Engaged Faculty Fellowship Program
Gen Meredith
Public health improvement happens best when those affected actually have the knowledge and the power to make the changes they need.
About the Fellow
- Lecturer, Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences and Master of Public Health program, College of Veterinary Medicine
- Gen Meredith’s faculty profile
Cohort Years
- 2018-19, Faculty Fellow in Engaged Scholarship
- 2017-18, Faculty Fellow
Topics
Access, Equity and Justice; Education; Health, Nutrition and Medicine
2018-19 Project
The new Public Health 3.0 framework focuses on addressing the social determinants of health and the significant health inequities linked to race, ethnicity, gender and class. It requires a workforce capable of meeting the needs of socially-diverse populations, working with community coalitions and cross-sector partnerships, and gauging the effectiveness of local initiatives. Gen Meredith is evaluating if community-engaged learning within Cornell’s Master of Public Health program meets the new demands for workforce training under Public Health 3.0. Her case study assesses if the course is providing value to the community, by providing additional capacity to accomplish their mission, and to the students, by accelerating the development of professional competence.
2017-18 Project
Meredith’s job is to be a focal point for the overall integrated design and delivery of a new competency-driven professional public health curriculum on campus. She is responsible for bringing together faculty from across campus and community partners to facilitate students’ transdisciplinary learning. She is also responsible for teaching several courses that use engaged-learning theory. Her project focuses on assessing the overall value of and outcomes from the Master of Public Health (MPH) program.
The MPH program is designed to have students learn from the community in the classroom, and to then shift the classroom to the community where students spend a substantial amount of time working with and learning from community partners. If done right, this will be the students’ seminal learning experience.
In Her Own Words
“In addition to developing a stronger peer network on campus, I hope to gain four things through involvement with this cohort of faculty interested in engaged learning and research:
- A better understanding of how to use critical reflection to measure student growth and achievement of learning outcomes.
- Guidance on how to research what we are doing
- Tools for my action research toolbox
- Dialogue around how to keep community partners engaged in these projects for the long term”
OEI Grants
Academic Venture Fund Supplemental Grant: Opening the Door to Nature-Based Engagement
Engaged Opportunity Grant: Community Development and Empowerment Through Evaluation
Engaged Curriculum Grant: Food Systems Approaches to Food Safety
Engaged Curriculum Grant: Food Systems for Global Health
In the News
SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
Master of Public Health Program plans local nutrition, disease prevention projects
– One Health @ Cornell website
Engaged Faculty Fellowship Program
A yearlong cohort program in which faculty dive deep into the theory and practice of community-engaged learning and scholarship; meet monthly to discuss readings, and share projects and workshop challenges