 (From left to right) Ms. Candice Powell, Dr. Barbara K. Rimer, and Dr. Felicia Mebane at the 2010 Celebration Banquet "I will never forget these eight weeks. Everyone in this program, from Dr. Mebane to the Fellows,
challenged me to grow personally and fully reflect on my upcoming journey and path."
2010 UNC SPHF Fellow
History
Dr. Felicia Mebane, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health (December 2005 - September 2011), created the UNC Summer Public Health Fellowship Program (UNC SPHF) to help level the playing field for bright and motivated minority and disadvantaged students who are exploring careers in public health. Inspired by the School's mission to train a diverse cadre of public health professionals and her own summer program experiences, UNC SPHF is the School's first large scale summer program. Dr. Mebane designed UNC SPHF to feature the disciplines represented by all of the School's departments and serve as a cornerstone for department-specific summer programs, such as the Biostatistics Summer Undergraduate Research Education (BSURE) program. As the Director of BSURE during the first two summers of UNC SPHF, Dr. Anastasia Ivanova was an important member of the UNC SPHF team.
With funding and a vision for the program, Dr. Mebane added Ms. Candice Powell, MEd, (UNC SPHF Assistant Director. fall 2009 - January 2011) to the UNC SPHF leadership team to serve a critical role in the program's operations and Ms. Amy Hitlin, MSEd, the School's former Director of Career Services, to manage the externship/service learning placements and professional development workshops. For summer 2011, Mr. Jeffrey Simms, MSPH, Director, Professional Development and Alumni Relations, Department of Health Policy and Management, stepped into Ms. Hitlin's role a month before the program started in June.
The 2010 UNC SPHF Program was funded, in part, by the Health Resources and Services Administration via a grant to the UNC Health Careers Opportunity Program (UNC HCOP). Mr. Larry Keith, former leader of the UNC HCOP grant, graciously agreed to add this new program to the medical/dental school grant proposal in 2008 and worked with Dr. Mebane to add the public health components. The UNC Provost's Office also provided critical funding that enabled this program to become a reality.
For summer 2011, the program was also supported by the PARTNERS Research & Training Program in Cancer Disparities, a National Cancer Institute grant to the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and North Carolina Central University, which supported five Fellows from North Carolina Central University. Dr. Mebane was a co-PI on the training portion of that grant, along with Dr. Gwen Sancar (UNC), Dr. David Jolly (NCCU) and Dr. Sandra White (NCCU). In addition, two Fellows from Tougaloo College were supported by the Jackson Heart Study grant under the leadership of Dr. Wendy White.
Finally, our minority student outreach and recruitment colleagues at the other health affairs Schools, the School of Social Work and related UNC units formed a support organization called the Health Affairs Pipeline Initiative (HAPI) more than a year ago. For summer 2011, HAPI provided funding to support the program. In addition, we collaborated with Dr. Rosalyn Beecham-Green and Ms. Paula Borden (both with North Carolina Health Careers Access Program) and Ms. Brenda Mitchell ( UNC School of Medicine-Allied Health Sciences) on a service activity between UNC SPHF and the Summer Enrichment Program.
UNC SPHF aims to help increase the diversity of the public health professions (at UNC and by sharing with students (primarily) from minority and disadvantaged communities the knowledge, connections and skills that can help them successfully pursue public health careers.
During the summers of 2010 and 2011, the Fellows:
- Learned core concepts and issues across public health disciplines and specialties
- Applied lessons learned
- Developed and applied a full range of professional development skills and materials
- Practiced effective communication skills
- Reflected on personal goals, values and beliefs and how they influence career choices
- Established online and leadership identities
- Networked with world-class public health academics and professionals
- Built a professional community of peers and mentors
- Developed an understanding of what it takes to succeed as a public health professional
- Appreciated the importance of culture in their personal development and in making an impact on public health
- Had fun!
The Village: Additional Partners
Dr. Barbara K. Rimer, Dean, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, encouraged the School's Office of Student Affairs to be as creative and supportive of our summer Fellows as possible. Consequently, the program's staff relied on a cadre of top-notch Fellows and current students, professors, staff, alumni and externship sponsors to provide the content, experiences, networks and relationships that resulted in an amazing experience for our Fellows. Just as importantly, the Fellows inspired everyone who met them and infused our community with new energy that has motivated us to continue supporting them and this program.
Brief Fellows Cohort Description
So far, the program has supported 59 fabulous college students and recent graduates from universities all over the country. With both groups, we met our aim of creating a richly diverse mix that would enhance their experience.
Our first cohort of 29 Fellows had the following characteristics:
- Two-thirds were female.
- Twenty-one percent were recent graduates. About half were rising second and third year students.
- Forty-one percent self-identified themselves as African-American, 28% as Hispanic or Latino, seven percent as American Indian and another seven percent as white.
- One-third were the first in their family to attend college.
- Slightly less than half were from N.C.
Our second cohort of 30 Fellows had the following characteristics:
- Close to two-thirds were female.
