EJ PILOT 2000 PROPOSAL
PROJECT TITLE: Postgraduate Training in Environmental Health/ Environmental Justice
LOCATION: Multiple locations will be used to give practical experiences to selected postgraduate fellows and senior fellows to include offices of federal staff in the Washington, DC, area and federal regional locations, plus tribal and community locations. Each fellow will spend some time at five or more such locations.
KEY CONTACTS: Dr. Roy Miller, Ph.D., P.E.; Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, DoD; 301-295-1522, E-Mail: [email protected]; and,
Captain Tom Crow; Principal Environmental Health Consultant, IHS, DHHS; 301-443-1054, E-Mail: [email protected]
START DATE: Fiscal Year 2000
COMMUNITY SERVED: American Indians, Alaska Natives, and other minorities.
PROPOSED PARTNERS:
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, DoD Dr. Roy Miller 301-295-1522
Indian Health Service, DHHS Captain Tom Crow 301-443-1054
Henry M. Jackson Foundation Mr. Boyd Nystedt 505-872-3947
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Bureau of Indian Affairs, DOI
Housing and Urban Development
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Education
ATSDR, DHHS
Intertribal Organizations
(e.g., National Indian Health Board
National Congress of American Indians)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Introduction
Postgraduate training in environmental health/ justice is designed to provide practical experience to fellows and an extended study opportunity for senior fellows. The program for fellows consists of a series of practicum rotations, short courses, and a major independent project tailored to the needs of each person. An individual education plan (IEP) is developed and implemented by each fellow in consultation with his or her major advisor or mentor. For example, rotations might be with four or five different federal agencies and with one or two communities to learn first hand the roles, concerns and visions of each and how they might collaborate. The independent project is done for the sponsoring organization or community with oversight by an advisor, and it encompasses both technical matters and policy. Fellows develop their own learning objectives for each rotation to include technical knowledge, policy, teamwork and collaboration, critical thinking skills, and reflection. Onsite facilitators provide postgraduates with organizational duties and objectives for rotations and serve as a model in the workplace. Senior fellows may participate in practicum rotations or concentrate only on an extended study approved by the sponsor. Postgraduate training is not postdoctoral training or basic research, and it is not just an internship program. Rather, postgraduate training is learning while experiencing in a school without walls. It engages postgraduates, sponsors, and faculty in learning to know, to do, to live together, and to be.
Purpose
The main purpose of postgraduate training in environmental health/ justice is to provide the opportunity for selected individuals to learn how to facilitate relationships and processes among organizations. Individuals should also increase their knowledge, skills and abilities with environmental health and environmental justice and enhance their networking capabilities. Organizations and communities should benefit by developing staff that are more aware of stakeholder concerns and abilities and willingly work together to achieve organizational and environmental quality improvements.
Objectives
1. Develop a 12-month postgraduate training program focused on environmental health/ environmental justice.
2. Select and train fellows, and provide study opportunities for senior fellows.
3. Share lessons learned from postgraduate projects and the training program.
Applicants
The candidates for this program should be American Indians, Alaska Natives, other minorities, or those who plan to work with Native American communities or other communities with high percentages of minorities, and who are interested in environmental health and/ or environmental justice as a profession. Candidates should have a masters degree (bachelors degree plus relevant experience can be considered). The focus will be on training people who seek opportunities to help communities and agencies collaborate on environmental health and environmental justice
Roles of Federal Partners
There are three categories or options for support by federal agencies and other partners:
Category I The agency or community agrees to be a supporting organization for postgraduate training. The agency or community can serve as a site for rotations and encourage selected staff to be a facilitator or mentor to fellows, as needed. Also, the supporting organization can present situations to be addressed by fellows or senior fellows, and they can nominate candidates for selection as fellow or senior fellow. There is no direct cost to be a supporting organization.
Category II The agency/ community agrees to be a sponsoring organization for postgraduate training. The agency/ community provides training funds to support a fellow(s) who receives a salary from his/ her current employer. For example, a federal agency can provide training funds to sponsor an employee and continue to pay the employee; or, a federal agency can sponsor a tribal employee who continues to be paid by the Tribal community. Sponsoring organizations are given the opportunity to select the major project or study topic for the fellow or senior fellow. Sponsors also receive opportunities listed under Category I above. The estimated cost for this category is $40,000 per postgraduate including training program costs and travel costs.
Category III This is similar to Category II, but the sponsor also provides funds for salary and benefits when the postgraduate is not the sponsors employee. For example, a federal agency provides funds to train a postgraduate who is a Tribal member, but the Tribe does not pay the fellows salary during the training period. The estimated cost for Category III is $80,000 per postgraduate fellow (i.e., $40,000 for the training program costs and travel, and $40,000 for salary and benefits to include additional overhead). Costs to cover salary and benefits for senior fellows should be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
Program Plan
The plan consists of two phases to develop the training program and implement specific training.
