His successor Dr. Edward McGavran, with an extensive background in community health, emphasized field training within the new School of Public Health and worked on a plan for "short courses, in-service training, supervised field experiences, apprenticeship training, and residency training." Dean Bernard Greenberg in 1973 created the Division of Community Health Service.

William Roper, dean of the School of Public Health from 1997-2004, expanded the role of the Division of Community Health Service and launched the North Carolina Institute for Public Health "to reach out to new partners, to answer the many requests we receive for assistance, to truly make a lasting impact on the state of health and health care in North Carolina." He said the Institute was created in response to the Institute of Medicine's landmark report "The Future of Public Health," that pointed out critical gaps in workforce capacity and the need for greater collaboration in advancing public health practice.

Early continuing education class for public health sanitarians.