MPH Public Health, Program Information

Program Faculty

Program Director

Anita Hawkins, PhD

Associate Professor

Department Chair

Randolph Rowel, PhD

Associate Professor

Student Affairs Coordinator

Carol-Ann Hendricks

Graduate Student Affairs Coordinator

Portage Building, Room 302C

Tel: (443)885-4014; Fax: (443)885-8309

E-Mail: Carolann.Hendricks@morgan.edu

Program Faculty

Sharon Barrett, DrPH 

Assistant Professor

Yvonne L. Bronner, ScD

Professor

Lawrence Brown, PhD

Associate Professor

Maurice Davis, PhD

Lecturer

Kimberly Coleman, PhD

Assistant Professor

Lorece Edwards, DrPH

Associate Professor

Mian Bazle Hossain, PhD

Professor

Ian Lindong, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor

Anne Marie O’Keefe, PhD, JD

Associate Professor

Kesha Baptiste-Roberts, PhD

Assistant Professor

Randolph Rowel, PhD

Associate Professor

Alexander Wooten, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program Description

The Master of Public Health degree program is designed to prepare students to be public health professionals who draw on knowledge and skills from a variety of disciplines to define, critically assess, and resolve urban public health problems.  Morgan State University Public Health graduates will have a foundation in public health that enables them to be advocates, researchers, practitioners, and policy developers relative to urban public health problems. 

Program Objectives

Incoming MPH students must complete a curriculum designed to provide baseline level knowledge of the five domains of public health and additional foundational courses. Combined, these courses cover areas of environmental health, quantitative analytic methods, health planning, policy and administration, a social and health behavioral sciences. In addition to the foundational courses, MPH students must undertake a practicum, which is comprised of three levels.

General Requirements

Candidates for the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree must complete a minimum of forty-eight (48) academic credit hours, complete a public health practicum for seven (7) credit hours, and pass the core competency examination upon completion of all core courses.

Demonstration of the required competency in core courses requires that any grades of C in core courses must be retaken. A student therefore must retake any core course in which a grade of C has been earned, even if the student has not accumulated 20% of the curriculum in C grades.

Admission

To be eligible for admission to the MPH Program, an applicant must: 

• Have earned a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university. 

• Possess a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better on previous baccalaureate degree course work.

• Submit an application for admission to the School of Graduate Studies.  All required documents must be submitted as directed by the School of Graduate Studies prior to program review and admission decision.  

• Provide official transcripts of all post-secondary studies and documentation of previous academic achievement, and professional accomplishments. 

• Provide test scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).  Test scores may not be more than 5 years old prior to the date of application.  These scores must be delivered by ETS to the Morgan State University School of Graduate Studies.

• Use the application system to arrange for three letters of recommendation to be placed with the application.  These letters must be from practicing public health professionals or faculty members of institutions previously attended who are acquainted with the applicant’s ability for graduate study or from employment supervisors where applicable. 

• Submit a professional updated resume.

• Submit a typed 1-2 page exposition describing work/educational experience, area of interest, career objectives, personal academic and professional plans, and the reasons for selecting Morgan State University. 

• Have at least one (1) year of work-related experience in public health/ allied health field is preferred. 

• Complete an interview with the program Admissions Committee.

Meeting the minimum eligibility requirements and submitting all the required documents does not guarantee that an offer of admission will be made to the applicant.  The decision of the Program Admissions Committee involves a review and analysis of all the elements of the application as well as the availability of positions in the program.  The committee then recommends to the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies that an offer admission should be made based on that review.

Candidacy

Students achieve candidacy by successfully passing the comprehensive examination and completing the required degree practicum.

Applying Previously Earned Credits

Credits can be accepted towards the minimum degree credit requirement.  These credits cannot have been used towards a previous degree. This evaluation takes place after admission into the Program. The five domain course courses must be taken at Morgan except where permission from the Department and the School of Graduate Studies is granted. 

Public Health Practicum

Seven (7) credit hours of public health practicum are required of all MPH students. The internship provides the student an opportunity to engage in community practice experiences by working with ongoing community projects. Depending on the student’s interest, the practice experience may be completed in governmental or non-governmental health agencies, health institutes, or academic units and programs of public health.

Core Competency Examination

All MPH students are required to sit for the programmatic comprehensive examination. Specific policies and procedures for the exam are provided upon application to sit for the exam.

Additional Requirements

Academic Dishonesty

All students are responsible for upholding the provisions of the Policy on Academic Dishonesty, as published in the School of Graduate Studies Graduate Catalog.  This policy assures that all students are treated fairly by prohibiting plagiarism and cheating, misrepresentation/ falsification of academic work, abuse of academic materials, disrespectful or reckless behavior towards faculty and other students, stealing, and lying.  The School utilizes the online Canvas Turnitin platform to evaluate students’ original work.  Incidents of alleged academic misconduct will be handled through the established procedures of the University, which include an initial review within the Public Health Program by an Ad Hoc Committee comprised of faculty, current student and alumni with recommendation for action to the Dean of the SCHP. Consequences of any such misconduct may result in a grade adjustment and reprimand letter, or a formal hearing procedure, which may subject a student to disciplinary probation, suspension, or expulsion from the University.

Appeals

Appeals concerning academic progress such as academic dismissal must be addressed in writing to the Chairperson of the department of the degree program who, in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator, who will review the appeal and prepare a report and written recommendation for review by the College/School Dean. The College/School Dean shall submit a written recommendation along with the report and recommendation of the Chairperson to the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies who shall make the final decision regarding a student’s appeal.

Program Course Requirements

MPH Public Health (48 credit hours):

• 15 credit hours of Core Courses 

PUBH 500: Epidemiology I 3

PUBH 501: Statistical Methods in Public Health I 3

PUBH 502: Social and Behavioral Science for Public Health 3

PUBH 503: Policy and Health Services Planning and Management 3

PUBH 506: Environmental Health Sciences 3

• 17 credit hours of Foundational Courses 

PUBH 504: Public Health and Health Disparities 3

PUBH 520: Applying Systems Thinking to Health 2

PUBH 602: Planning, Implementing and Evaluating Community 

Health Interventions 3

PUBH 604: Research Methods I 3

PUBH 623: Public Health Community Needs Solutions 3

PUBH 711: Public Health Principles of Social Marketing 3

• 7 credit hours of Practicum Courses 

PUBH 517: Professionalism and Public Health Practice 1

PUBH 518: MPH Service Learning Practicum 3

PUBH 786: MPH Capstone: Integrating Experience 3

• 9 credit hours of Elective Courses (Students are also able to select courses outside of the department if approved by advisor.)

PUBH 617: Application of Statistical Packages in Public Health 3

PUBH 630: Field Epidemiology 3

PUBH 710: Preventive Health Behavior 3

PUBH 714: Special Studies 3

PUBH 715: Research Seminar & PH Practice 3

PUBH 718: Maternal, Child, and Family Health Epidemiology 3

PUBH 720: Qualitative Research in Public Health 3

Suggested Curriculum Sequence