Tag Archives: students

Health Science Faculty and Students Attend CSU-wide Health Science Public Policy Summit

 

by Anji Buckner

On April 23, 10 students and a faculty member from the Health Science and Recreation Department set off on the first – of what we all hope to be – an annual CSU-wide Health Science Public Policy Summit.

The Summit was coordinated by the Chair of CSU-Los Angeles Public Health Department, Walter Zelman.   In the past, Professor Zelman has taken his own CSU-LA students to Sacramento to learn more about the state political process regarding health, health care, and the health professions.   This year, due to the generosity of the California Endowment, Zelman was able to offer the experience to all CSU Health Science departments.    In total, nearly 170 students and 10 faculty members participated.

The purpose of the 2-day summit was to introduce students to the political process and engage in professional networking.   Students across all campuses were encouraged to meet one another, talk about their schools and programs, and learn about the many different Master’s in Public Health programs that are offered throughout the CSU system.  Additionally, Zelman had orchestrated an impressive line-up of leaders to speak to the group about their lives, professions, and the health policy process.

The two days were full of engaging activities that started with a warm welcome by State Senator Kevin DeLeon of Los Angeles.  DeLeon shared his life experiences that led him into state politics and encouraged the students, through his personal story, to develop and maintain a strong work ethic and cultivate a curiosity that can inspire critical thought and innovative solutions to the most challenging of community experiences.  Following Senator DeLeon, students attended the Assembly Health Hearing, where they heard the presentation and opposition to AB 154 Atkins, which proposes to extend access to abortion through training of additional providers.   The proposed legislation served as a prime example of the ways in which the political process must incorporate public participation and how, when opinions are polarized, the legislative process becomes far more complicated.

The group also attended a portion of the Board meeting of the California Exchange, which is the leadership body responsible for overseeing implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in our state.  The group also got to meet two policy analysts – Joe Parra of the State Republican Office and Mia Orr from the office of Democratic Assembly member Holly Mitchell.

Day Two was equally engaging as the group met with one California eader after another.   We started with a panel from the top leadership of the State department of Public Health, including: Chief Epidemiologist and Deputy Director for the Center for Infectious Disease- Dr. Gill Chavez;  Chief Deputy Director of Policy and Programs -Kathleen Billingsley;  Deputy Director of the Office of Public Affairs – Anita Gore; the director of the California Exchange – Diane Stanton; “Place Matters” program director of the California Endowment, Christine Tien; health policy journalists Dan Walters and Evan Halper; Marty Gallegos of the California Hospital Association; and the highest-ranking state health official – Secretary of Health – Diana Dooley.

Intermixed with these remarkable discussions with public policy leaders and professionals, students from each school presented what they most liked, appreciated, and felt to be unique about their university and program.  This was illuminating as each student group spoke eloquently and personally about the meaning of their Health Science degree.  To great credit across all the departments in the CSU system, it was powerfully evident that these students are passionate and committed to working towards change that will improve people’s lives.

All in all, SJSU HSR students are returning to campus with a renewed enthusiasm for public policy, a better understanding of the strengths of all of the CSU HS programs, new friendships, and many resources for employment opportunities in health policy and health reform.  Faculty who attended the two-day summit are also returning to campus with a lot of ideas of how we can all better support and encourage our students to engage in public policy, ways we can use our campus to initiate and participate in health reform, and how we might envision innovative programming that continues to unite the Health Science faculty and students throughout the state.

Additionally, the 2-day conference was video-recorded by SJSU Health Science Alum Byron Doughtery and will be made into a short documentary highlighting the events and showcasing the enthusiasm for Health Science, health reform, and public policy.

Those of us who attended from SJSU are very appreciative of the efforts of CSU-LA to initiate this statewide experience.  We will do all we can to ensure that this first-ever event becomes the first-annual public policy summit for CSU Health Science students.

CASA Wins Four Awards University Service Learning and Engagement Awards Ceremony

It was a great day for CASA at the University Service Learning and Engagement Awards Ceremony. CASA faculty and our students were winners of four of the awards given this morning. It makes it very clear that our college continues to be a very community engaged college. Congratulations to:

1. Susie Rivera, Justice Studies–Faculty Lecturer Award
2. Nancy Megginson, Kinesiology–Faculty Professor Award
3. Jesse Medina and Lisseth Castillo-Valencia–Justice Studies students in the Records Clearance Project–Martin Luther King, Jr. Award
4. CHAMP, Center for Health Aging in Multicultural Populations–Collaborative Projects

VERY IMPRESSIVE! CONGRATULATIONS TO WINNERS AND TO CASA!

We will follow up with blog posts on each of the winners. Stay tuned.

