A Statement of Commitment to Zero Tolerance of Harassment and Discrimination in Schools and Programs of Public Health.

The Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health convened a Task Force on Zero Tolerance of Harassment and Discrimination in 2019 to develop a policy statement and strategies for addressing harassment of all types in institutions offering public health education. We outline the premises and scholarly foundation for the development of the Statement of Commitment to Zero Tolerance of Harassment and Discrimination, the statement itself, and future plans for realizing the aspiration established in the statement. The development of this living document is predicated on the belief that it is the core responsibility of academic institutions to build the knowledge and that it is the responsibility of leaders, namely deans of schools of public health and directors of public health programs, to lead in building the shared knowledge and insist on the practices that create institutions for a better future free of harassment and discrimination. Our statement is informed by the knowledge that aggressions in the form of harassment and discrimination undermine the health and well-being of individuals, the public, and populations.

Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Academic Public Health: 20-Year Update.

OBJECTIVE: This study is a follow-up to an examination of the racial/ethnic composition of public health students (1996) and faculty (1997) at schools of public health that was conducted 20 years ago. We examined data on the race/ethnicity of students, graduates, and faculty among Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH)-member institutions during 2016-2017 and how these data have changed in the past 20 years. METHODS: We obtained data on the race/ethnicity of students (in 1996 and 2016), graduates (in 1996 and 2016), and faculty (in 1997 and 2017) at ASPPH-member institutions from the ASPPH Data Center. We tabulated frequencies, percentages, and 20-year percentage-point changes by race/ethnicity. We examined data for all current ASPPH-member institutions and for comparable subcohorts of 1996 and 1997 member institutions that are current ASPPH members. RESULTS: In graduate student enrollment, the 20-year increase in each nonwhite racial/ethnic subgroup was ≤5 percentage points. Among tenured faculty, the 20-year increase was greatest among Asians (8 percentage points) but was <3 percentage points for black, Hispanic, and Native American faculty. CONCLUSIONS: The increasing racial/ethnic diversity among students, graduates, and faculty in schools and programs of public health contributes to parallel increases in racial/ethnic diversity in the public health workforce. Schools and programs of public health should recruit clusters of racial/ethnic minority students using holistic application review processes, provide enrolled students with racially/ethnically diverse role models and mentors, and dedicate staffing to ensure a student-centered approach. In addition, those who mentor racially/ethnically diverse students and junior faculty should be rewarded.