About

Our Vision

Our vision is just and equitable communities where everyone has access to the resources they need to be healthy and thrive.

Our Mission

The mission of the Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health is to advance health and well-being in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and beyond through multidisciplinary education, transformative research, and action-oriented partnerships and practice reflecting the principles of social justice and health equity.

With an unwavering commitment to health equity and social justice, the Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health is a leader in student-centered education, interdisciplinary research, and bi-directional community engagement. Representing diverse disciplines, we continuously aspire to be change agents and trustworthy partners fostering a collaborative environment that equips graduates to make positive impacts on health and society for generations to come. As Wisconsin’s only nationally accredited school of public health, we leverage our collective resources and expertise to advance health and well-being for all.

Our Values Statement

We, the faculty, administration, staff, and Students of the Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health, accept and adopt the core values of the University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee.

We are also committed to carrying out the following values in our individual and collective public health research, teaching, community engagement, and practice:

• Integrity — We cultivate and sustain trust through transparent, open, and honest communications and decision-making. We uphold standards of public health ethics* in all that we do.
• Accountability — We hold ourselves and each other responsible to the highest quality, excellence, and measurable impact in our work.
• Collaboration — We emphasize and support collaborative, interdependent, mutually-respectful engagement and relationships within our college, across our campus, and with our communities.
• Diversity and Inclusion — We welcome, support, include, encourage, and respect diverse voices, experiences, perspectives, disciplines, and approaches in our work together.
• Health Equity — We strive to eliminate health inequities through research, teaching,  community engagement, and advocacy.
• Social and Environmental Justice — We maintain an unwavering commitment to social and environmental justice, focusing our work on the fundamental, underlying requirements for healthy communities by addressing individual, structural, and institutional barriers to health.

*For example:  Thomas JC, Sage M, Dillenberg J, Guillory VJ. A code of ethics for public health. Am J Public Health. 2002;92(7):1057—1059 OR the Public Health Leadership Society’s Public Health Code of Ethics.

Our Goals

• Education Goal E1 — Educate current and future public health professionals in the science, practice, critical thinking, and leadership skills necessary to promote population health and reduce health inequities.
• Education Goal E2 — Collaborate with diverse community partners through mutual learning to increase knowledge in order to improve population health and reduce health inequities.
• Research Goal R1 — Conduct relevant, rigorous and collaborative research that advances public health knowledge and promotes population health and health equity.
• Research Goal R2 — Disseminate and translate research findings to influence the development of health- and equity-promoting policies and strategies.
• Community Engagement/ Service Goal CE/S1 — Engage with public health practitioners, policy stakeholders, and community partners through a variety of approaches to improve population health and health equity.
• Organization Goal O1 — Attract, support, and sustain a diverse student, faculty, and staff community to ensure an inclusive and collaborative work environment.
• Organization Goal O2 — Invest in people, resources, and infrastructure to foster excellence and advance the mission of the Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health.