| 06/28/2024 |
Martina Lynch submits proposal to add concentration to PhD Public Health, JS confirms receipt: Dear Team, Attached please find a proposal to add a new concentration to our existing PhD degree program. Please see the attached new course syllabus and the necessary NYSED forms for submission. Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything else from me before sending to NYSED for approval. |
| 07/03/2024 |
Assigned to CK, CK notifies Martina: Hi Martina, I hope you're having a good week. I'm reaching out to let you know that this proposal has been assigned to me. I'll reach out if I have any questions as I review the proposal. Please note that I'll be out of office for the next two weeks so if you have any urgent questions, please email OAPRA@nyu.edu. |
| 07/25/2024 |
CK pings Martina for missing proposal items: Hi Martina, I hope you are doing well. It looks like there are some required items missing from your proposal submission. Can you please complete the Non-New York State Authorization Form and the Curricular Requirements form (attached) so we can complete our proposal review? Could you also please let us know the desired launch date for the new concentration? Please let me know if you have any questions. |
| 08/28/2024 |
Martina responds to CK 7/3 message seeking guidance on next steps: Hi Carina, Apologies for not getting back to you on this. I encountered some questions when completing the curriculum requirements form and I'm reaching out for advice on how to move forward. We have some changes to the other concentrations in the PhD program that we would like to submit... Nothing major, but I think it might be worth submitting them altogether with the Global Environmental Health submission. What do you think? Would it be more efficient that way? We currently have 4 concentrations in the PhD degree program and the GEH submission would make number five. Will submitting a request for a new concentration and changes to 4 others confuse things? And would I use the same NYSED 'Change' form for everything? Thanks so much for your help. Hoping to hear from you soon. Best, Martina |
| 08/28/2024 |
CK provides guidance on next steps for new concentration proposal + potential other changes to existing concentrations: Hi Martina, Thank you for following up on this proposal. If you're planning changes to the existing concentrations in the PhD, it does sound like submitting the new concentration and changes to existing concentrations together in one proposal would be ideal (especially if adding the new concentration influenced the changes to the existing concentrations). However, if you have any urgency around the new concentration and don't want to delay that proposal, it would be fine to keep the proposals separate, with the understanding that doctoral level programs tend to take a bit longer to review at NYSED and they review in the order received, so depending on NYSED's review pipeline and when we submit the second proposal, there could be a fair amount of time between when the first proposal for the new concentration and the second proposal for the existing concentration changes are approved. For the forms - yes, you would use the same change form for all of the proposed curricular changes (adding new concentration and changing existing concentrations). Make sure to include syllabi and faculty name, qualifications, and experience for any new courses being added. Let me know if you have any other questions on this. Warmly, Carina |
| 08/30/2024 |
Martina confirms next steps & seeks guidance re: the graduate course curriculum form: Hi Carina, Thanks so much for your thoughtful note. I've decided to move forward with this submission simply because we have a new Chair in the Department of Global and Environmental Health who mentioned today that he was anxious to move along with this proposal. To that end, my apologies for sending this at the 11th hour before a long weekend but needless to say, please don't look at it until next week. Interestingly, I struggled to complete the graduate course curriculum form. I wasn't sure where to put or describe the research/dissertation credits and wanted to make sure that I got the total number of credits correct? Here's the link to the google doc and perhaps you can take a look here. I completed the NYState Authorization Form. We hope to offer this new program for Fall 2025, which is why we are pushing for approval before the end of this year. That said, we completely understand that we are not allowed to advertise it until we receive NYSED approval. Thanks so much for all your help and patience. Have a fantastic long weekend! Take care, Martina |
| 09/12/2024 |
CK completes initial proposal review, pings TW in Asana; notes discrepancies between curriculum in proposal, Bulletin, and last registered curriculum. |
| 09/24/2024 |
TW advises confirming accurate curriculum with GPH. |
| 10/02/2024 |
