Message from the Dean, College of Health and Human Sciences
The motto of the College of Health and Human Sciences is to become part of the solution. That is what Building a Healthy Nevada (BHN) is all about to the College, its faculty and its students.
For each of the 5 domains, we are engaged in a deliberate, thoughtful process to determine what we are already doing to address these issues through teaching, research, and service. In addition, we are developing new objectives and strategies to work with our community and other colleagues on campus to address these issues.
Here are some of the things that we are doing:
- Ensuring a closer connection between Nevada’s problems and academic coursework by incorporating BHN data into existing and new courses
- Working with local and state government to enhance problem solving collaborations
- Increasing service learning student internships to provide increased real world experiences related to BHN issues and needs
- Developing multi-media presentations for university and community constituents to ensure maximum information dissemination and collaborations so that the problems can be effectively and systematically addressed
- Finding opportunities in what may seem otherwise dismal statistics and indicators. There is no doubt that even within what are bad aggregate statistics, there are pockets where things are actually positive. For example, although suicide among seniors is high in the aggregate, we will find those pockets (cities/counties/regions) where it is actually low and try to determine what is different about that area. By looking for the positive, we will be able to suggest ways to improve the statistics in other areas. In other words, we will not only focus on the negative, we’ll doggedly look at what’s right and what’s working amidst what otherwise seems dismal.
- Identifying and advocating for appropriate levels of professional and service supports to maintain excellence (e.g., in health care, education, human services, public safety, mental health, etc.)
- Identifying and advocating for appropriate levels of prevention services and programs to support maintenance well-being across the lifespan (e.g., child care, elder care, family life education, recreation, wellness facilities, etc.)
We, in the College of Health and Human Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno, are committed to Building a Healthy Nevada. We see BHN as a dynamic, iterative process in which we will revisit indicators at least biannually to review, update, and add indicators within each of the five domains as needed. We see BHN as a way that we will connect more and more with the community. We look forward to working with members of the business community to build a healthy and welcoming environment in northern Nevada. If you want to partner with us on this exciting project for northern Nevada, please contact me.
Charles C. Bullock
Dean, College of Health and Human Sciences
University of Nevada, Reno
cbullock@unr.edu