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Deans Notes - February 17, 2023

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Letter from Dean Pamela Jansma

Public Health and Liberal Arts Education Progressing Together Into the Future

A recent article in Inside Higher Ed titled "Could Undergrads Save the Public Health Workforce?" focused on the results of a recent study conducted by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) and partners. This study is the first to examine the popularity of undergraduate public health study alongside the demographics and future careers of students with the major. As we look to the future of what liberal arts and sciences education is going to mean at our university, to our community, and in the world, we can use public health as a useful example of how our curriculum is vital to supplying the workforce we need.

The trajectory of public health study in higher education has a lot to teach us about how best to serve students. The article points out that public health degrees started at the graduate level, largely as a method of further training government employees. The field broadened organically over the past 80 years, and as of 2020 undergraduate public health majors outnumber graduate students. Emily Burke, Senior Director of Workforce Development and Applied Practice at ASPPH, and an author of the study, said that focusing on public health at the undergraduate level pairs perfectly with pursuing the liberal arts. “The idea in undergrad public health was that there are going to be students who study public health as a major but will not go on to work in public health,” she said. “But there’s great benefit to society if there are people in all sectors with knowledge and training in public health.”

Here at CU Denver, faculty from across a number of disciplines in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in collaboration with faculty at the Colorado School of Public Health had the foresight to establish the first undergraduate major in public health in the Mountain West in 2010.  At the time, the major was one of fewer than 50 undergraduate programs in public health in the nation and since then, the major has grown to be the third largest in CLAS with an articulated BA/BS to MPH offering.  

As industries come to understand that health plays a role in the operations of virtually every business the popularity and applicability of a well-rounded public health liberal arts degree will only become more valuable, and more sought after. These researchers observed that the COVID pandemic greatly increased students awareness of what public health is and what professionals in the field can accomplish. Our task, moving forward, will be to keep our program relevant and keep encouraging our students to innovate as they apply what they learn. Ruby H. N. Nguyen, another of the study’s authors, said there's a newfound awareness among young people perusing public health of the systemic health disparities that impact their communities. “Students are very aware of health disparities and want to ameliorate those disparities.” We can help drive that change.

Making this conversation even more timely, Public Health Advocacy Day at the Denver Capitol is happening next Friday, February 24. Participants will hear about public health policy priorities including climate change advocacy and capacity-building effort, behavioral health, access-to-care, and health equity. Click here for more information and to RSVP.

Spotlight

Alum Darrel Guadnola Becomes Commerce City Chief of Police

Spotlight

Commerce City recently announced the hiring of Darrel Guadnola as the city’s next chief of police. Guadnola got his BA in Political Science from CU Denver in 1997 and holds master’s degrees in both Business Administration and Management from Regis University with a graduate certificate in Executive Leadership. A lifelong Coloradan who spent part of his childhood in Commerce City, Guadnola has worked in law enforcement for 27 years. His career started in 1995 as a police officer in neighboring Brighton and he has since served with the Greenwood Village Police Department, and most recently the Wheat Ridge Police Department (WRPD).

Check out the Spanish Language, World Literature Podcast from Andrés Lema-Hincapié

Spotlight

Along with Conrado Zuluaga Osorio (from Bogotá, Colombia) Professor of Ibero-American Literatures and Cultures in the Department of Modern Languages Andrés Lema-Hincapié hosts Viajes Al Libro (Book Journeys), a podcast in Spanish. Join the hosts as they travel through books from different languages and cultures, from different geographies and from different times:  

Episodio 1: Tres escritores del Japón: Murasaki, Tanizaki y Kawabata (Three Writers from Japan: Murasaki, Tanizaki and Kawabata), March 16, 2021 

Episodio 2: Marguerite Yourcenar, una escritora cosmopolita en viaje (Marguerite Yourcenar, A Cosmopolitan Writer on the Road), February 16, 2022 

Episodio 3: Mapas inevitables (Unavoidable Maps), October 24, 2021  

Episodio 4: Escritores viajeros: Alexander von Humboldt (Traveling Writers: Alexander von Humboldt), May 03, 2022 

Episodio 5: Escritores viajeros: Sir Richard Francis Burton (Traveling Writers: Alexander von Humboldt), October 13, 2022 

Episodio 6 (In preparation) Escritores viajeros: Annemarie Schwarzenbach, un ángel triste venido del futuro (Traveling Writers: A Sad Angel from the...

Sara Yeatman Addresses Oxford While on UK Sabbatical

Spotlight

Sara Yeatman, Professor in the Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, was an academic visitor at the University of Oxford’s Leverhulme Center for Demographic Science and Nuffield College for three days in early February. Among other activities, Yeatman gave a talk entitled, “The impact of access to contraception on women’s lives.” Yeatman is on sabbatical in the UK this academic year.

Submit Proposals Now to the Colorado Department of Higher Education's Colorado OER (Open Education Resources) Conference

Spotlight

The Colorado OER Conference Organizing Committee is excited to invite proposals for the 2023 Colorado OER Conference to be held on May 19 in Denver at History Colorado. Faculty, librarians, students, instructional designers, administrators, and other OER advocates are encouraged to submit a session. This year’s conference theme is “Going beyond cost savings." At the 2023 conference we will explore the impact of OER beyond cost savings. We invite proposals with a focus on the following areas: 

  • Open pedagogy 
  • Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility through OER 
  • Student Advocacy of Open education 
  • Sustainability of Open education 
  • Case study of Colorado OER grants 
  • OER community building and engagement 
  • Advancing student learning and involvement 
  • Institutional or system wide OER promotion 

Proposals are due by 11:59 PM Mountain time on Monday, March 13, 2023. 

