Accreditation

Introduction

As you may be aware the Faculty of Health Sciences at SFU is seeking accreditation of its public health programs (BA, BSc and MPH) by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). We welcome you to our accreditation self-study site and encourage you to visit often. This website will be used over the upcoming year to keep you informed about our activities as we undergo the comprehensive self-study process required for accreditation. It will be the source for all draft documents that will be developed for review and commentary by stakeholders within and outside the Faculty. We’ll also provide a status report to you regularly.

• Why is Accreditation Important to FHS?

• Who is the CEPH?

• What is the Self Study?

• Key Accreditation Dates for You to Know

• We Need Your Help and Involvement

• Key Documents for Review and Comment
  

Why is Accreditation Important to FHS?

The following benefits, taken in part from the CEPH website, are just some of the many benefits of accreditation:

1. For the public, accreditation promotes the health, safety and welfare of society by assuring competent public health professionals.
2. For prospective students and their parents, accreditation serves a consumer protection purpose. It provides assurance that the school or program has been evaluated and has met standards established by and with the profession.
3. For prospective employers, it provides assurance that the curriculum covers essential skills and knowledge needed for today's jobs.
4. For graduates, it promotes professional mobility and enhances employment opportunities in positions that base eligibility upon graduation from an accredited school or program.
5. For public health workers, it involves practitioners in the establishment of standards and assures that educational requirements reflect the current training needs of the profession.
6. For the profession, it advances the field by promoting standards of practice and advocating rigorous preparation.
7. For foundations and other private funding sources, it represents a highly desirable indicator of a program's quality and viability.
8. For faculty members and administrators, the accreditation process promotes ongoing self-evaluation and continuous improvement, and provides an effective system for accountability.  It also ensures that the Faculty puts into place, and monitors, policies and procedures that enhance teaching and learning, research development and productivity, and community service.
9. Accreditation will enhance the national and international reputation of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University.

Who is the CEPH?

The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) is an independent agency recognized by the US Department of Education to accredit schools of public health and certain public health programs offered in settings other than schools of public health. These schools and programs prepare students for entry into careers in public health. The primary professional degree is the Master of Public Health (MPH) but other masters and doctoral degrees are offered as well.
       
The goal of the Council is "to enhance health in human populations through organized community effort." The Council's focus is the improvement of health through the assurance of professional personnel who are able to identify, prevent and solve community health problems. The Council's objectives are:

1. to promote quality in public health education through a continuing process of self-evaluation by the schools and programs that seek accreditation;
2. to assure the public that institutions offering graduate instruction in public health have been evaluated and judged to meet standards essential for the conduct of such educational programs; and
3.  to encourage - through periodic review, consultation, research, publications, and other means - improvements in the quality of education for public health.

For more information on the CEPH, visit their website

What is a Self-Study?

A self-study is a lengthy document in which a program conducts a thorough self-assessment and provides evidence of its capacity to mount a public health program that meets the international standards set by the Council on Education for Public Health.

A self study is organized into to four major sections as indicated below.  As these sections of the document are developed we will drafts here for public comment.

Mission, goals, objectives, organization, resources available to, and means for evaluating the public health program. 

A thorough description of instructional programs, include core competencies, curriculum, practical skills requirements, culminating experience, and assessment procedures.

A description of how the program is organized so as to facilitate the creation, advancement and application of knowledge in population and public health

The people involved in the public health program, including faculty and their qualifications, faculty and staff diversity, student recruitment and admissions, student diversity, and resources for advising and career counseling.

Key Accreditation Dates for You to Know

We Need your Help and Involvement

As the self-study process unfolds there will be numerous opportunities for faculty, staff and students to be involved. At various times faculty, staff, student representatives, and members of the local public health community may be contacted by the FHS Accreditation Self Study Working Group (ASSWG) or by our external consultant, Sue Roppel, to provide information for the self-study report.  We have also scheduled a number of consultation opportunities to solicit your feedback on the sub-components of the self-study as they are developed, including issues such as the mission, goals and objectives of the Public Health Program, core learning competencies, evaluation methodologies, and the draft of the entire report.  During the self-study, consultations and site visit the accreditation team will be meeting with many of you.

We encourage you to take an active interest in the accreditation self-study process, to engage fully in the opportunities for consultation and documentation review, and to provide at any time the ASSWG with your comments and suggestions.

Any Questions, Contact Information:

• Craig Janes, Associate Dean, Education, FHS and Chair of the Accreditation Self-Study Working Group – cjanes@sfu.ca

• Leslie Techy, Confidential Secretary to the Dean, FHS – ltechy@sfu.ca

• Sue Roppel, External Consultant – droppel@telus.net

Key Documents for Review and Comment

We invite members of our community -- students, staff, faculty, practitioners, community stakeholders -- to review and comment on key elements of our self study.  We'll post these documents as they are developed by the requisite committees.  Please direct all comments to Craig Janes.

Community Announcement - October 9, 2008

Community Announcement - December 10, 2008

Community Announcement - June 1, 2009

MPH Core Competencies - Draft July 6, 2009

• Chapter 1: Public Health Programs
• Chapter 2: Instructional Programs
• Chapter 3: Creation, Application, and Advancement of Knowledge
• Chapter 4: Faculty, Staff and Students
  

If you have written comments regarding accreditation, these may be submitted in writing to the Council on Education for Public Health, and must be received by September 21, 2009. CEPH's address is: 800 Eye st. NW, Suite 202, Washington, DC, USA, 20001-3710.