Phase I Program Development
A. Develop Curriculum and Plans. A team of professionals (from Uniformed Services University, the Indian Health Service, other federal agencies, and Intertribal organizations) will be established to develop the curriculum and plans. This environmental health/ justice (EHEJ) training team, in conjunction with all sponsoring organizations, will develop a generic individual education plan (IEP) as a model to be tailored for use by each postgraduate fellow. The model IEP will consist of rotations, special topics to be addressed, workshops and conferences to attend, and a major project. Rotations and special topics can relate to the fellows major project. Learning objectives and organizational objectives will be included for each rotation, special topic, and the major project. The EHEJ training team will develop information and tools and assemble materials to facilitate learning and good communications. Also, the team will develop plans and requirements that help document experiences, serve to stimulate focused discussions, and compile lessons learned. However, each postgraduate fellow will develop his/ her own specific IEP and then be responsible for managing it. The EHEJ training team will also compile a list of potential topics for study by senior fellows.
B. Set up Networks for Recruitment and Rotations. The EHEJ training team, in conjunction with all sponsoring organizations, will develop agreements with organizations and communities for postgraduate fellows to serve on rotations and to conduct major projects. Onsite facilitators will be identified, and roles will be negotiated. Likewise, contacts will be made to set up a formal system for recruiting postgraduate fellows and senior fellows if they are not employees of the sponsoring organization.
C. Establish an Advisory Council. The EHEJ training team will identify both technical experts and people who can speak for organizations and communities to be on an Advisory Council. The Council will advise the EHEJ training team about any aspect of developing and implementing postgraduate training. The Advisory Council will convene at least on an annual basis.
Phase II Training Implementation
A. Conduct Training. The EHEJ training team will set up a Postgraduate Training Committee to consider applicants and make decisions concerning admission, approve IEPs, and monitor individual progress of postgraduate fellows. The committee will hold meetings monthly and invite postgraduates to give briefings about their experiences. The committee will review progress of fellows at least quarterly. The committee chair will appoint a major advisor for each fellow. The advisor will arrange appropriate rotations and other experiences, provide overall supervision, and serve as a mentor for the fellow to include maintaining contact on a weekly basis. The facilitator located onsite, or the advisor, will maintain contact with fellows on a day-to-day basis, or as needed. During the postgraduate year, fellows will undertake training, engage in discussions, and write reports for each rotation, special topic, major project, and a final training report.
B. Conduct Review and Evaluation. Feedback from postgraduate fellows and senior fellows should include recommendations about selected training materials, processes, and policy to include the value, depth, and scope of coverage. Feedback from facilitators and mentors should include benefits to specific organizations and communities. Also, reports completed by fellows and senior fellows will include both technical information and policy. The result should be that opportunities arise to make improvements to the training program and make suggestions for the organizational environmental programs that go beyond the training function. The EHEJ training team will provide an annual report that compiles observations, lessons learned, issues, and opportunities for quality improvement. Of course, the team will also refine information, processes, and materials that pertain to postgraduate training.
C. Apply Information Technology. As concepts and materials are proven valid through education and training, the training team and fellows will develop and start using complementary computer-related products. Selected information will be entered onto a web site and some will be made available via interactive software (e.g., CDs).
Milestones and Timeframes
An outline is presented below.
Phase I Program Development
Set up the Environmental Health/ Justice training team
Develop a generic individual education plan (IEP)
Identify and gather information resources and support material
Establish agreements with organizations and communities for rotations or projects
Establish a system for recruiting postgraduate fellows and senior fellows
Set up an Advisory Council
Phase II Training Implementation
Recruit and admit postgraduate fellows and senior fellows
Conduct postgraduate training
Conduct reviews or evaluations and compile lessons learned
Apply information technology
Formal Meetings and Reports
EJEH Training Team
Meetings of Advisory Council (at least annually)
Phase I Report
Training Materials
Information Technology Products (web page design, interactive software, etc.)
Phase II Report
Annual Reports
Postgraduate Fellows and Senior Fellows
Major Project Report
Special Study Report (if applicable)
Final Report
Background
A major part of the mission of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is to ... serve the uniformed services and the Nation as an outstanding academic health science center with a worldwide perspective for education, research, service and consultation.
The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences has conducted a postgraduate training program for Indian Health Service since 1992 with focus on institutional environmental health. OSHA sponsored three postgraduate fellows during 1998-1999. The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine sponsored one fellow. Allied military have also participated; for example, a Canadian Army physician chose to enroll as a postgraduate fellow after he completed the MPH degree. Examples of rotation sites for postgraduate fellows have included OSHA (Compliance and Health Standards Divisions), USEPA (Safety and Health Program), National Institutes of Health, National Naval Medical Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, and various Indian Health Service (IHS) onsite healthcare facilities plus the IHS Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland.
