Changes to the CEPH Board of Councilors

Happy New Year! I wanted to let our stakeholders know about an exciting new development at CEPH in 2022. Late last year, CEPH’s corporate members, the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), agreed to modify CEPH’s Articles of Incorporation to allow for an expanded Board of Councilors. This year, the Council will grow its membership from 10 to 14!

When CEPH was founded in 1974, it accredited only 10 schools of public health and had eight Council members – three representing the schools of public health and appointed by ASPPH (formerly ASPH), three representing the practice community and appointed by APHA, and two representing the general public and appointed jointly by APHA and ASPPH. At that time, the Articles allowed for two additional unspecified members and, when CEPH began to accredit public health programs outside schools of public health, those positions were filled with two representatives from public health programs, jointly appointed by APHA and ASPPH. This 10-member structure remained until 2021, even as CEPH has grown to accredit 227 schools and programs with three degree levels and hundreds of concentrations.

In 2021, CEPH worked with APHA and ASPPH to revise its Articles of Incorporation to accommodate a new board structure intended to be more representative of the current array of accredited schools and programs, including undergraduate programs, as well as to allow the CEPH board itself to determine its needs and make independent appointments. Below, I have outlined the new CEPH board composition. Over the next few weeks in Happenings, we are excited to introduce our new members to you!

Appointed by APHA:

• Four public health practitioners – at least one appointee from governmental public health and at least one appointee from non-governmental public health

Appointed by ASPPH:

• Four public health educators – at least one appointee from the faculty or administration of an ASPPH member school of public health (SPH) and at least one from an ASPPH member public health program (PHP)

Appointed by CEPH:

• One appointee from a public health program (PHP)
• One appointee from a standalone baccalaureate program (SBP)
• Two at-large members - At-large positions are not intended to represent an SPH or PHP, although they may be educators from a school or program contributing specific areas of expertise or representation.

Jointly appointed by APHA and ASPPH:

• Two public members – these individuals must be public health consumers not affiliated with public health educational programs or the practice of public health

Written by: Laura Rasar King, EdD, MPH, MCHES