Dr. Randy Wykoff

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the website for the College of Public and Allied Health at East Tennessee State University , located in Johnson City , Tennessee .

Those of you who are already part of the ETSU family know that this is a remarkable place. With nine colleges and schools, and an annual enrollment of about 12,000, ETSU is an energetic and exciting academic environment.

Located in the lake and mountain region of east Tennessee , ETSU's community offers great hiking, camping, fishing and other outdoor sports, as well as a remarkably active and diverse arts and music community. This all contributes to a quality of life which is unusual in a robust academic setting. For each of the last two years, Forbes Magazine has listed Johnson City as one of its top 10 small metropolitan areas to live.

The College of Public and Allied Health started as the School of Health in 1959, and boasts being the oldest Environmental Health program in the United States . In the past ten years, CPAH has conferred over 500 graduate degrees and over 1600 undergraduate degrees.

Building on its strong history, the College continues to grow and expand, with recent additions of clinical Doctorates in Audiology and Physical Therapy, a DrPH in Community Health and a PhD in Environmental Health, as well as the preparation for the first College of Public Health located in the heart of Appalachia . On-line education is an important resource, and ETSU offers a variety of degrees and certificates on-line for working professionals.

Recently, the National Rural Health Association bestowed the “Outstanding Rural Health Program of the Year” on the “Community Partnerships for Health Professions Education Program” at ETSU. To date, more than 500 medical, nursing and public health students have participated in rural community-based inter-disciplinary courses. This award, coming on the heels of the 2005 Delta Omicron Award for Innovative Curriculum in Public Health, is a significant validation of ETSU's vision of inter-disciplinary education and community-focused experiential learning for students.

There has never been a more important time to address the public health challenges of the region, the Nation, or the world. I hope you will decide that ETSU is the right place for you to acquire the knowledge, skills, and practical experiences necessary to meet these challenges.

Best wishes,