Centering the Community

 

Community Core Logo

“Learning that extends outside the classroom made my education more impactful and meaningful.” – MPH Public Health Leadership Student

Learn more about Community Corps

Courageous Integrity. Be Curious. We Care. Better Together. Show Your Fire.

Everyday, our College of Public Health students, faculty, and staff live these values as we pursue the HSC mission to create solutions for a healthier community. While many of our team members are deeply invested in improving the health of our surrounding North Central Texas communities, others are pursuing solutions across the globe.

Membership

Membership in the Community Corps includes two levels, individual and organizational.   

Organizational memberships are defined by Memorandums of Understanding that outline the shared vision and resources between the UNTHSC College of Public Health and an external organization.  

Individual memberships:
Individual memberships are established through an application and review process led by a governing committee made up of CPH and community partners. Membership is for a period of two years, renewable upon review of the governing committee.  

Follow this link to apply.

Community Corps Governance Committee

Name  Title & Organization  Governance Committee Role 
Chara Stewart Abrams, MPH  System Director, Community Health and Health Equity, CHRISTUS Health  Co-Chair  
Emily Spence, PhD, MSW, SPH, CHWI  Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Health Equity, College of Public Health, UNTHSC  Co-Chair 
Heather Brizendine, MPH, ACPS, SPH  Senior Director of Prevention Services, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County  Member 
Ashenafi Cherkos, PhD, MPH  Assistant Professor, College of Public Health, UNTHSC Member  
Leilani Dodgen, PhD, MPH  Research Scientist, Baylor Scott & White Health and Wellness Center  Member 
Becky Earlie-Royer, PhD, MPH, CHES  Deputy Regional Director, Texas Department of State Health Services Public Health Region 2/3  Member 
Linda Fulmer, MEd  Executive Director, Healthy Tarrant County Collaboration  Member 
Jessica Guerra Martinez, MPH, SPH  Program Manager, Community Development, CHRISTUS Health  Member 
Annabel Luna-Smith, MS, CHW, CHWI  Community Liaison, Project Manager; Office of the Provost, UNTHSC  Member 
Uyen-sa Nguyen, PhD  Associate Professor, College of Public Health, UNTHSC  Member 
Charlotte Noble, PhD  Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Academic Services, Assistant Professor, UNTHSC Member 
Catherine Sembajwe-Reeves, EdD, MA  Assistant Professor, Master of Health Administration Program Director, College of Public Health, UNTHSC Member 
Jacklinn Sotello, MPH  Executive Director of Community Health, YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth  Member 
Yvette Wingate, EdD  Division Manager, Community Health Equity and Inclusion, Tarrant County Public Health  Member 

 

Community Corps Governance Structure

Community Corps Logic Model and Principles

Community Corps Logic Model

Community Corps education examples

“It’s been probably one of my favorite things about our program, is that we have the opportunity to learn from people that have that experience, and it really does boil down to what we actually need. I think it will really benefit us knowing the meat in the bone of what we actually need to know.” – MHA Student 

 Biostatistics and Epidemiology
BIOS 6320: Biostatistical Research and Consulting 
“A good opportunity to work with real life data that community partners gathered themselves. We were able to gain experience and help partners pinpoint things they could consider or use in the future when gathering other data.” – MPH Biostats Student 

Students complete a research, evaluation or consulting project with a professor or community partner where they assess, analyze, write, and present findings to meet the needs of their “client”. 

Health Behavior and Health Systems
BACH 5350 Community Health Program Evaluation
“I enjoyed being able to see the realities of the concepts we learn.” – MPH PHL Student 

Students utilized evaluation training received in the first half of the semester to conduct an evaluation for a community partner in an area of need indicated by the partner. Evaluations consisted of data collection and analysis as well as producing materials and recommendations for the partner to use moving forward.  

MACH 5335 Human Sexuality and Reproductive Health
“We were able to take something that was currently going on that would benefit a community partner, but also make it fit the needs of the students about a specific content area.” – Dr. Griner, Course Instructor 

Dallas Salvation Army was looking to expand their programming and they wanted to know what that what the people in their community needed, because they were aiming to map out everything across the county. Proposal was introduced to class the students provided support by conducting needs assessment in service community, which specifically consisted of analyzing reproductive health policies that may be impacting care as a class and individually talking with community stakeholders that were focusing on reproductive health.   

Academic-community partnerships advisory board

3 Academic Community Partnerships Advisory Board

Community Health Worker Training Center

Community Health Worker