CHAMP wins SJSU Service-Learning & Community Award

 

by Sadhna Diwan

Center for Healthy Aging in Multicultural Populations (CHAMP) was selected to receive the Collaborative Project Award from the SJSU Center for Community Learning & Leadership.

It’s great to see the collaborative efforts of CASA faculty recognized by the University. Congratulations to all and thanks for our team members without which this would not have been possible.

The Center for Healthy Aging in Multicultural Populations (CHAMP) was created in the College of Applied Sciences & Arts in 2009. With faculty affiliates from all academic disciplines at SJSU, the Center facilitates interdisciplinary applied research, education, and strategic partnerships with community-based organizations working with older adults. For each of the past three years, CHAMP has partnered with the Timpany Center, Santa Clara County’s Department of Adult & Aging Services (DAAS), CommUniverCity, and the Roosevelt Community Center to host Senior Wellness & Resource Fairs to promote healthy aging among older adults in the community. The fairs, which are half-day events, have promoted interprofessional education through service learning among more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in courses in health sciences, nutrition, nursing, occupational therapy, social work, psychology, kinesiology, and communicative disorders.

The students provide wellness education and screenings to seniors, learn about available community resources, and build their skills by applying their knowledge to working with older persons. Student evaluations of the fairs are extremely positive: they show increased awareness of their own strengths and challenges such as communication skills; they express positive attitudes towards working with older persons; and better understanding of inter-professional roles in wellness promotion among seniors.

As one student noted, “I am very grateful for the opportunity I was given to work with the project. This was not only my first volunteer effort, but it was also the first time I worked with and for an older population. Getting involved with this project allowed me to see the need for resources for the general local population. The best part of this experience was the ability to connect those who were in search for resources with their professionals- whether it was the table I sat in or not. It was absolutely wonderful to see so many different disciplines come together for a common goal- the wellbeing of a population who often get looked over.”

Another noted, “The most enjoyable aspect of this project is that I have an opportunity to interact with seniors. It is a valuable and precious experience to practice what I have learned from classes.”

DAAS has expressed interest in continuing this partnership with CHAMP in order to engage more of our students in service learning.

The Service-Learning & Community Engagement Awards are presented for course-inspired community engagement learning, distinguished from non-academic community service. The awards ceremony will be held on Friday, April 26th from 8:45-11:00am in ENG 285/287.

CASA-CHAMPS faculty can invite friends and family. Parking permits are available upon request.

Congratulations on the Award! Go CHAMPions!

Health Science 158 Class Integrates 21st Century Tech for 21st Century Care

In the past year, we have had some excellent examples of CASA professors using edu-tech in classrooms to transform the way students learn, collaborate, and share. One standout example can be seen in the work being done in HS 158 Health Communications & Technology, led by edu-tech innovator Frank Strona and TA Rebecca Krueger. The students develop health communication projects using 21st century web-media and other online technologies, which are then presented by students to community hosts and partners at the end of the semester. This is an excellent example of using technology to connect students, community partners, and solid pedagogical practices. Student groups dedicate an entire semester to creating a digital, interactive technology-based project or educational interventions. The most recent event was held Tuesday December 4th, 2012 in rooms 225/229 of the Dr. MLK Jr. Library from 3:00pm to 5:45pm.

Reflecting on last semester event, Krueger noted, “It was such a delight to see students from HS158 proudly present their semester-long projects during the annual Sampler Event and Celebration on December 4, 2012. As a Teaching Associate (TA) for the course, it was both a joy and a treat to watch these young professionals display their hard work and accomplishments, ultimately donating a semester’s worth of their good services to various health-related community efforts around the Bay Area. Frank Strona’s dedication to the utilization of 21st century technology in the classroom arms students with real-world skills and experiences that will prepare them to function in today’s diverse and interconnected workforce. I have no doubt that students in HS158 will be well prepared not only to meet the needs of the modern workplace, but they will excel in it!”

Dave Spath, from California Public Health Association-North (CPHA-N) one of Community Hosts for the end-of-semester event, noted on last semester’s event, “I was impressed by the creativity of the three groups particularly the design of the short videos. I thought that the use of their fellow students in the short videos was an excellent way to convey a very strong message to their peers on the subject matter i.e., the important health issue of STDs and why they should become involved in an organization that supports public health activities.  I was frankly amazed that these students who prior to taking the class had little experience in health communication and available technologies were able to produce such polished products in the time that they had available.  I look forward to my organization sponsoring additional projects in the future.”

HS158 attempts to engage its students in an active experience that explores the evolving roles of the Health Science graduate in the workplace today. Core elements of the course allow students to build on group skills, new digital technologies and the Internet as tools for health promotion, disease prevention, and health care. HS158 is founded on a belief that a health professional’s relationship in the team process is as integral to the professional today as is a thorough understanding and integration of how technology can act as a partner to improve local community health communication, increase access to programs and improve community health outcomes.

