared a lot of information we want to open up. If there are any questions, please feel free to drop those in the chat.

We have.

The opportunity as well that if you have any, umm, questions, maybe of a more private nature or a more specific nature, we would be happy to chat with you offline as well. Whether you're joining us live or umm, watching this pre recording. Our contact information is here. Umm, so you'll notice the information both, uh, for Doctor Griffin, uh, office of graduate admissions. We're a small staff and anyone in our team would be able to assist you as well as doctor Crowell, who is one of the dual degree, uh, preceptors if you are an undergraduate student.

As well. So with that being said, Doctor Griffin, is there anything else that you wanted to add that we may have missed?

No, I think I'm all set, Jen. Thank you.

All right, I'm not seeing any, uh, questions in our chat, so we'll go ahead and wrap up. Thank you for joining us today and thank you for taking the time to watch our SE session. Doctor Griffin, thank you as always for joining us. I always tell people, if you know what's the one main reason to come to Graduate School at Stockton and that is without question, our committed faculty, umm, and, and you are one of those. So thank you for your time, your energy and your love for this program. We really appreciate it.

Thanks Jen, have a good rest of your day.

All right, goodbye everyone. Have a great day. Bye bye.