Dora Mills leads School of Community and Population Health to join Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
UNE’s School of Community and Population Health has signed on as a founding member of the newly formed Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH).
ASPPH connects public health schools and programs accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). Officially launched August 1, 2013, ASPPH is the successor to the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), which represented the 50 CEPH-accredited public health schools and eight associate members.
“Having Maine’s only accredited Master of Public Health (MPH) program and a wide array of public health research and training programs, we are excited to be on the ground floor of this new national association,” said Dora Anne Mills, MD, MPH, FAAP, the Founding Director of UNE’s School of Community and Population Health.
The move to bring schools and programs under one umbrella has been embraced by both CEPH-accredited schools and programs of public health. To date, more than one-third of the 101 CEPH-accredited public health programs have joined as founding members of ASPPH. ASPPH will continue to work to bring in all CEPH-accredited programs of public health.
CEPH is the independent agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the accrediting body for public health schools and programs. Accreditation is a rigorous peer-review process designed to assure quality education and training. The accreditation “seal of approval” means graduates are prepared to meet the demands of the 21st-century workforce.
Benefits of becoming an ASPPH member include one voice for accredited public health education, the centralized application service (SOPHAS), a strong representation on policy and advocacy, and data resources.