Two FPG scientists play integral role in Interprofessional Graduate Certificate in Improvement Science & Implementation
Two senior research scientists at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) play an integral role in the new Interprofessional Graduate Certificate in Improvement Science & Implementation offered at the UNC School of Education. Caryn Ward, PhD, director of the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) at FPG, and Melanie Livet, PhD, NIRN Implementation Research Lead and adjunct faculty at the School of Pharmacy, serve as co-instructors for the graduate certificate program’s third course, Implementation and Equity. Ward also sits on the program’s advisory board. The program, which was several years in the making, was created in collaboration across multiple schools on the UNC campus, led by program director Lora Cohen-Vogel, PhD, Frank A. Daniels Jr. Distinguished Professor at the UNC School of Education Program.
Launched in spring 2023, the certificate program is designed for both graduate students and practicing professionals interested in systems change work, improvement, and implementation for schools, hospitals, social service agencies, community clinics, and nonprofits. This blended program, with on-line asynchronous lessons and six to eight weekends of face-to-face project-based learning, is designed to be completed in 12 months. The next cohort begins in January 2024, with applications being accepted on a rolling basis until the limit of 20 students is reached.
This spring semester, students will enroll in Change Leadership & System Improvement, followed by Rapid Prototyping during the Summer 1 session. During these first two classes, each participant will: identify a community partner and problem to address; conduct a needs assessment and root cause analysis of the problem; generate ideas around strategies for improvement; and co-design a prototype, putting the strategy into action with the community partner. All the courses center equity and view the content with an equity lens.
By the time certificate students begin Implementation and Equity in the fall semester, they will have received initial feedback from their community partner on their solution prototype. In their class, Ward and Livet share research-based implementation strategies and frameworks to help students put their solutions into action and implement them. The students’ implementation plans include a measurement component so that they can collect data on how well their prototype is, or is not, working. Based on this data, participants revise their plan and/or prototype and implement it again. This applied course enables students—in close collaboration with their community partners—to apply the principles, strategies, and methods of what experts know to be best practice from the field of implementation science.
“I enjoy teaching because I can combine my practice of working with agencies to build their capacity in high-quality implementation with my applied research to students’ learning,” says Ward. “In teaching, I also learn and grow.”
Ward and Livet are passionate about implementation. Ward is immersed daily as she helps state agencies and local communities with their implementation work. In addition, as a self-described “scientist practitioner at heart,” she is involved with research as well as practice. “I enjoy teaching because I can combine my practice of working with agencies to build their capacity in high-quality implementation with my applied research to students’ learning,” says Ward. “In teaching, I also learn and grow.”
Livet is focused on infusing and testing implementation science best practices to optimize real-world impact, with a focus on healthcare and public health. As an applied methodologist, she conducts research and uses data to improve practices that can have a meaningful impact on patients’ and clients’ well-being. “Teaching others how to use implementation data and design tests of effectiveness to improve programs, interventions, and other innovations is a critical aspect of growing an implementation-savvy workforce,” says Livet.
“It is wonderful to see how teams from various disciplines can learn from each other by sharing their experiences with implementation concepts and applications throughout the course,” says Livet. “It makes for a uniquely rich learning environment.”
The first cohort was comprised of master’s and doctoral students from UNC’s schools of education, public health, and dentistry. In addition, professionals employed by FPG and UNC Hospitals and educators from North Carolina public schools were part of the mix. The certificate faculty expect the upcoming cohort’s students to bring a variety of backgrounds to the learning, leading to rich conversations and diverse perspectives. “It is wonderful to see how teams from various disciplines can learn from each other by sharing their experiences with implementation concepts and applications throughout the course,” says Livet. “It makes for a uniquely rich learning environment.”
The community partners working with the first cohort of students span a broad spectrum that included: local school districts; groups within the UNC Hospitals system; and a rural North Carolina community that was a desert for prenatal care for women. Ward expresses her appreciation to these partners, noting their active involvement in the process, without which the certificate program would not be successful. She says that the program, in addition to providing an applied learning opportunity that meets a need in the community, has a direct impact on its community partners by providing them solutions they can continue to develop, use, and implement. In addition, the graduate certificate program fosters UNC Chapel Hill's mission of giving back to the state of North Carolina and strengthens relationships between UNC and the local community.
“The graduate certificate program also allows FPG to collaborate with a range of schools within the broader UNC community,” says Ward. “One of our goals in FPG’s strategic plan is to foster and build coalitions and collaborations with UNC faculty. This certificate program is an example of us doing that on behalf of the Institute.”