- Two-thirds were rising second and third year students, with 20 percent rising seniors
- Sixty percent self-identified themselves as African-American, 17 percent as Hispanic or Latino, three percent as American Indian and another 13 percent as white.
- Twenty-three percent were the first in their family to attend college.
- Slightly less than half were from N.C.
For our collaborators below, degrees are current for the time period. Positions are from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, unless noted otherwise.
Graduate assistants
2010
2011
Instructors
- Rumay Alexander, EdD, RN, Clinical Professor and Director, Office of Multicultural Affairs, UNC School of Nursing
- John Mendoza Brodeur, Director, UNC Carolina Leadership Development
- Mallory Cash, Budget and Program Director, UNC Carolina Leadership Development
- Christian Douglas, PhD Candidate, Department of Biostatistics
- Amy Hitlin, MSEd, UNC SPHF Assistant Director for Professional Development, Director of Career Services, Office of Student Affairs
- Fiorella Horna-Guerra, BA - Program Consultant, Office of Rural Health and Community Care
- Coretta Jenerette, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor, UNC School of Nursing
- Mellanye Lackey, MSI - Public Health Liaison Librarian, UNC Health Sciences Library
- Felicia Mebane, PhD, MSPH -UNC SPHF Director and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs
- Patsy Polston, MSPH Candidate, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering
- Candice Powell, MEd, UNC SPHF Assistant Director and Student Recruitment Coordinator, Office of Student Affairs
- Pamela Johnson Rowsey, PhD, RN, Associate Professor, UNC School of Nursing
- Jeffrey Simms, MSPH, UNC SPHF Assistant Director for Professional Development, Director Professional Development & Alumni Relations, Department of Health Policy and Management
- Che Smith, PhD candidate, Department of Biostatistics and Biostatistician, Wake Forest University Health Sciences
- Gigi Taylor, PhD, ESL Specialist, UNC Writing Center
Faculty guests
- Alice Ammerman, DrPH - Professor, Department of Nutrition
- Wanda Bodnar, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering
- Lloyd Edwards, PhD - Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics
- Anita Farel, DrPH - Clinical Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Maternal and Child Health
- Amanda Holliday, MS - Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition
- Anastasia Ivanova, PhD, MS - Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics
- Harvey Jeffries, PhD - Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering
- Laura Linnan, ScD, MsEd - Professor, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education
- Lew Margolis, MD - Associate Professor, Department of Maternal and Child Health
- Anna Maria Siega-Riz, PhD - Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Epidemiology
- Wizdom Powell-Hammond, PhD - Assistant Professor, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education
- Melanie Studer, MHA - Clinical Instructor, Department of Health Policy and Management
- Bill Zelman, PhD - Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management
2010 and 2011 Externship/Service Learning Placement Partners
Other Community Partners
- Ray Angle, MA - Director, University Career Services
- Stephanie Baker - PhD candidate, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education
- Kathy Bennett - Fiscal Manager, Business and Finance Office
- Paula Borden, MA - Associate Director, NC-Health Careers Access Program
- Robert Campbell - President, Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association
- Lifen Chen - Accounting Technician, Business and Finance Office
- Nicole Chenault - Business Services Coordinator, Office of Student Affairs
- Jennifer Cole, MPH, MSW - Career Development Coordinator, Department of Maternal and Child Health
- Paul Dunlop - Director of Facilities and Operations, Campus Recreation
- Lloyd Edwards, PhD - Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics
- Teri Gengler - Assistant Coordinator for Conference Services, UNC Housing & Residential Education
- Peggy Glenn - Associate Dean, Office of External Affairs
- Tommy Gunter - Auxiliary Accounting Manger, Auxiliary Services
- Terri Houston, MA - Senior Director, UNC Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs
- David Hollar, PhD - Research Assistant Professor, UNC School of Medicine
- Cortilya Jones - Accounting Specialist, Office of Medical Education
- Laura Lane, MEd - University Career Services
- Lisa Long - Assistant Director and Recruiter, Office of Medical Education
- Julie MacMillian, MPH - Director, Research and Innovation Solutions
- Derrick Matthews - PhD Student, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education
- Laurie Mesibov, JD - Ombuds and Professor, School of Government
- Chris Perry, MA - Assistant Director, Communications unit
- Janet Place, MPH - North Carolina Institute of Public Health
- Patsy Polston - Doctoral Student, Environmental Sciences and Engineering
- Annette Raines - Human Resources Manager, Gillings School of Global Public Health
- David Rogers - Director, UNC Outdoor Education Center
- Sherry Rhodes - Director of Student Services, Office of Student Affairs
- Susan Rhody - Coordinator for Conference Operations, UNC Housing & Residential Education
- Nate Shafar - Office Clerk, UNC One Card Office
- Jeffrey Simms, MSPH - Director, Professional Development/Alumni Relations, Department of Health Policy and Management
- Patrick Spencer - Volunteer Coordinator, Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina at Durham
- Katie Thornsvard, MA - Accounting Manager, Business and Finance Office
- Sandra Void - Business Manager, Office of Medical Education
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