摘要：Curricular change is essential for maintaining vibrant, timely, and relevant educational programming. However, major renewal of a long-standing curriculum at an established university presents many challenges for leaders, faculty, staff, and students. We present a case study of a dramatic curriculum renewal of one of the nation’s largest Master of Public Health degree programs: Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. We discuss context, motivation for change, the administrative structure established to support the process, data sources to inform our steps, the project timeline, methods for engaging the school community, and the extensive planning that was devoted to evaluation and communication efforts. We highlight key features that we believe are essential for successful curricular change. Many commentators have noted the need for public health education to be dramatically updated to address 21st-century health challenges 1–15 (Begg MD, Fried LP, et al., unpublished manuscript, 2015). As described in two earlier articles, 3,4 the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health took on this challenge and spent several years designing and then implementing a new Master of Public Health (MPH) curriculum. The rationale for this effort and the ultimate design of the new MPH (the why and the what) are thoroughly reviewed in the earlier articles. In this article, we articulate how we approached the process of radical curriculum change, with a view to providing guidance on change management and evaluation and communication strategies for such a significant undertaking.