Research on Psilocybin ('Magic Mushrooms') Use Among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Other People of Color) and Low-Income Individuals in Colorado Looking for Participants

Spotlight

Criteria for participation:

  • 21-75 years of age
  • Have used psilocybin within the past 12 months
  • Self-identify as BIPOC or a member of a marginalized community who is unable or uninterested to pay for a psilocybin-assisted therapy session (that costs between $200 and $1,500 in Colorado)
  • Complete 1 videotaped interview (e.g., 60 minutes) about psilocybin use to improve wellness, address trauma or increase spiritual development in Colorado 

Participants will receive a $50.00 King Soopers gift card (COMIRB #22-1797). For additional details visit the study's website or email Marty.Otanez@ucdenver.edu  at any time.

Events

Budget Strategic Realignment of Resources Info Session, February 21

Events

10:00  – 11:00 am
Lawrence Street Center Terrace Room

If you are planning on attending virtually, click here to register.

These sessions are an opportunity for campus leaders and Planning Team members to provide updates and answer questions for faculty and staff. In anticipation of the volume of questions expected, we encourage faculty and staff to first review the FAQ on the budget website to see if your question has already been answered. If not, please submit questions via the online form ahead of the event or sign up for office hours being offered throughout the process.

CoorsTek Denver Metro Science and Engineering Fair Community Day, February 25

Events

12:00 noon – 3:00 pm
Rob and Lola Salazar Student Wellness Center

Want to see what the Denver Science Fair is all about? In celebration of our 60th anniversary, CoorsTek DMRSEF is excited to welcome everyone to the fair during the inaugural Community Day Celebration. Meet Denver’s top student scientists at our Student Project Open House; dive into fun science activities at our STEAM Outreach & Activities Fair; learn about the science fair process and get inspired to share your own research at future fairs! Contact denversciencefair@ucdenver.edu with questions. 

Language Across the Curriculum Speaker Series, March 1

Events

2:30 pm
plaza 118

“Aportes Espanola un a Pråctica Filosöfica” will be delivered by Gabriel Zamosc-Regueros, Associate Professor of Philosophy. This talk will be in Spanish. Refreshments will be served.

Free CLAS Staff Yoga Class RESCHEDULED, March 9

Events

10:00 am - 10:45am
Rob and Lola Salazar Wellness Center (2nd floor- studio room)

Our yoga instructor had an amazing opportunity come up this week, so the previously scheduled March 2 yoga class has been moved to next week.  Sign up HERE, and if you signed up for this week and need to cancel, you can use the link or email Kadie.goodman@ucdenver.edu. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact CLAS Staff Council clas.staffcouncil@ucdenver.edu

CLAS Staff and Faculty Forum, March 3

Events

9am – 11 am
Student Commons Building, ACAD 1500
Register for Zoom:
https://ucdenver.zoom.us/j/91205604354

All CLAS Faculty and Staff are invited to an update on the college from Dean Jansma and the Associate/Assistant Deans.

ChatGPT: Where do we go from here?, March 7

Events

9:00 - 10:30 am
Learning Commons, Lecturer Landing Zone (3rd Floor), 1191 Larimer Street, Denver

About 50 attendees representing every college on campus attended the first ChatGPT Info Session earlier this month, generating some fascinating discussion from different institutional perspectives. There was so much interest and energy around this topic that CLAS Digital Studies, TIPS, and Thinqstudio decided to organize a follow-up event. Find out more info and register at the website.  

“Access, Affordability, and Academic Success” - Open Textbooks for Open Educational Week, March 7

Events

10:00 - 11:30 am
Auraria Library

Auraria Campus faculty are invited to this interactive workshop where you’ll learn the “basics” of open textbooks and other resources and delve into how they support student success.

Sign Up Now for the Dimension of Political Ecology Mini-Conference, March 22

Events

9:00am – 4:30 pm

The Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences is helping to organize this one-day gathering with The Dimensions of Political Ecology (DOPE) and Cultural and Political Ecology (CAPE) Specialty Group prior to the American Association of Geographers annual meeting in Denver, Colorado. This event will provide much-needed in-person social and intellectual space for political ecologists at all career stages. The day will include morning and afternoon breakout discussions on a range of topics pertinent to the field of political ecology. Please note that the morning panels will also be streamed virtually, but virtual participants will be unable to engage in the afternoon breakout discussions. More details on the event can be found on the sign up page.

Save the Date - Chancellor and Provost visit with CLAS Staff and Faculty, April 6

Events

2:15-3:15pm
Student Commons Building, ACAD 2504
Register for Zoom:
https://ucdenver.zoom.us/j/96328173283

This is an opportunity for CLAS staff and faculty to chat with the Chancellor and Provost, either in-person or by Zoom.

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Deans Notes

Editor: Tracy Kohm
Marketing, Communication and Outreach Professional
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
tracy.kohm@ucdenver.edu

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