The environmental health postgraduate training program of the Uniformed Services University is currently implemented through partnership with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. Those personnel listed below are key individuals.
Program Director
Roy D. Miller, Ph.D., P.E.; Assistant Professor (employed through
Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine)
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
USUHS-PMB, Room A2060
4301 Jones Bridge Road
Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4799
Phone: 301-295-1522; E-Mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Program Co-Director
Welford C. Roberts, Ph.D.; Assistant Professor (employed through
Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine)
USUHS-PMB, Room A2060
Phone: 301-295-1509; E-Mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Education and Postgraduate Training
The educational basis for postgraduate training can be found in a number of references. The International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century (UNESCO Report, 1996) reported that education throughout life is based on four pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be (page 97). The postgraduate fellow is given opportunities and encouraged to learn using all four pillars. For example, working as a team member and having others rely upon you provides opportunities for learning to live together; working with more senior professionals and mentors can provide opportunities for learning to be. Of course, rotations provide fellows with opportunities for learning to know and learning to do.
Major categories in the taxonomy of educational objectives as reported by Bloom (Airasian, 1994) include knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Critical thinking, of course, occurs at the higher levels. The postgraduate training program is intentionally structured to have fellows working at application of the science base (which also require knowledge and comprehension) and at the higher levels of thinking. For example, rotations would be concerned primarily with application of the science base, but the major project would be concerned with analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of an organizational situation where policy formulation and implementation are warranted.
Cranston (1996) discussed professional development as transformative learning and emphasized critical reflection on content, process, and premises. She categorized knowledge as instrumental (technical), practical (communicative), and emancipatory (transformative). The postgraduate training program exposes fellows to technical content, but it also emphasizes organizational processes and communications. In addition, fellows are encouraged to examine and reflect upon organizational and personal premises. Transformative learning occurs when there is a paradigm shift. The postgraduate experiences expose fellows to situations where the organizational framework is questioned.
Mitchell (1992) presented a vision of schooling and assessment for the late 1990's. Her vision saw schools dissolved as institutions. Instead, educational sites were created for a total community education program in work places and meeting places. Performance assessment (open-ended questions, portfolios, group projects, observations) became the cognitive model. Corprew (1976) presented benefits of a school without walls. For the postgraduate fellow, learning while experiencing and schools without walls are important concepts.
In summary, there is an educational basis for postgraduate training. The postgraduate training program is intentionally structured to provide education and training that encourages fellows to apply the science base to organizational situations and to perform at higher levels of thinking. This program provides opportunities for individual development and it challenges fellows to address organizational and community environmental health/ environmental justice management and policy issues.
References
Airasian, P.W. (1994). Classroom Assessment. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 11-12.
Cranton, P. (1996). Professional Development as Transformative Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Corprew, A.J. (1976). School without walls. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, Washington, DC, February 13-18, 1976.
Miller, R.D., Roberts, W.C., & Hudson, J.N. (1997). Assessment of the health role in environmental programs. Final Report, Project No. 96MM6757, submitted to the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD.
Miller, R.D. and Roberts, W.C. (Accepted for publication). Environmental health. In: Military Preventive Medicine: Mobilization and Deployment, Washington, DC: The Borden Institute.
Mitchell, R. (1992). Measuring up: Student assessment and systemic change. Educational Technology, 32(11), 37-41.
UNESCO Report (1996). Jacques Delors et al. Learning: The Treasure Within. Paris, France.
PILOT PROJECT SELECTION CRITERIA:
1. Areas selected are composed of predominantly minority or low-income populations that face negative environmental, public health, and/or socio-economic effects.
The target audience for postgraduate training includes American Indians, Alaska Natives, and other minorities who are interested in environmental health and environmental justice as a profession, such as a scientist, manager, or policy analyst. The focus will be on training those people who seek opportunities to help communities and agencies collaborate on environmental health and environmental justice.
2. Selected projects should be community-based where there is a strong community interest in participating in all phases of the project, including its commencement, implementation, and completion.
Tribes and other communities with large percentage of minorities will be given the opportunity to nominate candidates for selection to the postgraduate training program, and selected communities will be given opportunities to benefit immediately from direct efforts of some postgraduate fellows during their rotations and special projects. Also, community officials can present situations to be addressed by a fellow through rotation or as a major project, or by a senior fellow as an extended study. Many more communities should benefit from this project eventually through lessons learned and resources developed as fellows help facilitate the collaborative process among agencies and communities and share their experiences.
3. Communities selected may have existing resources sufficient to sustain the project through completion and beyond and where the demonstration project will contribute to building upon and enhancing existing assets within communities.
