Program Overview

Accreditation, Competencies, and Values

The Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) school of Public Health is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), an independent agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit schools and programs of public health. The Board of the Council on Education for Public Health voted to approve SIUC's Public Health Program for the maximum 7-year term allowed, in September 2018.

Graduate-Level Professional Foundational Public Health Knowledge

The program covers the following foundational knowledge areas:

1. Explain public health history, philosophy, and values
2. Identify the core functions of public health and the 10 Essential Services
3. Explain the role of quantitative and qualitative methods and sciences in describing a population's health
4. List major causes and trends of morbidity and mortality in the US or other community relevant to school or program
5. Discuss the science of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention in population health, including health promotion, screening, etc.
6. Explain the critical importance of evidence in advancing public health knowledge
7. Explain effects of environmental factors on a population's health
8. Explain biological and genetic factors that affect a population's health
9. Explain behavioral and psychological factors that affect a population's health
10. Explain the social, political, and economic determinants of health and how they contribute to population health and health inequities
11. Explain how globalization affects global burdens of disease
12. Explain an ecological perspective on the connections among human health, animal health, and ecosystem health (e.g., One Health)

M.P.H. Foundational Competencies

The program includes the following foundational competencies:

• Evidence-based Approaches to Public Health
  • Apply epidemiological methods to the breadth of settings and situations in public health practice
  • Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context
  • Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming, and software, as appropriate
  • Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy, or practice
• Public Health & Health Care Systems
  • Compare the organization, structure, and function of health care, public health, and regulatory systems across national and international settings
  • Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities, and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community, and societal levels
• Planning & Management to Promote Health
  • Assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities' health
  • Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design or implementation of public health policies or programs
  • Design a population-based policy, program, project, or intervention
  • Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management
  • Select methods to evaluate public health programs
• Policy in Public Health
  • Discuss multiple dimensions of the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence
  • Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes
  • Advocate for political, social, or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations
  • Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity
• Leadership
  • Apply principles of leadership, governance, and management, which include creating a vision, empowering others, fostering collaboration, and guiding decision making
  • Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges
• Communication
  • Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors
  • Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation
  • Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content
• Interprofessional Practice
  • Perform effectively on interprofessional teams
• Systems Thinking
  • Apply systems thinking tools to a public health issue

SIUC M.P.H. Concentration Competencies

The program includes the following concentration competencies:

• Analyze health disparities and social determinants of health among rural and/or underserved populations.
• Identify the challenges and evaluate community-based partnerships as applied to rural and/or underserved populations (e.g., the Illinois Counties in the Delta Regional Authority).
• Plan interventions to improve health in rural, underserved, and/or veteran populations.
• Describe and demonstrate the methods of spatial analysis, focusing on rural and or underserved regions.
• Identify and make accessible community resources related to a specific health issue or a specific target audience (e.g., veterans).

Mission of the M.P.H. Program

The mission of the Master of Public Health Program in Community Health Education at SIU Carbondale is to promote public health through professional preparation of community health educators, ongoing development of practitioners, community service, and research/evaluation related to public health.

M.P.H. Program Values

The values advanced by the faculty and students affiliated with the SIUC MPH program include:

1. Bi-directional LEARNING through teaching and shared, interactive experiences;
2. SERVICE through participation in initiatives that contribute to a rich experience in university, community, and professional settings;
3. DISCOVERY through participation in collaborative and interdisciplinary research that leads to publishable works and other scholarly products that advance the public health evidence-base;
4. A healthy and supportive work ENVIRONMENT that recognizes achievement, cultivates professional development of its faculty, staff, and students, and is fair, equitable, nurturing, and respectful, as well as free from actions that compromise personal well-being and growth; and
5. DIVERSITY, through inclusiveness and respect for individuals and groups of different backgrounds, interests, cultures, and practices.

M.P.H. Goal Statements

The program has the following goal statements:

• Learning Goal Statement: The MPH program will advance a teaching-learning community that nurtures research/discovery, leadership, and ethical practice for faculty and students to help build and maintain a competent, professionally-prepared public health workforce.
• Service Goal Statement: Persons affiliated with the MPH program will attain leadership positions in service to the University, the profession, and the local community and beyond that promote these entities.
• Discovery Goal Statement: Persons affiliated with the MPH program will create and disseminate new knowledge through interdisciplinary initiatives to inform public health practice applying professional and ethical standards.
• Environment Goal Statement: The MPH program will enhance its overall capacity to build and sustain the public health workforce by providing a work setting that facilitates faculty, staff, and student success, and by sustaining a strong intellectual environment outside of the classroom.
• Diversity Goal Statement: The MPH program will engage diverse faculty, staff, and students to work toward health equity and social justice, without discrimination, for the people of the surrounding communities, the State of Illinois, the nation, and in the world community.