Strategic Plan 

SOPH Vision

We aspire to fulfill the great promise of the discipline of public health: to protect and improve the health, safety, and well-being of all. We accomplish this through cutting-edge research, educating future generations of outstanding public health practitioners, and serving our community, state, region, and the world.

SOPH Mission

To make positive and lasting change in the public’s health through the pursuit of excellence in scholarship, teaching, and service to the larger community.

SOPH Shared Values

Above all else, we value:

• Diversity and Inclusion: Celebrating what makes us unique and what makes us one school.
• Ethical Behavior and Integrity: Doing what is right for the right reasons.
• Collegiality: Practicing mindfulness and accountability in the work-place and modeling professional collaborations for our students.
• Academic Freedom: Pursuing excellence in our scholarly interests through innovation in teaching, research, and service.
• Stewardship: Earning the public’s trust in how we engage communities and manage our resources.

SOPH Mission Pillars

The School of Public Health mission is supported by three fundamental pillars. These are:

• Education: Provide the highest level of public health education preparing our students to be the scholars, researchers, and public health leaders of the future.
• Research and Discovery: Develop and engage in funded public health cutting-edge research and discovery and their application.
• Public Health Practice and Community Engagement: Make a difference in our communities by working with our public health stakeholders.

SOPH Foundations

The School of Public Health Mission Pillars rest on two foundations. These are:

• Fiscal Responsibility and Resource Development: School of Public Health fiscal soundness and infrastructure.
• Organizational Culture: An organizational culture that supports a balance of education, research, and community engagement.

SOPH Strategic Goals

• Education: Increase the enrollment and graduation of interesting and capable students and improve the quality and relevance of their educational experience.
• Research and Discovery: Facilitate and increase the discovery, integration, and application of knowledge.
• Public Health Practice and Community Engagement: Increase and enhance engagement with our public health community stakeholders and alumni.

SOPH Foundation Goals

• Fiscal Responsibility and Resource Development: Improve fiscal soundness and infrastructure, and increase resources.
• Organizational Culture: Attract and retain excellent and diverse faculty, staff, and students, and create and promote an organizational culture of excellence that supports a balance of education, research, and community engagement.

SOPH Strategic Initiatives

Climate Change Initiative: The UAB School of Public Health is currently accepting applications for a tenured or tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Professor or Associate Professor who has strong management abilities and will be expected to recruit and direct a core group of faculty in developing a comprehensive research program in the broad area of climate and health. This recruitment is part of a major strategic initiative in the UAB School of Public Health to expand research capacity in climate and public health. Within the next 2-3 months, the school will launch a search for several open rank faculty with a common interest in the impacts of climate change on human health. Led by Dr. Jeffrey Wickliffe, Chair of UAB’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, the initial school-level search will target a more senior researcher in the field who can subsequently help to recruit and then lead a new team of investigators with a primary goal to address the defining issue of current and future generations: climate change. The human health impacts of climate change will influence the spectrum of future public health curriculum, research, and engagement. Candidates with expertise in climate and health within public health including but not limited to the fields of biostatistics, environmental health, epidemiology, health behaviors, and health care organization and policy in addition to subdisciplines within these broad domains of public health are encouraged to apply. Interested applicants may visit https://uab.peopleadmin.com/postings/9588)/.