Kent State Offers Award-Winning MPH Courses

For the last several years, Kent State University’s College of Public Health has participated in Blackboard’s Exemplary Course Program (ECP), which recognizes and honors educators who are passionate about leveraging technology in education and working to improve best practices in their communities. Each year, the ECP identifies the faculty and course designers who have demonstrated notable excellence based on a specific set of characteristics, which are:¹

1. Course Design — the components of an online course, including its structure, learning objectives and instructional strategies

2. Interaction & Collaboration — how engaging the course is and how much student interaction and collaboration is involved

3. Assessment — how student work is evaluated as well as what type of student assessments are available in the course

4. Learner Support — the types of resources offered to students throughout the course

Most recently, assistant professor and online MPH program coordinator Bethany Lanese received the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Award for her course Foundations of Effective Public Health Leadership.² In this course, students explore the impact of leadership in public health, examining the qualities and values held by successful leaders in this field. Students also identify and analyze the practices of these leaders in order to gain a better understanding of what makes them effective. Lanese was also recognized by the Blackboard ECP in 2015 for her course
Health Care Systems.

Ken Slenkovich, assistant dean of the College of Public Health, was also honored with the Blackboard ECP Award in the 2015-16 academic year for his course Sex: A Wicked Public Health Problem.¹ This course focuses on sex-related health issues that affect mass quantities of people, such as teenage pregnancy, child and maternal mortality, the spread of infectious disease, and sexual violence. It also asks students to consider potential solutions to some of the world’s most severe public health issues relating to human sexuality. This is only a small representation of the exemplary educators within the Kent State College of Public Health. In addition to developing award-winning coursework, our faculty are also active researchers in their fields, dedicated to delivering a robust learning experience with the highest standard of education for each student.

Learn how you can enroll in one of our [online Master of Public Health]() program’s award-winning courses or hear about the program from a current student.