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Public health college proposal receives approval from council |
| By Larry B. Dendy |
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| The University Council
has approved creation of a College of Public Health that will strengthen
UGA’s research, teaching and outreach programs in health and
medicine and help address serious disease and health problems that
afflict Georgia citizens. The new unit, which will be UGA’s 15th school or college, will be formed using existing faculty and physical facilities. Initial start-up costs will not exceed $40,000 and the college will more than sustain itself through research contracts, grants and indirect costs, Arnett Mace, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, told the council. UGA’s college would operate in close collaboration with the Medical College of Georgia and related health programs at other colleges in the University System of Georgia. Both Mace and Gordhan Patel, vice president for research, said that funding for medical-related research at UGA should rise sharply when the college becomes operational. Much federal funding is restricted to researchers and health professionals at accredited schools or colleges of public health, and the new college would qualify UGA’s faculty for those dollars. The proposed college, which is supported by all 14 deans, will be formed by moving the department of environmental health science from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the department of health promotion and behavior from the College of Education. A third department that focuses on health administration, biostatistics and epidemiology would be created using faculty and resources from other units. The college will administer existing bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in environmental health, health promotion and behavior, and toxicology as well as the master of public health program. More than 300 students are currently enrolled in these programs. President Michael F. Adams will forward the proposal for the college to the University System Board of Regents for approval. The college could become operational in 2005 and could receive provisional accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health by 2007. In other action, the council had a lively discussion about deactivating majors. The council’s Curriculum Committee recommended deactivation of three majors because they no longer meet enrollment requirements set by the regents. Deactivation recommendations are not uncommon and usually pass routinely. But several council members argued that curriculum decisions should not be dictated by outside policies, and that demand for the majors may rise again. A recommendation to deactivate majors in crop science and plant health science under the bachelor of science in agriculture degree passed. But a recommendation to deactivate the major in entomology under the bachelor of science in environmental science degree was defeated. |
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