About the Strategic Scholars Program
The Strategic Scholars Program, a program developed and implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI), uses a community of practice cohort model and multiple learning modalities to build governmental public health workforce capacity in eight strategic skill areas, as well as across the eight core competencies’ domains. The program will launch its seventh cohort in February 2024; selected Public Health Scholars will have the opportunity to build their skills in Resource Management, specifically in the areas of fiscal management. This is the fifth offering of the Strategic Scholars Program that focuses on the resource management skill area. Read more about previous team experiences in this NNPHI story.
According to the de Beaumont Foundation’s Adapting and Aligning Public Health Strategic Skills, Resource Management is “a process through which current and future resources (including finances, staff, individuals with technical or subject expertise, technology, equipment, and any other component integral to organizational or programmatic operations) are strategically and efficiently allocated and deployed to the degree appropriate to achieve organizational and systems-level success and minimize waste.” With the unprecedented infusion of fiscal resources to public health as a part of COVID-19 response and recovery, health departments’ needs are greater than ever to manage human and financial resources responsibly and skillfully.
Spotlight Series: Strengthening Public Health Through Capacity Building
Public health departments are on the front lines to protect and promote communities’ health and well-being. The Strategic Scholars Program is a comprehensive cohort-based learning program that provides health professionals and teams with hands-on support, space to try out new practices, and access to proven strategies so they can provide the best possible care for their communities.
Strategic Scholars supercharges public health departments and the capacity of the governmental public health workforce nationwide. Since 2019, Strategic Scholars has supported four cohorts focused on resource management; 39 state, local, territorial and Tribal health departments; and 81 public health practitioners. Explore learnings, best practices and achievements from scholars and other resource management innovators in the following new series of spotlights.
Norwalk Health Department
Norwalk Health Department improves resource allocation to reflect community needs.
Denton County Public Health
Denton County Public Health’s grant dashboard modernizes process and delivers a boost in efficiency and collaboration.
Maricopa County Department of Public Health
Maricopa County creates a centralized grants team and a clearer path to increase funding for community needs.
Stanislaus County Health Services Agency
Stanislaus improves the contracts and grants approval process to enable public health initiatives funding.
Winnebago Public Health Department
Winnebago engages committee and community members to develop the next generation workforce.
Oregon Health Authority
Oregon Health Authority promotes community health rooted in equity.
Upon completion of the program, Public Health Scholars will be able to:
- Identify strategies for understanding the true nature of public health problems
- Develop a program budget and narrative
- Procure services to help achieve programmatic goals
- Execute and manage contracts
- Assess the financial health of individual programs and their relevance to an agency’s overall financial health
Additionally, Scholars will have the opportunity to:
- Apply their new skills in their current settings through the completion of a culminating experience project and individualized coaching.
- Engage and develop relationships with peers from health departments across the country to explore new ideas and concepts
To build skills in resource management, over the course of six months, scholars will:
- Complete the self-paced online learning Building Expertise in Administration and Management (BEAM) Certificate Program
- Participate in three (3) virtual live learning sessions via video conference, plus one virtual orientation session
- Attend the Public Health Improvement Training (PHIT) both virtually on June 5-7, 2023 and in-person on May 8 in Washington, D.C. (registration to both convenings and travel are covered as a part of the program)
- Attend one skill-based workshop exclusively for Strategic Scholars at PHIT
- Work one-on-one with a coach on a skill application project via three (3) video conference sessions to address a project or issue related to resource management in the work setting
The Strategic Scholars program is a competitive application process open to personnel working in state, territorial, or local health departments, or Tribal health departments and Indian Organizations that focus on public health such as Tribal Epidemiology Centers, Urban Indian Organizations, and area Indian Health Boards. To participate, applicants must apply as a team with a minimum of two (2) and up to five (5) participants, with a combination of the following roles:
- Administration (e.g., Finance Officer, Human Resources Director, Grants Officer/Administrator)
- Performance Improvement (e.g., Accreditation Coordinator, Quality Improvement Coordinator, Performance Manager, Workforce Development Coordinator, Community Health Improvement Coordinator)
- Senior Leadership (e.g., Health Director, Senior Official) and mid-level managers.
This team approach is necessary to strengthen the programmatic and financial relationships within the public health organization and to provide opportunities for learning across disciplines via the coaching component of the program.
Over the course of six (6) months, scholars will be engaged in approximately fifteen to twenty (15-20) hours of self-paced online learning, three (3) facilitated live learning video conferences, three (3) virtual coaching sessions, attend the in-person (optional) and virtual Public Health Improvement Training (PHIT) and participate in a skill-building workshop at PHIT. Scholars will be required to attend all scheduled virtual sessions, complete their coaching and accompanying skill application project, and attend PHIT and the skill-based workshop.
To support scholars in achieving maximum results from this program, scholars will work with a coach with subject matter expertise in governmental and/or non-profit business administration, with a focus on program, grants, and contract management. The role of the coach is to:
- Provide subject matter expertise to enhance the online learning sessions via virtual live learning sessions. These live learning sessions will engage scholars in facilitated discussions regarding the content.
- Support scholar teams throughout the skill application project where scholars will apply their new skills to their current work.
- Serve as a resource to scholars throughout the program.
2023 applications are now closed.
Please email Meghan Wolfe, Senior Program Manager, National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training at mwolfe@nnphi.fcg-staging.dev with any questions regarding the Strategic Scholars Program or application process.
Have Questions or Want to Learn More?
Find our helpful Q&A here.
This project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award (CDC-RFA-OT18-1802: Strengthening Public Health Systems and Services Through National Partnerships to Improve and Protect the Nation’s Health) totaling $500,000 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
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