TW provides guidance to GPH re: implementing PhD changes prior to approval. Good afternoon Martina, We are in the process of reviewing your NYSED proposal materials for the addition of a concentration to the PhD Public Health program. In reviewing the documents, we noticed a discrepancy between the most recently NYSED registered curriculum (December 2019) and the current 2024-2025 PhD Bulletin page. It is crucial that NYU seeks approval from NYSED before implementing changes to doctoral programs to ensure compliance with NYSED regulations, and to protect the interests of our students. Making changes to a doctoral program without NYSED approval puts the University at great risk for lawsuits. NYU's institutional reputation could suffer which could result in increased scrutiny and oversight from NYSED and Middle States for all programmatic offerings. We are unsure if these Bulletin changes reflect the current curriculum but Carina will be reaching out separately to clarify and align the documentation with GPH's curricular goals. If you'd like to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me. All the best, Titilayo |
| 10/02/2024 |
CK follow-up on TW guidance to GPH, provides guidance to GPH for next steps: Hi Martina, Thank you for your prompt response. Briefly: As Titilayo notes, the curriculum in the Bulletin (for foundational courses and and prerequisite courses for students entering without an MPH) does not match the curriculum from the last NYSED approval for this program (2019) The curriculum in the proposal closely, but not exactly, matches the curriculum approved in 2019 (missing from the current proposal are (from the Foundational section): three 0-cr courses in Readings in the History & Philosophy of Public Health and GPH-GU 5170 Introduction to Public Health) If you would like to register the curriculum updates that have already been implemented in the current Bulletin, the proposal will need to be updated to reflect those changes, including a rationale for the changes (include this in your narrative section of the proposal and fill out a side-by-side table, see attached). Please also share your internal process for determining to make these changes (e.g., responding to changes in the field, removing 0-cr courses from registration requirements but the content is still otherwise required, changes discussed at faculty working groups, etc.), including any rationale for the decision to implement the changes prior to seeking NYSED approval. If you would like the curriculum to be as it appears in the current proposal, then any differences between this proposal and the approved 2019 curriculum will need a rationale, and the Bulletin will need to be updated. If you need further clarity on any of the above and would like to chat about it, I am available to meet tomorrow after 3:30pm or Friday after 2pm. If you would like to discuss any of the compliance/risk issues with Titilayo, we will likely need to find a time next week. Warmly, Carina |
| 10/03/2024 |
Martina confirms GPH's next internal steps, CK confirms receipt: Thanks Carina, I need to meet with our school's registrar before I address these issues. Lisa was instrumental in putting together the bulletin and I need to make sure that we are on the same page. I'm not sure I will be able to do this by EOD tomorrow so if you don't mind I will reach out for another time that you and I can meet once Lisa and I connect. Thanks again and all the best, Martina |
| 10/04/2024 |
Martina requests last approved curriculum, CK sends: Hi Carina, Can you do me a favor please, and send me the PhD curriculum that was approved by NYSED. I believe it was in 2019, correct? I just need to confirm that I'm working from the most recent approved version. Thanks so much! |
| 10/04/2024 |
Martina seeks guidance on completing the side-by-side doc: One last thing... I spoke with Lisa and we're going to move to reconcile what's in the bulletin with what was last approved... for all the concentrations. It's better this way. Cleaner. I'm hoping to have most of the side-by-side completed in a couple of days but would love to chat to make sure that I'm on the right track. I find it very confusing. Can you please let me know when you're available next week? Thanks again. Best, Martina |
| 10/04/2024 |
CK provides guidance on the side-by-side doc: Hi Martina, Thanks for that update. Some general guidance for the side-by-side: Like in the 2019 proposal, it would be good to have category headings (pre-requisites, foundational, concentration, etc.). It would be best to list each course on its own line rather than grouped together, as was done in the 2019 proposal; this allows the rationale to be specific to whatever courses have been added, removed, or changed. A changed course should appear side by side in the doc, on the same line, so the relationship between the old version and new version is clear. Any removed courses should have the last approved course on the left side, and "removed" on the right side. Any new courses should appear at the end of their respective categories (the left side of the table would be blank or N/A, the right side would have the new course info). Rationale should be relatively brief/straightforward, e.g., "title changed to align better with content," "course content updated to align better with current practice in the field," "course credits reduced to align better with the amount of instructional activities in the course," "course credits increased and content changed because..." I have an unusually meeting-heavy week next week. Would you have a few minutes after our State Authorization meeting on Wednesday to chat further on this? The meeting is scheduled for 2-2:50pm, but will likely take a bit less time than that. Warmly, Carina |
