.Uean
rublic Health
One University Place
Rensselaer, New York 12144-3456
.nt venture with the
,ew York State Depanment of Health
Jn affiliation with Albany Medical College
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
September 24, 2003
Carlos E. Santiago, PhD
Provost and Vice President
For Academic Affairs
University at Albany, UAB 400
1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12222
Dear Provost Santiago;
5 181402-0283
Fax: 518/402-0329
I am requesting your approval of our plan to merge this School's Departments of Biometry &
Statistics, and Epidemiology into a single Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
We are eager to combine these two departments due to the very small size of the Biometry &
Statistics Department that currently consists of two full-time professors, supplemented by a few
adjunct faculty. All additional reason for this request is that it is a very common practice in
schools of public health to have a single department representing these two related disciplines.
Furthermore, the unification of these disciplines into a single Department, supported by a
combined faculty component of seven full-time faculty, will also be well received by our
accreditation organization - the Council on Education for Public Health. Dr. David Strogatz,
Chair of the Department of Epidemiology has assumed the responsibilities of Interim Chair of
Biometry & Statistics since the retirement last year of the immediate past Chair of this
department - Dr. Uoyd Uninger. We have seen that this structure can work, and you have my
assurance that faculty in both departments support this merger.
We presented the proposal for merger to our Faculty Council at their meeting last week and
received unanimous support (see enclosed letter from Dr. Timothy Hoff, Chair of the SPH
Council). Wrth this strong support from the Faculty Council and the support of Dr. Strogatz, I
now request permission to take such action.
Should you need additional information, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Peter J. Levin, SeD
Dean
Encl.
Cc: pr. Strogatz
lo)~ & mow rn1n1
IJI)
SEP 2 5 2003 ~
PROVOST AND VICE PRESIDENT
FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
-- -
_,of Health Policy,
~nt and Behavior
Rensselaer, New York 12144-3456
, of Public Health
,~.Jint venture with the
~ew Yolk State Department of Health
To:
From:
Subject:
Date:
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Peter Levin, Dean /
Nancy Persily, Associate Dean
Tim Hoff, Chair, SPH Council~
Support for Proposed Merger of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Departments in the School
September 22, 2003
This is to inform you that the School ofPublic Health Faculty Governance
Council discussed the proposed merger of the Departments of Epidemiology and
Biostatistics at its monthly meeting on September 20, 2003.
Subsequent to that discussion, and at that meeting, we considered and voted
unanimously in favor of a motion ''to support and endorse the proposed merger",
believing as a council that there is sound logic for doing it rooted in a combination of
curriculum, resource, and student-related justifications.
Please let me know if there is anything further you need from the Council in
relation to this proposed action.
"'
'
5181402-0333
Fax: 5181402-0414
