Public Health Practice Projects

Fall 2026 is Open!

The Offer: Do you have a "back-burner" project you haven't had time to tackle? Or something you need fresh eyes and time on? We will assign a team of 5-6 Master of Public Health students to work as consultants for your organization. They act as a temporary project team to complete a specific scope of work.

What You Get:

• Capacity: Approx. 500+ collective hours of work (100 hours per student). 

• Deliverables: A high-quality report, strategy, or set of tools tailored to your needs.

• Fresh Perspectives: Innovative approaches to complex public health challenges.

Your Commitment:

• Timeline: 8/13 weeks (Fall or Spring options available). 

• Mentorship: Designate a "primary" mentor to attend a few key meetings and provide guidance.

Overview:

Students are assigned to teams to address a complex project or problem proposed by an organization. Student teams work as if they were consultants, hired to complete a time-limited (100h/student) piece of work for the organization. Please note: This course runs in fall (September - December: 13 weeks) and spring (May - June: eight weeks)

Support for this looks like:

• submission of a project proposal to Erin Pollock (template here)

  • a larger project (one or more teams) or multiple projects are welcomed

• attendance at course kick-off meeting 

• onboarding of project team, participation in team meetings and providing guidance as needed

• contribution to student assessment

Proposal examples can be found here .

Projects:

The term for the course is September 1 to December 8. Projects must be completed within 13 weeks.

Projects should be well scoped to allow for teams of 5-6 students to complete the project work in approximately 100 hours per student over the term, resulting in at least one high quality deliverable or set of inter-related deliverables for the organization. 

Proposals should identify any external resources or stakeholder involvement that may be required and how you will facilitate and support access to the resources or involvement. Given the very short timeframe, this support and facilitated access is imperative to student success.

Organizational mentors and student teams will work together to determine deadlines, communication expectations (meetings, frequency and format of status updates) and criteria for success within the overall course parameters. Teams and mentors will also negotiate expected deliverables, including priorities. As part of the course, student teams are required to create a terms of engagement, project charter and work plan components, as required, that will outline these expectations.

Student Teams:

We conceptualize the teams as consultants, hired to complete a time-limited piece of work for the organization.

Each student is expected to complete approximately 14 hours of work per week, on average, on requirements for this course, including individual and team project work / meetings, mentoring meetings with instructors and partner organizations and other course-specific assignments (i.e., reflections and peer assessments). Teams are expected to organize their own team and mentor meetings, and plan their work in a “consultant-like” way.

Teams are expected to document and share their project work via Google drive. 

Mentor Team:

Each team will be supported by a mentoring team comprised of:

• The course teaching team - instructor-facilitator – through regular communication, both synchronous and asynchronous, where students come together to share their progress and identify challenges and ways to overcome them. Each team will have a “go-to” instructor. 

• Two individuals designated by the organization – to provide guidance, mentorship and input on the project based on the parameters outlined. We suggest a maximum of two mentors with one being the designated “go-to” person and the other available as needed or as back-up. Our experience has been that having one designated “primary” mentor helps to ensure clear and consistent communication. This will allow the student team to work effectively and efficiently without having to navigate potentially different perspectives on the project parameters and expectations. Of course, we hope that other organizational staff members will be involved to enrich students’ learning.

• Guest “experts” can be brought in as needed. 

How much time is expected of the designated organizational mentors? Ideally they will:

• Attend & participate in project team meetings, as follows:

  • • • Sept 1, 1-2:30pm MT - Synchronous class session to meet and orient students to the course, project & expectations, with the instructor, TA, student team and organizational mentors. (1.5h)

      • October 27, 1-2pm MT - Status update on project to share with SPH 547 peers, teaching team and organizational mentors. (1h)

• Status reports/meetings - Dates to be agreed upon between the student team and organizational mentors: Minimum of two during the project, including a final presentation/wrap up meeting or touch base session, for teams to provide updates to organizational partners on project progress and emerging challenges.

• Provide guidance as needed: Ongoing availability to respond to the student team’s need for guidance as it emerges within an agreed-upon timeframe – e.g., 24-48 hours by email or telephone OR student team and mentors negotiate a touch-base schedule to ensure that the team has enough input to complete the project. 

• Contribute to student assessment: SPH 547 is a Pass/Fail course, based on instructor, student, team, and mentor evaluation. Team and mentors will agree to success criteria as part of the negotiated project charter.