|
Taking the reins as dean of the Arnold School of Public Health, Donna Richter sees myriad opportunities in education, service, and research for the school, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this fall.
Richter had been interim dean of the school since Harris Pastides was named vice president for research and health sciences. Her appointment to the deanship earlier this month is the latest in a series of joint administrative/faculty positions Richter has held at USC since 1974.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and psychology and a master’s degree in Spanish, both from Duke University, Richter was an assistant provost and foreign language instructor at USC from 1974 to 1980, serving under then-provost Keith Davis.
“The early experience of seeing from a central vantage point how a university works has given me a very different perspective, which has been quite valuable throughout my career at USC,” she said.
While earning an Ed.D. from USC, Richter was associate dean for graduate and continuing studies at the College of Charleston for three years before returning to USC in 1983. Since then, she has been assistant dean of the Arnold School; associate dean for public health practice; and chair of the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior where she also is a tenured professor.
What’s on the immediate horizon for the Arnold School?
I think the Arnold School is about to jump to a significantly higher level in both the number and types of research grants that we compete for.
Since 2001, extramural funding to the Arnold School of Public Health has increased by 39 percent from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; by 98 percent from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and by 314 percent from the National Institutes of Health.
Last year, the Arnold School was No. 3 among all USC academic units with $20.1 million in extramural funding, and if you look at our funding per FTE faculty, we would rank No. 1.
It’s important to note, too, that our education and research enterprises work closely together. We’ve been very good at tying research into our educational mission, and that has opened incredible opportunities for our students.
Public health is very much an applied discipline, and our practice areas have benefited by our proximity to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. We’ve been working hard on that collaboration and want it to become natural for our entire faculty—both newly appointed and those who have been here for years—to consider collaborating with DHEC personnel. Our new S.C. Public Health Consortium will invite other disciplines on campus to participate in collaborative research projects and draw participation from other state agencies.
On another note, we’re planning to celebrate the Arnold School’s 30th anniversary in October. It will be tied to the annual Vernberg Lecture, and we’re looking forward to seeing many alumni, friends, and supporters of the school this fall.
Public health’s new building on Assembly Street is scheduled for completion this fall, too, right?
Yes, the entities of the school currently are in 15 locations on and off campus, and being spread out doesn’t help us. When we make the move to the new building, it will allow us to consolidate ourselves on campus with better labs and vastly improved classroom space. We’ll have several smart classrooms with new teaching technology, which our faculty are anxious to have readily available.
How will the new faculty recruiting plans affect the Arnold School?
Public health has the advantage of being a multidisciplinary school with diverse academic disciplines. We are positioned nicely to collaborate with a number of other colleges and schools on campus. For instance, we are working with the School of Journalism and Mass Communications and the College of Arts and Sciences in a cluster appointment that focuses on health communications. Journalism will recruit a faculty member who will teach health risk communications; our Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior will recruit someone in health communication and health literacy, and the philosophy department will appoint a new faculty member in health communications ethics.
We’re so pleased with the support public health already has received, especially from Norman Arnold whose $10 million gift will fund scholarships, fellowships, and possibly faculty chairs that we weren’t able to provide before.
3/05
|
