Dear SPH Faculty:
I am excited to announce plans for some initial strategic investments for the school that have been informed by input from faculty over the past three months. As a reminder, these investments are being funded by one-time, non-recurring funding of $500k that was dedicated to SPH upon my hiring as Dean. After much consideration, the SPH Executive Committee has identified the following strategic initiatives that we believe will best support our school’s core mission and meet the current needs of our students, faculty, and staff. These initiatives serve as the first round of investments while our formal strategic planning process is underway. Once this planning process has yielded a final strategic plan, there will be a second round of investments to coincide with the launch of that plan. Additionally, funding is being dedicated to support staff professional development and other initiatives for staff.
SPH Strategic Planning: This initiative is currently in-progress. The School of Public Health is investing $15,000 to engage in a formal strategic planning process this academic year to identify our school’s shared vision, mission, strategic priorities, and implementation plan.
Annual SPH Research Symposium: To support student research, the School of Public Health is investing up to $7,500 to launch an annual school-wide research symposium beginning spring 2023. Bringing students, faculty, and staff together across all academic programs, this event will include oral and poster presentations, networking activities, and awards to honor the research achievements of our students. Event registration details will be shared in August 2022.
Faculty Innovation Award: The School of Public Health is investing up to $100,000 to provide course releases or summer funding, on a competitive basis, to support a wide range of faculty activities focused on educational and/or research excellence and innovation. Details will be shared in a RFP to be released by March 15.
Environmental Health Laboratory: Effective immediately, to continue support of research and education and training activities of our Environmental Health faculty, the School of Public Health is investing up to $50,000 for the replacement, repair, and maintenance of laboratory equipment.
PHS Faculty Recruitment: Given the loss of mid-career and senior faculty in epidemiology and the unit’s significant instructional responsibility, there is a need to recruit faculty beyond the early career stage. The recruitment of mid-senior faculty can produce meaningful capacity and support in research, instruction, leadership and mentorship, and contribute to the overall strengthening of the unit. A faculty search launched this academic year has failed to produce any strong candidates at the mid-career or senior stage. A greater commitment to the recruitment of PHS faculty is needed. Available for the upcoming faculty recruitment cycle, the School of Public Health will invest up to $125,000 to work with an external search firm to recruit two mid-career to senior faculty for the Department of Population Health Sciences.
NCFDD Faculty Success Program: Georgia State University is partnering with the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity to provide faculty success programs for tenure track and non-tenure track faculty. The GSU Office of Faculty Affairs will fully sponsor the NTT faculty workshop and invite all NTT faculty to participate. Please note that seating will be limited to 150 spots university-wide. More information will be shared about the registration process shortly. The GSU Office of Faculty Affairs will provide partial funding for a limited number of TT faculty to participate in the workshop. The School of Public Health is supplementing the university’s investment with up to $10,600 to support the participation of selected TT early or mid-career SPH faculty. Information about the application process is forthcoming.
In addition to these initiatives, the school’s leadership will be work to advance the following items over the next few months:
SPH Budget Decentralization: The SPH Dean’s Office will work closely with department chairs to initiate a resource-sharing plan that directs funds to departments for utilization as determined by chairs and faculty. Departmental funding may include operational funds, a portion of (returned) indirect cost, professional development funds, and funding to support hiring of part-time instructors.
Intensive Research Semester Program: Working with the GSU Provost’s Office, the School of Public Health plans to implement an intensive research semester program to support faculty scholarship, compliant with GSU and USG guidelines.
Salary Stipend Incentive Program: The School of Public Health will advocate at the university level for a salary stipend incentive program to help incentivize and reward faculty for securing external funding.
I look forward to sharing updates on these strategic investments and additional items in the weeks and months ahead. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Warmly,
