DLSPH Open: DLSPH’s First-Ever Academic Plan
May 2/2019
Dear Colleagues,
I’m pleased to announce that DLSPH’s first-ever Academic Plan has been approved by our School Council. This is the blueprint for our school’s guiding values and direction over the next five years. Many of you are already quite familiar with it, as the plan was forged through dozens of hours of meetings, reviews and other collaborations among faculty, students, alumni and staff. I admire the way our community – despite sometimes very different scholarly interests and perspectives — came together to articulate a shared vision of our future.
As a young school with deep roots, I believe we have the flexibility to grow and change. That’s crucial because the vibrant health system of the future will require a workforce that is constantly adapting to new technologies and complexities. Our deeply knowledgeable researchers and educators can teach and support public health professionals through the entire life cycle of their careers. This plan commits us to doing so.
I am also very proud of the plan’s commitment to increasing diversity and inclusion within our community, to improve the student experience.
One of the most important aspects of the plan, I believe, is its commitment to interdisciplinary research. We already have strong and deep disciplinary expertise. This plan underscores our community’s enormous desire for deep collaboration across traditional boundaries through the establishment of cross-cutting themes in areas such as climate change, health promotion and in the use of emerging technologies to improve population health and health systems.
In the coming months, you’ll hear more about the specifics of the Academic Plan as we roll it out. But for now, I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to it. I hope you’ll join us in the inspiring work that lies ahead.
Sincerely,
Adalsteinn Brown
Dean and Professor
Dalla Lana School of Public Health