By: Mira Garin
The SPH Student Council recently hosted a 2-part professional development workshop series for graduate students with funding from the Student Success Fee. “Many students expressed an interest in wanting to have more networking opportunities while in the public health program,” Student Council President Sara Bageant recounted. In response to this interest, the Council developed a workshop series designed to provide a forum for students to both learn from and network with experienced professionals in the field of public health. The Career Development Workshop held on October 27 focused on helping students identify which career options may be best suited to their interests, while the Cultural Competency Workshop held on November 3 aimed to help students learn inclusive leadership skills for navigating the complexities of public health efforts as part of diverse teams working with diverse populations.
Through these workshops, students had the opportunity to interact with myriad guest speakers including Victoria Lessley, Lab Director of Alvarado Hospital; Valerie Leal, Community Health Promotion Specialist in the County of San Diego’s Office of Equitable Communities; as well as Conor Mclaughlin and Jessica Chang from SDSU’s Center for Inclusive Excellence. “The Q&A session[s at the end of each workshop] stood out as particularly effective, encouraging a valuable exchange of ideas and insights,” Sara recounted. “Moreover, the workshops received positive feedback from attendees, indicating a high level of satisfaction and achievement of learning outcomes.”
These workshops would not have been possible without the support of the Student Success Fee. “This support enables us to expand our initiatives, reach a broader audience, implement innovative solutions to address goals, [and] make our students’ academic experience that much more meaningful,” Sara explained. However, this is not the only way in which the Student Success Fee empowers students. “Beyond the financial aspect, it represents a vote of confidence in our objectives and the impact we strive to achieve.”
For more information on the Student Council, check out their website here. For more information on the Student Success Fee application process, check out the application timeline here.