| 10/22/2024 |
Martina sends side-by-side and requests review: Hi Carina, I hope you're well. I know that you're busy with multiple projects but hoping that you can still find the time to review this side-by-side table for the PhD program. I think it's in the format that you suggested. Please let me know if we need to chat about this since it might be quicker then some back and forth emails. Thanks as always for your patience. Best, Martina |
| 10/25/2024 |
CK reviews side by side and provides guidance: Hi Martina, I hope you've had a good week. I'm sorry I was not able to respond to you sooner, I wanted to make sure I could give this my full attention. This looks like a well done side-by-side comparison - clear format, changes clearly highlighted, and clear rationale for course level changes. I know you previously mentioned that GPH was considering some changes to the other concentrations, it looks like those might be incorporated here (great to get it all done at once). We might have some minor comments on this form once you submit the rest of the proposal with the related revisions (including a rationale in the proposal narrative for the various curriculum changes, and any additional syllabi for new or revised courses, plus an updated curriculum requirements form). Let me know if you have any other questions about completing the proposal before you re-submit to us. Warmly, Carina |
| 11/13/2024 |
Inquiry from Martina re: proposal requirements: Hi Carina, I'm finally back working on this. Hope to get you a revised proposal over the next 24 hours. Quick question though. For the graduate course requirements table, should I include separate forms for each of the concentrations within the PhD program that have changes or just include them in the same form? This table confuses me every time. Thanks so much. Best, Martina |
| 11/18/2024 |
CK guidance in response to Martina inquiry: Hi Martina, For the curricular requirements form, you can include all concentrations on one form, but make sure to label each concentration. I would recommend putting the concentration courses in the "requirements for the major" section. In the "course number and title column," list the concentration title and directly beneath it, the courses required for that concentration. If it seems too unwieldy or otherwise too complicated to have all the concentrations in one form, you can make a different form for each one, but in that case make sure to note the concentration name where the form asks for program title (include program title and concentration name), and all the forms should have the full program curriculum info, not just the concentration. In the previously submitted form, you also included a list of several electives in the "electives required for major" section, and noted that there are 6 credits in this category. I'm not sure if or how that still applies in the proposed curriculum you're working on, but in a scenario like this, where students take 6 elective credits and choose from a specific list, I would add a note under the "course number and title column" noting that, e.g., "students select up to two courses from the below list in consultation with their advisor to fulfill their 6 elective credits." I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions. Warmly, Carina |
| 11/18/2024 |
arina submits updated proposal: Hi Carina, Once again, thank you so much for your continued patience with this proposal! Attached please find the revised PhD degree program curriculum and the proposed new concentration in Global and Environmental Health. In addition, please find 9 new course syllabi and one revised graduate course curriculum form. Looking forward to hearing back from you soon regarding this submission. Best, Martina |
| 12/11/2024 |
Martina seeks status update: Hi Carina, Sorry to bother you but was wondering if this has been submitted to NYSED yet? Thanks, Martina |
| 12/11/2024 |
Hi Martina, Thanks for checking in on this, apologies for not sharing any status updates since your 11/18 proposal submission. We've received a high volume of proposals in the last several weeks and are simultaneously working on a number of time-sensitive university-wide projects, and with the recent Thanksgiving holiday, things are moving through the pipeline a bit more slowly. We hope to have an update for you prior to the winter break. Warmly, Carina |
| 12/20/2024 |