Upon successfully completing this course, students are able to:

  1. Understand the history, use, and potential of technology and new social media in Health Communication.
  2. Assess the scientific merit (evaluate) of information posted on the web, as well as other uses of non-scientific information for understanding community health and education/communication opportunities.
  3. Complete a comprehensive team project that will be used to explore and address health communication and technology.
  4. Assess and identify appropriate local and national Social Media Resources.
  5. Develop and present material in a professional manner, using current technology- based tools.
  6. Develop a digital, interactive technology-based project or educational intervention.

Look for a follow-up on this blog for info on future events for HS158.

Library 2.013 Worldwide Virtual Conference

repost from SLIS Library 2.0 Website.

The dates are set for the Library 2.013 Worldwide Virtual Conference. The third annual global conversation about the future of libraries is scheduled for October 18-19, 2013. The conference will once again be held entirely online around the clock in multiple languages and time zones. Everyone is invited to participate in this FREE forum designed to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among information professionals worldwide.

To be kept informed of the latest conference news and updates, please 
join the Library 2.0 network. You do not need to join this network to attend, but doing so will also allow you to correspond with the presenters and other members, and to comment on sessions and discussions.

NEW for 2013! The Library 2.013 conference will feature two additional themed conference strands: 1) Doctoral Student Research and 2) Library and Information Center “Tours.” We encourage doctoral students to take advantage of this exciting opportunity to present their research and hone their online presentation skills. We also heard that many of you want to “see” libraries from around the globe. Presenters will take conference attendees on virtual tours of their libraries or information centers. We will post more information soon on the format of these tours.

Altogether, there will be eight conference strands covering a wide variety of timely topics, such as, MOOCs, e-books, maker spaces, mobile services, embedded librarians, green libraries, and more! Presenters may also submit presentations that cover LIS-related topics not included in the themed strands. The Library 2.013 Worldwide Virtual Conference is a great opportunity for professional development and networking. View the Conference Strands. (As a reminder, recordings of the Library 2.012 Worldwide Virtual Conference presentations are still available for viewing at your convenience.)

We are looking forward to the third year of this this momentous event, and to your participation!

Thank you,

Dr. Sandra Hirsh, Professor and Director
School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at San José State University
More Information: 
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/faculty/hirshs/hirshs.php

Steve Hargadon
Web 2.0 Labs
Email: steve@hargadon.com
Phone: 916-283-7901
More Information: 
http://www.stevehargadon.com and http://www.web20labs.com
MORE INFORMATION

  • The call for presentation proposals goes out early April.
  • The conference begins: October 18, 2013
  • International Advisory Board: Anyone can apply to be a member of the international advisory board. Advisory board members are recognized on the website and are asked to:
    • Promote both participation and attendance at the conference
    • Help us find additional partner organizations in their region(s)
    • Help support and potentially train presenters in their geographical region and local languages
    • If possible, help moderate sessions during the actual conference

    As a conference that is focused on being “inclusive,” our desire is to have international attendees see this as a truly world-wide and not a North-America-centric event, and to see themselves as full participants and presenters, not just the audience. To sign up for the advisory board, please make sure you have joined the Library 2.0 online network, and then join the advisory board group specifically at 
http://www.library20.com/group/advisoryboard2013.

  • Conference Partner Organizations:  Whether you are a small school library or a multi-national organization, we want to encourage you to become a conference partner. You must be non-commercial and primarily or substantively focused on libraries, librarians, librarianship, or library programs to be approved. Once approved, your organization will be listed with a link, logo, and a short description; and you will be provided with a “spotlight” speaker session in the conference.Our goal for the conference is to have it continue to be a milestone event, bringing together organizations and individuals from all over the world. We recognize that much (if not most!) of the outreach for this conference will come from libraries, schools, or organizations who advertise the conference to their memberships, and we want to recognize and “reward” those who do this!

    There are no financial obligations for being a partner organization–all we ask is that you actively promote the conference to your membership and network, and encourage participation as well as presentations and submissions. To apply to be a conference partner organization, please make sure you have joined the Library 2.0 online network, and then join the partner group specifically at 
http://www.library20.com/group/partners2013.

  • We’ll also be looking for volunteers and sponsors. Join the Library 2.0 network to receive updates, or contact Steve Hargadon (steve@hargadon.com) for more information.
  • The San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science is a founding partner of the annual Library 2.0 conference series. Follow SJSU SLIS on Pinterest, including the Library 2.013 board.

Find the original here.