d THE SELF-STUDY DOCUMENT SHOULD INCLUDE A DESCRIPTION OF SCHOOL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES REGARDING THE CAPSTONE

EXPERIENCE.

In academic year 2014/15, Professors William Satariano and Lisa Barcellos were selected to participate in the Presidential Chair Fellows program, sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning at UC Berkeley, as a result of an application they submitted centered on the

development of an innovative capstone course for the undergraduate program. The review committee was particularly excited about the proposed innovative twist on the idea of a capstone course which centers on community partnerships and mixed-media engagement.

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Capstone Course – Description: The main objective for the capstone course is to provide fourth-year students a common, integrated foundation in public health, while also enabling them to explore, as a member of a team, a specific project of public health significance.

The planned course format requires all capstone students to complete a common set of readings and discussion to develop an integrated view of the field. This may include a focus on a key health condition, e.g., asthma or breast cancer, from the perspectives of each of the core areas, e.g., epidemiology, environmental health, health services, and community health. Another possible project might be to address a specific public health policy and then to identify and evaluate the scientific evidence, e.g., from epidemiology or the social and behavioral sciences, to support that policy.

In addition to studying a common topic, whether a specific health condition or health policy, students will serve as a team member in collaboration with community partners. Following from previous experience in Public Health 150E, supported through the American Cultures Engaged Scholarship (ACES) program, a team of four to five students will collaborate with community partners on a project. The projects will address a key area of interest for the community partners and will have educational merit for the students. Ongoing collaborations are in place with a number of Bay Area organizations, including Asian Health Services, Alameda Health

Department, Building Blocks for Kids, Contra Costa Health Department, Coordinating Agencies Responding to Disasters (CARD), and LifeLong Medical. Past projects have included the

preparation of grant applications, preventive health videos for Vietnamese residents, organization and administration of focus groups with community residents on family health issues, and

preparation of health education pamphlets. In the completion of these projects, students may play a variety of roles, from conducting archival research and statistical analysis to interviewing program participants. A student need not work on site at the community organization to take part in a project.

Timeline:

 2014-2015: The Planning Group convened; a Day-Long Retreat was held; a pilot Capstone Course was prepared and listed as an experimental PH 198 course.

 Spring 2016: the pilot Capstone Course will be administered with both Midterm and Final evaluations; a final report and recommendations will be prepared for a regular course in Spring 2017. Approximately 30 students will be enrolled in the class.

 Summer 2016: Preparation of regular Capstone course for Spring 2017.

 Spring 2017: the Fall 2015 cohort of undergraduate students in the School of Public Health Bachelor of Arts degree program will be required to complete the Capstone course for graduation.

The planning group consists of Professors Satariano and Barcellos, instructors from PH 150B and D, one additional faculty member plus two undergraduate students from the Undergraduate Management Committee, and three community and health-care partners. Community members will be recruited from among several community-based and health-care organizations, including

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Asian Health Services, Alameda County Health Department, Building Blocks for Kids, Contra Costa Health Department, Coordinating Agency Responding to Disasters, and LifeLong

Medical. In addition, a GSR will work closely with Professors Satariano and Barcellos as part of the overall planning, direction, administration, and evaluation of the project.

The working group will identify and review some of the challenging issues and questions associated with the establishment of this course. For example, it is estimated that approximately 100 fourth-year students will be eligible for the capstone course each spring. This could

necessitate as many as three to four sections of the capstone course each year. Staffing and coordination must be considered.

The working group also will organize a Capstone Planning Retreat in the fall. Approximately 40 family, students, and outside community health colleagues will be invited to take part in a retreat to consider challenging issues as well as a proposed outline and curriculum for the proposed capstone course. The working group will review the conclusions and

recommendations as part of the planning for the pilot capstone course in the spring.

The overall rationale of the capstone program is to enrich the core curriculum for the

Undergraduate Major in Public Health. The course is based on the proposition that undergraduate education in public health should be integrative, interactive, and engaged in the community.

Capstone courses represent a common requirement in many undergraduate programs. While a capstone course illustrates important points of convergence and application in a core curriculum, a course of this kind is not typically viewed as being especially innovative. The public health capstone is innovative in the following ways:

1. First, the planned course will actively involve community members in the design, administration, and evaluation of the course. The course will ensure that all

undergraduate students will have the opportunity to collaborate with community partners and take part in the evolution of the capstone curriculum.

2. Second, the course will address integrated public health content.

3. Third, students will have the opportunity to learn more about alternative means for presentation of material.

2.9e ASSESSMENT OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH THIS CRITERION IS MET AND AN ANALYSIS OF THE SCHOOL’S STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES AND PLANS RELATING TO THIS CRITERION.

This criterion is met.

Strengths: This outstanding Undergraduate Public Health Program was reintroduced at UC Berkeley in 2004. The number of students in the major has more than tripled since, with the demand exceeding the enrollment capacity yearly. The undergraduate program is well-supported with dedicated advisors readily available for helping students with course planning, advising, and assistance to ensure their success. The undergraduates have a menu of opportunities for research and internships with the long-term aim of increasing the number of talented students who pursue graduate degrees and careers in this field. Students in the Bachelor of Arts degree are required to be familiar with key concepts, methods, and basic findings from five core areas of public health:

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epidemiology, biostatistics, health policy and management, environmental health, and community health and human development. Students in the Fall 2015 cohort are required to complete core courses in each of these areas and are required to take a capstone course.

Challenges: As the demand for this popular undergraduate major continues to increase, the challenge for the School will be to closely monitor and plan for managing the program. The undergraduate working group is working to identify and review the challenging issues and questions associated with the establishment of the capstone course. It is estimated that approximately one hundred 4^th-year undergraduate students will be eligible for the capstone course each spring. This could necessitate as many as three to four sections of the capstone course each year. Staffing and coordination must be considered.

Plans: Two major changes for the undergraduate program have just been institutionalized: 1) the requirement that all students take core courses in the five core areas of public health, and 2) the requirement of a capstone course in spring of the student’s 4^th year. The School will continue to monitor the demand for this undergraduate degree, ensuring the program has adequate faculty and staff to fulfil its mission. Determining if the program can continue to grow will be a future decision.

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2.10 OTHER BACHELOR DEGREES. IF THE SCHOOL OFFERS BACCALAUREATE