Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University
Office of Continuing Professional Education
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION MISSION STATEMENT, ADMINISTRATION
AND POLICY
Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Mission Statement
The mission of the RSPH is to acquire, disseminate, and apply knowledge to promote health and
prevent disease in human populations. To achieve its mission, the Rollins School of Public Health
has set the following goals:
 To educate individuals for professional careers in public health through a master's degree
(M.P.H.) program and for research careers through doctoral programs, and to further educate
individuals in the public health workforce by enhancing their knowledge and skills in public
health;
 To conduct basic and applied research pertinent to the recognition, characterization, and
resolution of health problems in human populations;
 To provide managerial, programmatic, and technical support to local, state, federal, and
international organizations involved in the delivery and evaluation of health services.
Consistent with the School’s mission, the continuing professional education (CPE) mission is to
further educate and support individuals in the public health workforce by enhancing their
knowledge and skills in public health theory, policy, research and practice. To fulfill this mission,
the School – through its departments, centers, institutions, and units as well as their partnerships
with some of the world’s premier organizations – offers a variety of trainings designed to sharpen
the practicing professional’s ability to identify, analyze, and intervene in the health problems facing
today’s society.
The Rollins School of Public Health has defined its continuing professional education target
market as all practicing professionals, interested in population-based health, based in a variety of
settings including local, state, national and international government, industry, academics, voluntary
healthcare organizations, and health care systems.
Training topics include, but are not limited to, biostatistics, nutrition, health education,
epidemiology, chronic and infectious disease, global health, evaluation and assessment as well as
the emerging interest fields of bioterrorism, public health preparedness, technology, management,
population-based health care, and health care systems. Examples of school activities include: the
Triangle Research Club; Training Programs in Cancer Registration, Vaccine Dinner Club;
Surveillance, and Control; Applied Epidemiology Courses; Southeastern Institute of Training and
Evaluation (SITE) trainings; CHES Review Courses; Instructional Innovation Lecture Series for
public health and nursing faculty; Faculty Candidate Seminars; Key Issues in Global Health
Seminars; Brown Bag Seminars; and trainings sponsored by the Schools’ eight Centers. The
School also co-sponsors special continuing professional education events with other Emory
University Schools and Departments and external organizations, such as the Georgia Public Health
Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the State of Georgia Department
of Human Resources.
Continuing Professional Education Administration
Under the direction of the Associate Dean of Applied Public Health and staffed by the Director of
Continuing Professional Education, the Office of Continuing Professional Education is the entity
responsible for coordinating the School’s continuing professional education program. The Office
provides professional assistance and services to the School’s departments, centers, institutions and
units in an effort to offer more continuing professional education activities, to provide more credit
at new and existing activities, and to increase the visibility of the School’s continuing professional
education offerings.
The Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University has been designated as a provider of
continuing education contact hours in health education by the National Commission for Health
Education Credentialing, Inc. The Office of Continuing Professional Education is also responsible
for managing the CHES provider program for the School.
Each year, the Office of Continuing Professional Education will develop a set of continuing
professional education goals. To achieve the continuing professional education mission and yearly
goals, the Office has developed the following continuing professional education policy.
Continuing Professional Education Policy
The RSPH encourages the development of continuing professional education activities sponsored
solely by the School, or one of its entities, or in co-sponsorship with an organization. Activity
planners are encouraged to seek professional advice, assistance and services from the School’s
Office of Continuing Professional Education. In addition to the School’s responsibility to offer
continuing professional education to practicing professions, the School also has a responsibility to
effectively inform our target audience and the Council on Education for Public Health of our overall
continuing professional education program and of individual activities.
The School requires that at each activity, essential data be collected and shared with the Office of
Continuing Professional Education (strongly encourages the use of the standard “Continuing
Professional Education Sign-In Sheet” for the data collection) and that a post-activity evaluation be
conducted.
The School encourages their faculty to plan and participate in continuing professional education
activities. Policies for their involvement are found in the document “Faculty Involvement in
Continuing Professional Education”.
The Office of Continuing Professional Education assesses no fee to activity planners seeking either
advice or minimal planning assistance. Negotiated fees will be assessed for more extensive services
provided, such as the management of credentialing services (i.e., applying for credit from multiple
providers; complying with provider requirements; sending out participant certificates; etc.).
Policies for staff involvement and fees are found in the document “Office of Continuing
Professional Education Staff Involvement Policy”.
Responsibilities of the Office of Continuing Professional Education:
To fulfill the school’s continuing professional education mission and yearly goals, the Director of
Continuing Professional Education, and a student assistant, when available, will carry out the
following responsibilities.
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Provide professional advice and minimal assistance to RSPH faculty and staff about continuing
professional education opportunities, providers, issues, policies and procedures.
Provide contracted continuing professional education services (such as managing the application
and compliance of continuing professional education credit for attendees) for School sponsored
or co-sponsored activities.
Maintain the web-based Continuing Professional Education Homepage and Calendar by adding
current events, highlighting special events and communicating the availability of each to
faculty, staff and our target audience.
Produce a print copy of the School’s Continuing Professional Education Calendar and Program
twice a year to faculty, staff, and select target audience members.
Collect essential data on each continuing professional education activity offered with assistance
from activity program planners.
Maintain a database of all continuing professional education activities and participants.
Assist in the assessment of the target audience’s continuing professional education needs and
the evaluation of individual activities and overall continuing professional education program.
Provide an annual report of the overall continuing professional education program to the
Associate Dean of Applied Public Health for inclusion in the Annual Report to the Council on
Education for Public Health. Report will include the most current copy of the “Continuing
Professional Education Mission Statement, Administration and Policy” as well as a list of the
year’s continuing professional education activities offered (including essential data on
individual and all activities).
Initiate independent School-wide continuing professional education activities to meet identified
needs.
Initiate partnerships with other organizations in an effort to meet the School’s CPE goals and
objectives.
Manage the RSPH’s Multiple Event Provider Program for Certified Health Education
Specialists and act as primary School contact to the NCHEC. Tasks include discussion with
activity planners regarding the appropriateness of an activity for CHEC; dissemination of CHES
activity planning forms; facilitating the review of activities among qualified reviewers;
approving activities; sending out certificates; and, maintaining complete files.
Provide a CHES Exam Review Course at least once a year.
Responsibilities of the RSPH Faculty/Staff acting as continuing professional education activity
planners:
To fulfill the school’s continuing professional education mission and yearly goals, RSPH faculty or
staff offering any school-sponsored or co-sponsored continuing professional education activity
(with or without the assistance of the Office of Continuing Professional Education staff), should
carry out the following responsibilities.
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Collect essential data, as previously described, from each activity offered during the year and
share such data with the Office of Continuing Professional Education (strongly encouraged to
use the “Continuing Professional Education Sign-In Sheet”).
Evaluate each continuing professional education activity through the use of a post-activity
questionnaire.
Advertise their activities on the web-based and print copy of the CPE Calendar as another
means of marketing their activities and of providing the Council on Education for Public Health,
potential participants, faculty and staff a comprehensive picture of our entire continuing
professional education program.
Share ideas and suggestions to enhance the School’s CPE program with the Office of
Continuing Professional Education.
CE Mission Statement
Created: April 1999
Revised Version: May 2003