Meeting Minutes – November 12th

Goodman Community Center Food Drive!
A food drive collection box has been set up on the 7th floor of the WARF building. The food drive will benefit the Goodman Community Center. During this holiday season, the Goodman center needs more help than ever stocking their pantry. Please drop off non-perishable food items!

Mandatory Volunteering for MPH students?
The idea of mandatory volunteering for MPH students was brought up by our program leaders. We discussed the matter and decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea to implement at this time. Instead, maybe forming an end-of-the-year volunteering goal or some other method of volunteering that doesn’t require a set number of hours.

Fundraising Ideas
We would like to plan a spring semester MPH kick off — we could sell t-shirts, water bottles, etc. Any other ideas for MPHSO fundraising are welcome.

MPHSO Positions Still Available!
- Annual Public Health Project Director
- Student Interest Group Coordinator
If you are interested in either of these positions, please contact Erin or Matt!

MPH Public Health Project
Next project meeting:
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009. 7pm.  Memorial Union (Rathskeller).
The focus has been shifted from obesity to advocating a healthy lifestyle. Current plans include having a run/walk, then events in the HSLC such as healthy cooking demonstrations. Also planning to put together a healthy recipe book with student contributions.

Holiday Party
Mark December 4th on your calendars! We are planning the MPHSO holiday party! Ideas included having an ugly holiday sweater contest, a cookie exchange, going out downtown together, etc. Details coming soon!

Miscellaneous
- Our next meeting will be in February. We are skipping December/January due to the holidays and winter break.
- Everyone thought that the student Symposium was very well done — the Fluno center was a great venue and the talks were fantastic.
- Winter social events are in the works — maybe a ski/snowboarding trip?

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Last night was the MPHSO pumpkin carving contest! It was an ooey, gooey good time. Here are some photos from the evening:

(photos by Annie Elmer)

Update from Erin

First off, I would like to Congratulate Matt Rafn, who is now officially the new MPHSO Co-president! Matt and I will be working very hard this year to meet the needs of the students, so if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact both of us! Matt’s dedication to community service and social awareness makes him an ideal candidate for this position, especially this year, with our great Public Health Project already underway!

Speaking of the Public Health Project, we are looking for individuals who are willing to get involved! This spring, HOSA will be hosting Trot for Tots. MPHers, vet students, med students, the school of nursing, and HOSA will be working together to create an obesity awareness event for people (and their pets)–all proceeds will go to the American Family Children’s Hospital. Last year, the event consisted mainly of college students, but this year, our job will be to collaborate with community organizations and school districts to promote the event. We will also work on a social marketing campaign for obesity awareness and prevention. If you are interested, please contact me for more info.

I want to say thank you to Katherine Vaughn, who has done an outstanding job as co-president and really got this student organization off the ground! Your hard work has always been appreciated, and you will be greatly missed!! Katherine will still be helping out the MPHSO and hopefully joining us for social events :)

- Erin Gutowski

MPHSO Volunteer Opportunities!

Good morning all,

Just a quick note that there are TONS of volunteer opportunities available for MPHers looking to get involved in their communities.

A database has been compiled on google docs that you can search by area of interest. I encourage you to to contact any of these that seem interesting, even if you’re not sure about the time committment–many of these organizations are very willing and used to working with busy schedules and will do what they can to accommodate. They need your help!

Here’s the link

And a personal plug, I am co-chairing a fundraiser for Domestic Abuse Intervention Services. DAIS is Dane County’s only domestic abuse shelter and provides services to women and children trying to escape abusive home lives. We are looking for committee members to help with planning our second annual speed-dating fundraiser. If interested, please contact me, Renee Walk, at renee.a.walk@gmail.com.

