Alumni Share Expertise with Health Program Evaluation Students
Last Fall, Professor April Carcone welcomed MPH alumni back to campus to share their professional journeys and insights with students enrolled in the Health Program Evaluation course. These sessions provided a meaningful opportunity for students to connect classroom concepts with real-world program evaluation projects in diverse public health settings. Alumni were asked to share their current role, their journey securing that role, and program evaluation experiences they had, particularly experiences relevant to that week’s topic. Throughout the semester, alumni discussed stakeholder engagement, logic modeling, evaluation design, data analysis, and other aspects of program evaluation.
The speaker series kicked off with Stephanie Kastely, PhD, MPH ’21, LPC, from Wayne State University Counseling and Psychological Services with an engaging discussion on stakeholder engagement.
Three speakers from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services provided students with insight into the diversity of experiences within this governmental organization, including Makenna (Holman) Champney, MPH ’21, CHES, an Immunization Field Representative, Jihan Aiyash, MPH ‘21, a Community Tobacco Consultant, and Sahil Bhatia, MPH ‘18, a Program Administrator for Division of Local Health Services.
Speakers also included Micia Eddins, MPH ‘20, IBCLC, CD, CHW, CLS a certified doula and lactation consultant, Jordan Hrynik, MPH ‘18, Public Health Projects Lead at Wayne County Health, Human & Veterans Services, Taylor Alpert, LLMSW, MPH ‘22, Michigan Health & Hospital Association, and Mitchell Hoyer, MPH ’17, an Evaluation Project Coordinator at the University of Chicago Medicine.
This speaker series enriched the learning experience by bridging classroom concepts with real world practice, inspiring students to think critically about how program evaluations unfold in public health programs. Students expressed their appreciation for the speaker series and the insight they gained into the various career pathways open to those with an MPH degree. The MPH program extends its gratitude to the alumni who generously made time for students. We look forward to future student-alumni engagement and networking opportunities.