Tribes and other communities will be given the opportunity to sponsor postgraduate fellows and to serve as the site for rotations or special projects. The postgraduate fellows might complement technical and/or management skills needed by the community and identify other resources available through different federal agencies or help streamline the processes of interacting with various stakeholders.
4. Communities selected have potentially taken steps to address and/or seriously consider environmental justice, rural community development and capacity building, brownfield economic redevelopment, and/or other related issues.
Most, if not all, tribal communities are attempting to develop tribal capacity and gain a safe and healthy environment. Community efforts should be enhanced if both community officials and federal agency staff can learn to leverage resources and facilitate relationships and processes among stakeholders. The postgraduate training program aims to help fellows, agency staff, and local community officials learn how to better collaborate to ensure local problem-solving and achieve concrete results for communities.
5. At least two Federal agencies will commit to participating in each demonstration project initiated; there will be meaningful participation by community-based organizations; academic institutions; non-governmental organizations; State, tribal, or local governments; and/or the private sector.
Many federal agencies have agreed to help by encouraging selected staff to serve as facilitators during the fellows rotations, serve as a site for rotations, sponsor postgraduate fellows and a special study, and/ or help provide oversight to the program by participating as a member of the Training Team and/or Advisory Council. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is both a federal organization and an academic institution while the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine is a private, not-for profit organization. A number of Tribal communities and Intertribal organizations will be given the opportunity to participate in this program.
6. Projects selected must be new or have a new component which addresses environmental justice issues.
The Environmental Health Postgraduate Training Program of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is unique. It is neither a postdoctoral training program nor just an internship program. Rather, postgraduate training is learning while experiencing, and it engages fellows, sponsors including community officials, and faculty in learning to know, to do, to live together (e.g., collaborate), and to be (e.g., interact with mentors). The new components in this proposal are that (1) postgraduate fellows, their sponsors and faculty will be engaged primarily in facilitating relationships and processes among stakeholders (i.e., collaborative efforts, leveraging resources, and removing impediments) to benefit communities; and, (2) the focus is on tribal communities and other communities with large populations of minorities and addresses environmental health and environmental justice.
7. Projects selected must clearly identify benefits that a community will receive as a result of the project.
Tribal communities and other communities should benefit directly by efforts of fellows and senior fellows during their rotations and/ or projects. Communities have the opportunity to nominate fellows and senior fellows and/ or present situations to be addressed by fellows and senior fellows. Community officials should benefit from reports of fellows and senior fellows through lessons learned and resources made available to help facilitate relationships and the processes among stakeholders. Some fellows should return to the local community to continue to assist with environmental justice and environmental health.
8. Projects should clearly articulate what the project intends to do and roles of each agency.
The main purpose of postgraduate training in environmental health/ justice is to provide the opportunity for selected individuals to learn how to facilitate relationships and processes among organizations. Individuals should also increase their knowledge, skills and abilities with environmental health and environmental justice and enhance their networking capabilities. Organizations and communities should benefit by developing staff that are more aware of stakeholder concerns and abilities and willingly work together to achieve organizational and environmental quality improvements. Federal agencies can encourage selected staff to serve as facilitators during the fellows rotations, serve as a site for rotations, sponsor postgraduate fellows and/ or senior fellows and special studies, and/ or help provide oversight to the program by participating as a member of the Training Team and/or Advisory Council. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, in consultation with the Indian Health Service and other federal agencies, will administer the program and award certificates to postgraduate fellows and senior fellows upon their successful completion of the program.
9. Identify time frames, i.e., what happens in FY 2000, FY 2001, etc.
During FY 2000, Phase I (Program Development) commences. The environmental health/ environmental justice (EHEJ) Training Team members are appointed and start holding meetings to develop curriculum and plans. Also, the Advisory Council is established and holds its initial meeting. Agreements and/ or Memoranda of Understanding are developed, where warranted. Sponsoring organizations identify funding to support specific numbers of fellows and/ or senior fellows. A network for recruitment and rotation of fellows and senior fellows is set up.
During FY 2001, Phase II (Training Implementation) commences. Sponsors make funds available. Postgraduate fellows and/ or senior fellows are selected for training, and training begins. The EJEH Training Team will conduct a review and evaluation, and the Advisory Council will meet for the second time.
During FY 2002 and out years, training and quality improvements continue. The program will be reviewed annually by sponsors and the Advisory Council. The program can be changed or terminated by action of the sponsors.
10. Who are the contacts for each (federal,, state, and local) agency and community group.
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, DoD Dr. Roy Miller 301-295-1522
Indian Health Service, DHHS Captain Tom Crow 301-443-1054
Henry M. Jackson Foundation Mr. Boyd Nystedt 505-872-3947
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Bureau of Indian Affairs, DOI
Housing and Urban Development
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Education
ATSDR, DHHS
Intertribal Organizations
(e.g., National Indian Health Board
National Congress of American Indians)
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