Message from the Dean

Public health touches everyone and everything. The COVID-19 pandemic we have experienced is making that abundantly clear as it has impacted the ways we live, learn, work and engage. It has also amplified existing inequities that exist in our systems and communities.

What we do now, matters. Our strategic plan guides SPH with choices that we will have to make for resource allocation. It articulates our values, serves as a tool for attracting funding and other forms of support, expresses our identity and helps us recruit and retain faculty, staff, and students. 

Our plan is the result of broad consultation, identifying common ground which has created a stronger sense of shared purpose. We have made our commitments transparent and the plan will ensure that those priorities have staying power beyond a few short years.

The complexity of our work requires thoughtful consideration. It is not a strategy unless we allocate resources to it and we move forward together with active engagement from our entire school community. Together we create our flourishing future.

Sincerely,

Shanthi Johnson, PhD, RD, FDC, FACSM, FGSA
Professor and Dean, School of Public Health
University of Alberta