Steering Committee Report – Kim
- Discussed the lack of cohesion between students within the program
- Professor Patz suggested the formation of a standing meeting for students and faculty (example: the first Friday of every month)
- Faculty cited a lack of knowledge about Trot4Tots as a reason for not being present or participating
- Can the MPHSO access the faculty listserve as a way to promote these events directly to the faculty? Or would direct student-to-faculty contact be more effective?

MPH Listening Section – Matt
- The lack of student participation in the MPHSO was brought up as a topic for discussion. Reasons for this include: not enough involvement from the beginning (need to be more present at student orientation), meeting location/times do not accommodate enough people, need a faculty leader to participate in the MPHSO and to give the group continual leadership

Thoughts on MPHSO Participation
- Emma suggested that we need to do in-class promotion of the MPHSO; ask faculty to allow for 2 minutes to speak before core classes to promote the organization and its activities
- Emma also stated that there may not be enough incentive for students to participate in the organization or that the organization is not viewed as a resource for information or change
- Norma-Jean suggested that the semester plan needs to begin over the summer, to create more cohesion and organization, though Erin noted that participation is difficult for most over the summer
- Bottom line: Need a faculty liaison, in-class promotion

Trot4Tots Recap
- Not as successful as we hoped. About 10-15 families showed up and 2 pets.
- Suggestions for next year include: making it a stand-alone MPH event and not pairing with HOSA; requiring that the 5K race end at the HSLC; creating a better and more regimented planning committee; begin community/business out reach sooner.

Volunteering
- Considering incorporating volunteering opportunities into the fall orientation for new students
- Set individual and program goals for volunteering each year
- Begin volunteering visioning over the summer – ask Barb to assist

Curriculum Committee Meeting – Dan
- Spring Symposium is on Friday, May 7^th – student attendance is strongly suggested
- MPH Graduation Reception is on Friday, May 14^th – the program will have 26 graduates this spring
- The program course electives list is currently being rearranged. A newly updated list will be available for the incoming class this fall.
- Talk surrounding a standard curve or grading procedure for the core MPH courses – there is disagreement over this issue and if/how it should be modified
- Class feedback mechanism would be helpful – for both students and faculty; maybe the creation of a message board or website for students to submit publicly viewable course feedback

Upcoming Social Events
- MPH Group Bike Rides! Saturday, May 15^th is the first opportunity – there is a bike ride that starts in Middleton that will benefit transplant patients. June 6^th is Ride the Drive and MPH student participation is encouraged! Katelyn Klein will send more information regarding these two events.

Events Planned:
Trivia night at Lucky’s – Wednesday evenings at 8pm. Join us on April 7^th for our first team competition – the MPH students need to give the engineering students a run for their money!

Bike around the capitol – Sunday, March 21^st, starting at 1pm. Details to follow. The bike will end with a gathering at the Essen Haus.

Other ideas for social events: 5K charity run/walk, camping trip, Brewers game

MPHSO Fundraising:
Why do we need to fundraise? Provide financial assistance for scholarships, social events, mission or charity trips/events, etc.

Ideas:
T-shirt/sweatshirt sale – maybe create new designs that incorporate clever public health sayings
Book buy back – incoming students can buy books from second years; Norma-Jean will investigate how LaFollette runs their book buy back sales
Car Wash – Matt proposed an MPHSO car washing event for Lot 60. Promote the event with fliers on a Thursday, have the car wash on a Friday. Volunteers needed!

MPH Public Health Project: Update from Erin Gutowski and the T4T planning committee:
Event Date: Sunday, April 11, 2010 9AM-5PM
Please plan on attending and showing your support! This is our only planned project this year.

We need volunteers for the following:
- Set up
- Help during the Family Fun Festival (rooms set up with wellness activities, active games, professional speakers, cooking demos, etc)
- Pet sitting (participants that bring their pets must leave their pet outside of the HSLC – we are pairing with students from the vet school to pet sit)
- Wrap up (distribute t-shirts and resources to participants)
- Clean up

Sponsors for the event:
- Whole Foods, Copps, Co-ops

Any other suggestions for sponsors or vendors?

If you can volunteer, please contact Erin Gutowski at emgutowski@wisc.edu

Please save the date for the upcoming 2010 Population Health Sciences Annual Poster Session. It will be held on Monday, March 22nd in the HSLC atrium. The poster session will be kicked off by the annual Philip M. Farrell Population Health Distinguished Alumni Lecture, given this year by Dr. Paul Peppard. There will also be a reception as well as a presentation of awards for posters.

More concrete schedules and details will follow, however the anticipated due date for abstracts will be two weeks prior to the event.

STUDENTS: The Annual Poster Session is organized each year by students in the department, and the Population Health Student Organization is currently looking for volunteers to help make this event a success. If you can spare some time please contact Megan Zuelsdorff (mlzuelsdATwiscDOTedu) or Kristin Litzelman (litzelmanATwiscDOTedu).

Everyone who can make it should also plan to bring at least one non-perishable food item for Second harvest. We will be voting on the ugliest sweater and the winner will receive a $10 Starbucks gift card! As always, family, friends, and significant others are welcome.

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?

(photos by Annie Elmer)

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

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