Thanks!
Renee

Meeting Minutes – October 8, 2009

MPHSO Positions:
Emma Hynes: Treasurer-Finances
Mike Strerath: Treasurer-Fundraising
Annie Elmer: Historian/Secretary/Blog Director
Renee Walk: Volunteer Coordinator
Chitra Karki & Crystal Cayemberg: APHA Student Representatives
Kim Breidenbach: Steering Committee Representative
Meghan Johnson: Community Advisory Representative
Shaun Truelove: Social Chair
Dan Erhardt: Curriculum Advisory Committee Representative

MPHSO Positions STILL AVAILABLE!
Co-President
Annual Public Health Project Director
New position! Coordinate with the other professional programs & undergraduate organizations to facilitate our annual project.
Student Interest Group Coordinator
Contact students that share common interests, organize and steer interest group formation.
Peer Mentor Coordinator
Match incoming students with a peer mentor, usually done in the summer.

News from the Meeting
• Shaun Truelove (Social Chair) needs help from a 1st year! Contact him if interested in organizing some MPHSO social activities.
• Expectation of leadership positions: attend as many MPHSO meetings as possible (contact Erin ahead of time if you cannot attend), listen to student comments and suggestions, be considerate to other students, faculty, and outside organizations, represent the MPHSO in an appropriate manner
• The next Curriculum Committee meeting is in November. Our representative, Dan Erhardt, will be in attendance. Please contact him if you have any questions, issues, or concerns regarding classes, course changes, transfer credit. Comments from students will be addressed at the meeting and will be kept anonymous!

MPH Code of Conduct
A draft of the MPH Student Code of Conduct was distributed at the meeting. If you have any suggestions, comments, criticisms, or concerns, please contact Heather Cote. The final draft will be written next week!

Volunteering News
Please hand in applications for the Goodman Community Center Project by Monday, October 12th! Drop off your application in Erin’s mailbox in the WARF building.

Blog & Email
MPHSO Officers will have access to the Gmail account (uwmphso@gmail.com). Please send any questions, comments, or concerns that you may have – all emails will be kept confidiential!

All MPH students are welcome to post & comment on the MPHSO blog (http://uwmphso.wordpress.com). Annie will send out a document with the username/password information. We hope that the blog will serve as a centralized location for information, meeting info, event info, public health links, etc etc. We encourage all MPH students to post any articles, news items, or anything else related to public health.

MPH Annual Project
The MPHSO will partner with the other professional health-related schools (vet, nursing, med, etc) and the undergraduate HOSA to organize a run/walk. The Trot for Tots run/walk will occur in the springtime and will focus on obesity awareness. People and pets are welcome (the vet school is handling the issue of animal liability). Proceeds from the walk will go to the Children’s Hospital.

Our job:
- Creating partnerships with the other student organizations
- Getting the community involved
- Marketing to kids, schools, parents, etc.
- Social marketing campaign?

We need a committee to help organize the run/walk and to go to the HOSA & other professional meetings. If you are interested, please contact Erin Gutowski.

Meeting Dates & Rooms

Here’s the info for our next two MPHSO meetings!

Thursday, October 8th, 2009
12:15pm — 1269 HSLC
Pizza will be provided!

Thursday, November 12th, 2009
12:15pm — 1269 HSLC

News Update

If you did not get the email from Erin, here is what you missed!

The next MPHSO meeting:
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
12:15pm in the HSLC
(room TBA)
Pizza will be provided!!!

Documentary Night!
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 @ 7pm
Unnatural Causes (segments: In sickness and in wealth, when the bough breaks, and becoming American)
Location: The Clubhouse of Erin’s apartment complex. Contact her for the exact address if you did not receive the email about it.
Note: This is an MPH potluck! If you are going to bring something, please let Erin know ahead of time!

If interested, please hand in your Goodman Community Center volunteer applications to Erin NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 1st.

If you would like to participate in the Dean’s Cup (Medical Students vs. Law Students), please contact Erin and let her know! You can learn more about the competition here: http://www.uwmedstudents.com/deanscup/index.htm

And lastly, Erin will be having office hours on Mondays from 4-5:30pm – her “office” will be on the couches across from the Ebling Library entrance on the 2nd floor of the HSLC. If you have any issues, concerns, questions, comments, suggestions or just want to chat, stop by!!

Welcome to the MPHSO blog!

We hope that this blog will serve as a resource for links, MPH events, information, and news. It is still under construction and we hope it have it updated soon.

-Annie