CK shares status update: Hi Martina, I wanted to share a status update with you on this proposal review prior to the break. Though we won't be able to share proposal feedback with you before the break, the review is in process and it's looking like there will be minimal feedback, so we should be able to send you feedback in early January and finalize for NYSED submission shortly thereafter. Warm wishes for a restful holiday break! Warmly, Carina |
| 01/16/2025 |
CK responds to request for status update; shares partial guidance (for syllabi): Hi Martina, Thanks for checking in on this proposal. It's at the top of my proposal queue, but we need to confirm some items internally before the next step. I'm hoping to do that by end of day tomorrow. We typically send all proposal feedback at the same time so we aren't sending and receiving things piecemeal, but as I anticipate that we should be able to move forward fairly quickly once we confirm those items, I can go ahead and give you feedback on the syllabi portion of the proposal that will need some minor updating so that you can get a jump on that. We reviewed 4 of the 9 submitted syllabi. 2 of them were in great shape, and 2 of them need some revisions around the credit hour calculation. The 2 that you might consider using as a model for the others are: GPH-GU 2110 Health Care Policy and GPH-GU 2112 Public Health Management & Leadership. These syllabi clearly articulate how many credits, how many course meetings, and the duration of each meeting (including the final exam meeting). The other 2 we reviewed (GPH-GU 2450 Intermediate Epidemiology and GPH-GU 3120 Navigating the Landscape of Global Health) only noted the total number of minutes and the duration of the lectures and recitations, but don't specify how many lecture and recitation sessions and/or don't specify the number of minutes per session, so we can't determine how the total minutes are calculated. GPH-GU 2450 doesn't appear to include the total number of credits anywhere. Some of the remaining 5 syllabi may also need to be updated, so please review those alongside the ones I've specified here. If you would like to see additional examples of how to describe the credit hour calculation (you already have some good examples so may not need this), you can see two examples in item 1 of the Syllabi Expectations Tip sheet. Please let me know if you have any questions on the above guidance. I'll keep you posted on the rest of the proposal progress. Warmly, Carina |
| 01/21/2025 |
CK shares proposal feedback/guidance: Hi Martina, I hope you enjoyed your weekend. We have completed our review of the proposal and would like to share some feedback. Overall, the proposal is in good shape. We were a bit held up in our review in considering how the "prerequisites" category fits into the degree program. More details on that below. See below for a summary of our feedback on the proposal materials and see attached document for specific in-line comments, suggested revisions, and clarifying questions. Please make sure to accept/reject suggested revisions as appropriate, and make sure all comments are addressed (either by making the suggested revision, or responding to the comment, if appropriate). Summary of proposal feedback: Narrative format: We made some revisions to the narrative format to make the changes more clear for the NYSED reviewer to track. Change rationale: We noticed there were recent changes to CEPH criteria and added a comment with suggested language to include, if those changes influenced these program changes. Side-by-side curriculum: This looks very good, but we've noted a few places to make the change rationale a bit more clear. Total program credits/prerequisite category: This shows up in the narrative rationale and in the side-by-side curriculum chart when noting the program totals, but also impacts GPH-GU 2450 as noted in the below bullet point. The way the curriculum is presented in the Bulletin and the proposal, it appears that the credits required for this degree program are 72, but for students who enter the program without an MPH, they are required to do additional coursework above and beyond the 72, categorized as "prerequisites" (currently 18 credits, proposed at 16 credits). Taking that to be the case, we added a note to the narrative rationale and revised the credit totals in the side by side to make it clear that the PhD Public Health program is a 72 credit program, and that the total for students who are required to take the prerequisite courses is 90 (proposed at 88). However, a situation with GPH-GU 2450 has introduced some ambiguity. GPH-GU 2450 Intermediate Epidemiology: In the proposal, this 3-cr course has been added as a new course to the "foundational" category of courses (its addition results in a 3-cr reduction of dissertation course credits). However, in October 2024, before this version of the proposal was submitted, a request was made to change the category of this course in the Bulletin from "foundational" to "prerequisites." We indicated that this change should