Established in 2003, the Public Health Program at Florida State University is the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy’s newest interdisciplinary program. Under the leadership of Professor Emeritus of Political Science William Weissert, Ph.D., the program’s first director, the program had its first Master of Public Health (MPH) graduates matriculate in 2004.
The Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree program was more recently established in 2019. In February 2024, the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accredited our Bachelor of Public Health (BSPH) program, joining our MPH program.
Current Director Amy Burdette, Ph.D., began her term in 2021, having formerly served as director of the Bachelor of Science in Public Health program since its inception in 2018. Dr. Burdette earned her doctorate in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. Going into the 2024-2025 academic year, Alan Rowan, DrPh, will assume the role of director. Dr. Rowan has a doctorate in environmental epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Although more recent, the Public Health Program is composed of knowledgeable and expert faculty in their chosen fields and provides students with foundational skills and expertise for success in their future careers. The Public Health Program is currently the fastest-growing program at Florida State University. It is also accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health, which gives students the opportunity to sit for the Certified in Public Health exam.
With a placement rate of approximately 98 percent in jobs or post-secondary institutions such as medical schools, physician assistant programs, law schools, dental schools and more, FSU’s Public Health Program takes immense pride in the accomplishments of its 1,240 graduates.
Undergraduate Program and Combined Pathways
The Bachelor’s in Public Health program is the newest undergraduate program within the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. Students in the program must take 33 credit hours of coursework, which includes 21 hours of core credits and 12 hours of elective credits.
The undergraduate program educates and prepares students in the policy, practice, and methods of public health; provides students with the core skills needed for entry-level positions in public health; and equips them to pursue graduate degrees in the field. Students receive training in each of the fundamental areas of public health: epidemiology, environmental health sciences, health policy and management, social and behavioral sciences, and biostatistics.
The department also offers a Combined Bachelor’s and Master’s Pathway Program, which allows advanced and high-performing undergraduate students to take courses for graduate credit while pursuing their bachelor’s degree. Students accepted into the program may take up to 12 credit hours of graduate courses in public health. These credits will count toward completing their bachelor’s degree and the Master of Public Health (MPH) upon admission to the MPH program. Currently, there are five students enrolled in the Combined Pathways program.
Our programs have continued to experience remarkable growth in student enrollment, demonstrating our offerings’ increasing popularity and value. In the 2019-2020 academic year, we had 210 undergraduate students and 65 graduate students. In the 2022-2023 academic year, we saw sustained growth with 713 undergraduate students and a consistent enrollment of 89 graduate students. In 2023-2024, we saw continued growth with 858 undergraduate and 91 graduate students.
As of the 2023-2024 academic year, 949 FSU students are enrolled in programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Graduate Program and Joint Degrees
The Public Health program offers a Master of Public Health (MPH), as well as a joint degree option. Students take 43 credit hours of coursework and must complete a 200-hour internship as part of the MPH program.
Students in the program can pursue a concentration in health policy, where they learn a transferable skill set to analyze and affect policy, reduce health inequities in the U.S. and abroad, and improve the health of communities. They are also trained to analyze data, influence public policy, study and monitor threats to public health, and conduct health research.
The program also offers an opportunity to earn a joint master’s degree with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Students earn both their MPH and Master of Science in Planning (MSP) degrees by completing 66 credit hours of coursework and a mandatory 10-week, full-time (or 400-hour) internship in a planning or public health-related agency or organization. The four years it would take to earn these degrees if pursued separately is reduced to three years through the cross-counting of selected courses. In addition, some courses overlap, reducing total credit requirements. Five students have graduated with a joint MPH and MSP, with one student currently enrolled in the program.
Research and Affiliated Centers and Institutes
As members of the academic community, the Public Health Program faculty and students are actively engaged in applied professional projects and scholarly research locally in Florida and beyond. The research produced by the program contributes to a better understanding of public health policy and outcomes both domestically and internationally.
The interdisciplinary program draws from faculty expertise from the Reubin O’D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy and the Departments of Economics, Sociology, Urban and Regional Planning, and Geography.
The department’s faculty participate in various centers and institutes at FSU to enhance interdisciplinary research and engage in community outreach.
FSU’s Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, founded in 1977, is a multidisciplinary research institute dedicated to initiating research, educating students, and engaging in outreach activities that address the opportunities and challenges of an aging population. The institute also sponsors the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, which encourages elders to return to campus to continue to learn while participating in university research projects and intergenerational education.
The Center for Demography and Population Health (CDPH), established in 1967, supports evidence-based public policy through interdisciplinary research on demographic processes and population health, trains master’s students seeking careers as applied demographers, and mentors doctoral students in social demography, population economics, social epidemiology, and environment and health. The center brings together researchers from the Departments of Sociology, Economics, Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, History, and Statistics, as well as the College of Medicine.
Distinguished Faculty
In the 2023-2024 academic year, the Public Health Program had 14 exceptional faculty from various disciplines contribute to teaching and research.
Arnold L. and Priscilla Moss Greenfield Eminent Scholar Chair in Public Debt Management Keon-Hyung Lee, Ph.D., was named the director of FSU’s Reubin O’D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy. Dr. Lee specializes in health policy, performance management, and health finance. He has taught master’s and doctoral courses in public administration and public health at FSU since 2007.
This year, Assistant Teaching Professor, Director of Community Outreach, and Accreditation Coordinator Deanna Barath, Ph.D., MPH, received an award for service from the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy.
Chris Uejio, Ph.D., was promoted to professor this year. Dr. Uejio has been at FSU since 2012 and serves in various capacities with the Public Health program, the Department of Geography, and the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine. This year he led a NASA study examining risks for extreme heat illness.
Patricia Homan, Ph.D., won FSU’s 2023-2024 Developing Scholar Award (DSA). The DSA program recognizes successful FSU faculty who are several years into their careers and is intended to help identify and honor FSU’s future academic leaders. Dr. Homan is an associate professor of sociology, public health program director of research and strategic initiatives, faculty associate of the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, and a research associate for the Center for Demography and Population Health.
For more information about the program’s current programs and activities, visit coss.fsu.edu/publichealth. For more information about our college’s history as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary, visit coss.fsu.edu/50th.