About the Graduate Program

The Department of Health Science is housed within the College of Health and Human Services, the second largest of the University’s six colleges. The college has eleven departments (among which is Health Science), four programs, and four research centers including the CHER and Center for Latino Community Health.

The College of Health and Human Services occupies eleven buildings on the 322-acre campus of CSULB. The university comprises over 70 academic departments, research centers, and institutes, which are home to more than 1200 faculty who serve the 30,000-member student body of the campus. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges accredits the university.

The Department of Health Science—Master’s of Public Health Program has been accredited since 1983. The Graduate Program in Community Health Education last went through the accreditation process in 2015 and is currently undergoing the reaccreditation process. CEPH (PDF) is an independent agency recognized by the US Department of Education to accredit schools of public health and certain public health programs offered in settings other than schools of public health. These schools and programs prepare students for entry into careers in public health. The primary professional degree is the Master of Public Health (MPH) but other masters and doctoral degrees are offered as well.

The mission of the CSULB Health Science MPH Program is to provide the best graduate education and training in a multiethnic and urban environment to develop highly competent professionals and leaders in community health education and public health. The program strives to afford excellence in teaching, conduct research and provide service to local, regional, national, and international populations living within the surrounding communities while making a significant contribution towards increasing health equity for underserved populations.

Related to the missions of the University, College, and Department, the program espouses the following four values, which are announced to students upon admission and reinforced through course work, internship experiences, published materials and public statements. The values that guide the program represent the consensus of stakeholders, including faculty, students, and community members.

• Collaboration: Forming collaborative partnerships is imperative to effectively addressing public health issues. The value of networking to form and maintain collaborations is fostered through the program’s education and training activities that promote effective communication and teamwork. Through collaborative activities, among faculty, students, and community engagement, public health services will be improved.
• Equity: The program promotes and maintains an opportunity structure that fosters respect for others, treating all people as individuals, valuing each person’s points of view, and giving due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, and traditions of others. Welcoming ethnic, social, cultural, and socio-economic diversity among the students and faculty, and appreciating how diversity enriches public health work. The program focuses educational and research activities on achieving health equity through influencing health care quality and delivery, policy, prevention efforts, dissemination of health promotion information, and supporting individual self-empowerment to make sound health decisions.
• Excellence: Among the most important values for the department is the creation of an excellent educational experience and continuously assessing performance. The criterion of an excellent education is one that covers a full range of up-to-date competencies that are essential to the effective practice of public health education. High-quality instruction is provided by instructors who are well-qualified in their disciplines and who maintain currency in public health activities.
• Leadership: The program seeks to develop leadership skills for addressing crucial public health challenges. This value is demonstrated by the program’s faculty members, guest lecturers, and specific didactic content of the curriculum. Professional instruction in learning negotiation, team building, motivation and goal setting skills are also provided.

To fulfill its mission the department’s ongoing goal is to improve its instruction, research, and service plan. The MPH graduate program aims to:

• Achieve excellence in teaching and learning to bolster competency in the fields of health education and public health in a multiethnic and urban environment to develop diverse professionals and leaders.
• Foster research and intervention programs that tend to the health needs of underserved populations in our community.
• Engage in service activities across various sectors of public health practice, addressing the needs of the profession, university, and the community.
• Promote student success through competance-based instruction as well as opportunities for research and service that address the health of the community.

CSULB MPHS Foundational Competencies

1. Apply epidemiological methods to settings and situations in public health practice.  

2. Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context.  

3. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming, and software, as appropriate.  

4. Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy or practice.  

5. Compare the organization, structure, and function of health care, public health, and regulatory systems across national and international settings.  

6. Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and systemic levels.  

7. Assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities’ health.  

8. Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design, implementation, or critique of public health policies or programs.   

9. Design a population-based policy, program, project, or intervention.  

10. Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management.  

11. Select methods to evaluate public health programs.  

12. Discuss the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence.   

13. Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes.  

14. Advocate for political, social, or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations.  

15. Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity.  

16. Apply leadership and/or management principles to address a relevant issue.  

17. Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges.  

18. Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors.   

19. Communicate audience-appropriate (i.e., non-academic, non-peer audience) public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation.  

20. Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content.  

21. Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health.  

22. Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than standard narrative. 

MPH Concentration-Specific Competencies