not go forward at the time, as it would not be a simple change of categories within a degree program, as the foundational courses are a part of the 72 credits required for the program, and the prerequisite courses are a set of courses taken in addition to the degree coursework, for any entering students who do not have an MPH. Assuming that the way this program is structured is for the program to be 72 credits, this would be an accurate assessment of this situation. However, if there is intended to be more flexibility in the total credits required for the degree program, such that the prerequisite coursework could be accounted for as part of the the degree program, rather than in addition to the degree program, then it may be a matter of how we refer to the prerequisites and the total number of credits - e.g., the prerequisites could be articulated as a part of the overall degree program that students with an MPH degree may waive out of, and the total number of degree credits could be articulated as being a range of 72-88 (or 69-88, if you want to move GPH GU 2450 from requirements to prerequisites), depending on how many of the prerequisites have been fulfilled at the time of entry. It could be that this is how it's been in practice for students in this program, but it's not clear from the Bulletin and proposal. Depending on how the prerequisite coursework is treated, you may choose to go in one or another direction for where GPH GU 2450 sits in the curriculum. The current set-up in the Bulletin has GPH-GU 2450 in the required foundational curriculum with an asterisk that students who have fulfilled this requirement may waive it, and it would be fine to keep it this way (we might suggest revising that asterisk to make clear what courses or category of courses students may take in place of GPH GU 2450, whether specific courses or dissertation credits or specialization credits, etc.). If you would like to keep the curriculum as-is (72 credits total, plus 16 additional credits for students entering without an MPH, keeping GPH GU 2450 as a foundational required course), then leave the proposal as-is. If you would like to move GPH-GU 2450 to the prerequisites category and reduce the total degree credits from 72 to 69 (and increasing prerequisite credits to 19), or move it to the prerequisites category and keep the degree total at 72 by keeping the dissertation credits at 33 rather than reducing to 30, please update the proposal to reflect that. If you would like to articulate the program as being a range of credits, please let us know so we can suggest how to present that in the proposal materials (since the prerequisites have been included in previous proposal materials, this would not be considered a significant departure from the current, and we we want to ensure the proposal language captures that). For your reference in considering the credit range scenario, you might look at the Bulletin pages for a few Steinhardt PhD programs that employ this approach: https://bulletins.nyu.edu/graduate/culture-education-human-development/programs/psychology-social-intervention-phd/#curriculumtext, https://bulletins.nyu.edu/graduate/culture-education-human-development/programs/developmental-psychology-phd/#curriculumtext, https://bulletins.nyu.edu/graduate/culture-education-human-development/programs/clinical+-counseling-psychology-phd/. Syllabi: No additional feedback beyond what we have already shared. Please let us know if you have any questions. Warmly, Carina |
| 01/22/2025 |
Martina confirms receipt of feedback: HI Carina, Thanks so much for this extensive feedback. I'm meeting with the PhD Director this week and hope to be able to answer your questions and decide how best to move forward. I hope that the turnaround will be quick. Best, Martina |
| 01/23/2025 |
Martina submits updated proposal docs: Dear Carina, Thanks again for all your work on this proposal. It's been a lengthy process and I really appreciate all your effort. Firstly, I accepted your comments/suggestions in the google doc to the Narrative Format and Change Rationale. They made sense and I accepted them where appropriate. After consulting with the PhD Director, it has been decided to keep the curriculum as-is. As you mentioned above, this means 72 credits total, plus 16 additional credits for students entering without an MPH, keeping GPH GU 2450 as a foundational required course. This is the way that we have presented it in the past and understand it better like this. Interesting that it was one of your predecessors that encouraged me to include the pre-reqs in the curriculum in this format. Since we would like to leave it as is, please let me know if there's any additional edits that I need to make to the side-by-side curriculum table. I've updated the two syllabi to better reflect the instructional time and attached them here. if there's any way that you can help me get this to NYSED as soon as possible, I would really appreciate it. What else do you need from me? Do I need to complete the NY Non authorization form? Thanks again. If you think that a telephone call would be better to discuss the changes to this proposal, please let me know. I will make myself available whenever suits you. Best, Martina |
