Nov. 23, 2004

Contact: Bev Vogel, KU Public Management Center, (785) 296-2353.

KU to award certificates to 25 graduates of Kansas Public Health program

LAWRENCE -- Joe Harkins, director of the Governor's Natural Resources Policy Office, will speak to the graduates of the fourth class of the Kansas Public Health Certificate Program at 1 p.m. Dec. 15 at the Old Supreme Court chambers in the state Capitol in Topeka.

The Public Health Certificate Program is sponsored by the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments, KDHE and the University of Kansas Public Management Center in Topeka, a unit of KU Continuing Education. The Kansas Health Foundation provides scholarships to many of the students.

Students, most of whom work in either local health departments or for KDHE, have attended two days of classes each month beginning in January 2004. Subjects included public health fundamentals, special topics in population health, special topics in environmental health, and leadership and community development.

" We are proud of the commitment our students make to this program," said Marvin Stottlemire, co-director of the program. "All of these folks have full-time jobs, and their commitment to excellence in public health will benefit all Kansans."

More than 75 public health professionals have graduated from the program, which began in 2001. Some of the graduates go on to seek master's degrees in public health. The faculty consists of academics from KU, Kansas State University and the KU School of Medicine, and working public health professionals from local health departments and KDHE.

Graduates and their hometowns, professional titles, agencies and agency locations are listed below.