WSU announces new systemwide undergraduate public health program led by Vet Med

Washington State University on Jan. (meeting reported in January) presented a new systemwide undergraduate public health program developed by the College of Veterinary Medicine and funded by the state legislature.

The program, described to the Board of Regents at the academic and student affairs committee meeting, aims to expand access to public health education across WSU campuses and to concentrate on rural and underserved populations, provost and executive vice president Chris Riley Tillman said. "This degree came out of the COVID pandemic and understanding that the Eastern side of the state was underserved in the pandemic response," Dori, the College of Veterinary Medicine leader, told the regents.

The program was funded at about $5,000,000 per year for faculty, staff and campus support, Dori said. It began as a memorandum of understanding in 2020 and evolved into a multi-college, multi-campus collaborative that includes contributions from the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences, Health Sciences, Native American programs, and government relations staff. "It was funded about $5,000,000 per year for funding for faculty members, as well as staff and all of our different campuses," Dori said.

Program structure and staffing: The regents were told the program launched with two co-directors, Todd Sabato and Kim McBride, who are affiliated with the Allen School of Global Health and the College of Veterinary Medicine and who began teaching in fall 2024. Spokane completed a three‑faculty cohort hire; Vancouver and Pullman have open faculty searches (Vancouver two positions, Pullman two positions in environmental health and public policy). Dori said the WSU public health group expects to evolve from an undergraduate degree to graduate offerings over time.

Curriculum and tracks: The original legislative request proposed two tracks — infectious disease and behavioral health — reflecting WSU strengths in global health, diagnostics (WADL), One Health and allied disciplines. Regents were told additional concentrations already under development include animal science, environmental justice, policy, gender and sexual health, and health communication. Dori described a new generalist transfer track intended to allow community-college transfers to graduate in four years rather than five.

Student enrollment and outreach: Faculty said introductory public health courses launched with more students than anticipated. Dori reported more than 22 students in the first intro course with no advertising and said that, at one point in committee discussion, "Todd told me, over 45 students signed up for our intro to public health." The program plans experiential capstone placements in the fourth year, strengthened marketing, translated brochures (Spanish and tribal languages) for tribal recruitment, and micro-credentialing with industry input.

Campus timelines: Vancouver hopes to offer a full four‑year program beginning fall 2025; Spokane expects a 2+2 model (students begin coursework locally and complete a four‑year sequence possibly in fall 2025 or fall 2026) because of local curricular constraints. The full three‑year curriculum was described as planned for rollout beginning fall 2025.

External partners and governance: The program relied on a public health collaborative and a white paper to secure legislative support and aligned with the Washington State Department of Health strategic initiatives. Dori told the regents the Degree had been approved by faculty governance and by WSU leadership prior to legislative submission.

Why it matters: Regents and committee members framed the program as a land‑grant extension of WSU research and service missions into understaffed regions of the state, linking veterinary medicine, global health and human health training to workforce needs in rural and tribal communities.

Next steps and questions: Committee members asked about outcomes tracking and staff capacity for recruitment and retention; Dori said staff have been hired and the program will track recruitment and student outcomes and invited the board to request follow‑up reports in future meetings. "Invite us back," she said when asked to report on student trajectories after graduation.

Ending note: Regents applauded the cross‑campus collaboration and early student interest; several regents and committee members noted outreach examples tying veterinary outreach to human public health engagement.