| 01/24/2025 |
CK requests missing pieces of updates proposal: Hi Martina, Thank you for sending this update and for noting the urgency for moving the proposal forward. The syllabi have been updated as requested, thank you. Can you please send me the version of the proposal where you have accepted edits/suggestions and made any suggested updates, so that we can check whether there are any additional changes needed before submission to NYSED? Please also complete the Non-New York State Authorization Form Warmly, Carina |
| 01/24/2025 |
Martina submits requested items: HI Carina, Thanks so much! Attached is the final copy of the proposal in both Word format and as a PDF. You made a comment in the side-by-side table that there's no explanation for two asterisks. It might not be obvious, but there is a sentence or two explaining them if you scroll down to the end of that section, just above the "Research/Dissertation Credits" row. Let me know if you think I should move it up. I will complete the Authorization Form now. Thanks again! Best, Martina |
| 01/24/2025 |
CK confirms responses to non NYS authorization form: Thanks for sending the updated NYSED form, Martina, and for clarifying what the asterisks apply to. I'll let you know if we have any additional questions before packaging for NYSED submission. Thanks also for submitting the Non NY State Authorization Form. Can you please confirm your responses in the attached doc? You answered "yes" to the following: Does the program have a non-classroom experience (e.g., internship, practicum, clinical)? Is the non-classroom experience a required part of the program? Will the non-classroom experience be coordinated by NYU? If there is an on-site experiential supervisor, will that person be compensated? |
| 01/24/2025 |
Martina responds to confirm Non NY State form responses: Thanks Carina, Umm, I answered YES in the Form because the Dissertation/research component of the curriculum is a non-classroom activity but it is not exactly an internship or practicum, in the traditional sense. I made two changes to the form--#15 and 16. Let me know if it's still not clear. |
| 01/24/2025 |
CK completes review of updated proposal: My summary of the proposal/feedback: You may want to look at this a bit more closely than you typically would at this stage of proposal review, as you didn't get the opportunity to share feedback before I shared with GPH. GPH updated the proposal according to suggested revisions/comments They updated Some of the change rationale in the side by side seems a bit basic, but may be sufficient for NYSED (e.g., change to better align with learning objectives, with no further elaboration) GPH confirmed that the course they were trying to shift from "foundational" to "prerequisite" courses (which would change the total # of credits for the PhD) would stay in the foundational courses, keeping the PhD credit total the same. Re: the "prerequisites" category: I shared the option of having the program being articulated as a range of credits, the low end (72) being the credit requirement for just the PhD coursework, the high end being that plus the prerequisite credits for students entering without an MPH (88). I shared some examples of Steinhardt programs that use this approach. They seem to have a preference for keeping it the way it is, not as a "range" but as PhD credits + prerequisite credits (not sure how strong this preference is, they could potentially be coached otherwise if we feel strongly about it as an NYU best practice or potential NYSED issue) Let me know if you would like to discuss before moving forward. |
| 01/27/2025 |
CK requests correction to syllabus: Hi Martina, Thank you for sending the updated non-NY State authorization form with your clarifications. We are preparing the PhD Public Health change proposal for submission to NYSED. I noticed something I didn't catch earlier in the updated syllabus for GPH-GU 2450. Can you please send an updated version that: 1 - notes the number of credits somewhere (either at the top as other syllabi do, or in the "course format" section when describing the integrity of credit) 2 - fixes the formatting of the course outline (currently goes off the edge of the page) Once we have these, we can submit to NYSED. |
| 01/28/2025 |
Martina submits correction to syllabus: Hi Carina, Here you go! Not sure why the formatting changed but I fixed it and added the 3 credits at the top. Great. Please let me know when you send it to NYSED. Thanks again. Best, Martina |
| 01/29/2025 |
TW submits proposal to NYSED, CK notifies Martina: Dear Colleagues, Please find attached a program change proposal from New York University for the PhD Public Health. We look forward to hearing from you. Regards, Titilayo |
| 02/12/2025 |
NYSED sends approval message to NYU, CK sends approval notifications. |