A Bit of History

The Student Association for Public Health (SAPH) serves as the forum for interaction between students and MPH program faculty. This organization was formed as an online student organization in Summer 2007, with Pam Perrich (pbp2@students.uwf.edu), the student representative to the MPH Steering Committee, appointed as the Interim President by the MPH Director, Dr. George Stewart. The official constitution of SAPH was then ratified by UWF's Student Government Association in Fall 2007. The first online, recorded meetings for SAPH were in February and April of 2008. The first organized volunteer activity attended by SAPH members was Healthy Families, a collaboration of activities led by the Escambia County Health Department in downtown Pensacola in April 2008. SAPH participated in this event with the distribution of pedometers generously donated by McDonald's!

Students with a Mission!

To prepare and educate leaders in public health through service to the community. To serve as a platform for communicating with students and among students in the MPH Program at UWF, to create an atmosphere of camaraderie among students, and to provide students with an avenue for performing public service in the health care and public health communities.

Objectives

Improve Community Health - Grow Intellectually - Cultivate Compassion

As one example, SAPH encourages each of its members to volunteer for their local Medical Reserve Corps. Faculty advisors to SAPH are additionally members of the American Public Health Association, the Florida Public Health Association, and/or the Southern Health Association, and students are encouraged to participate in these or similar regional public health-affiliated professional organizations in their area.

Composition

All students accepted into the MPH program are automatically granted membership in this online organization. Current officers are:

• Tim Burkhart, President
• Kenari Guest, Vice President
• Trey Pierce, Treasurer
• Erica Holland, Secretary
• Amber Padilla, Public Relations

Resources and Meeting Schedule

Most meetings of SAPH will be conducted online and recorded, at the direction of the President, using a free web-conferencing tool available at UWF called Elluminate. A perpetual eMeeting Room is available for members to use year-round. All participants entering an eMeeting are granted full moderator privileges to participate as directed by the President. Recordings of previously held meetings will automatically be available to all interested parties as podcasts. If members experience any technical problems with the Elluminate software, please contact the Helpdesk at (850) 474-2075 or helpdesk@uwf.edu.

The Student Voice...loud and clear!

The President of SAPH or his/her appointed representative is an invited member of the MPH Steering Committee and the MPH Curriculum Committee. In addition, SAPH is charged with (1) nominating one additional student representative to the MPH Curriculum Committee and (2) nominating one additional student representative from within the US Armed Forces to the MPH Steering Committee. Students are encouraged to forward discussion points to the President and other students on these committees for consideration. Comments and suggestions can also be forwarded directly to the MPH Director, Dr. George L. Stewart, using phone, e-mail or FAX.