SPH Snapshot: August 26-September 4.

On September 2, the School of Public Health welcomed new and returning students to campus to begin the school year during a defining time in the field of public health.

Between summer and fall 2020, 516 new students joined the SPH community in the MPH and doctoral programs. They hail from 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and 22 countries.

Under the new, university-wide Learn from Anywhere hybrid teaching model, which offers flexibility to students for both in-person and virtual learning, about 50 percent of students began the semester on campus, adhering to social distancing and other safety guidelines.

Alexandria Whitted, a new MPH student studying global health with a context certificate in Sex, Sexuality, and Gender, said she is taking some of her classes in person and is comfortable with the current level of precautions. “We’re tested once a week and with the [testing] numbers I feel OK, especially being an out of state student and coming from a high-risk state,” she says. “The testing gave me a sense of security, so I’m not really worried about it.”

A week-long New Student Orientation was held primarily online August 26-September 1, and incorporated opportunities for students to meet peers, faculty, and staff, and learn about SPH academics, resources, programming, and more.

Scroll through the slideshow above to see what life on campus has been like as the SPH community continues to fulfill its mission in this new semester and new normal.