Pathways to Public Health is a health literacy initiative at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Our mission is to enhance public health literacy in all communities by intentionally increasing access to state-of-the-art public health education, training, and engagement opportunities to, thereby, create a well-positioned cadre of public health-engaged practitioners, researchers, educators, and populace that act as leaders and change agents to achieve health for all. To do so, we have various programs, such as M-SAPHIRE. 

M-SAPHIRE is the grade 9-12 program that serves to expose pre-college students to public health as a profession. Pathways to Public Health M-SAPHIRE is seeking an engaging, reliable, organized, proactive, and team-oriented individual to serve in a key seasonal role with emphasis on academic and event support for 4 weeks in summer 2025.

The Opportunity

Program Assistants are responsible for assisting with the implementation of M-SAPHIRE experiential activities. Program assistants need to be flexible and willing to adapt to unique challenges, accepting tasks as they arise. Program Assistants play a key role in supporting the M-SAPHIRE program, specifically by supporting the program, leadership, and participant needs.

The Work

1. Attend staff onboarding and staff meetings.

2. Participate in and/or guide the implementation of the following M-SAPHIRE Activities:

   1. M-SAPHIRE Family Orientation.

   2. Experiential activities with the participants during the program.

   3. M-SAPHIRE final project presentation and closing ceremony 

3. Attend all instructional sessions for M-SAPHIRE and assist the instructor during class as needed.

4. Attend all field trips associated with the program (includes walking outdoors on uneven terrain).

5. Engage and coach a small cohort of pre-college students as they complete academic tasks.

6. Assist with maintaining attendance & participation records.

7. Accompany cohort to daily lunch in the residence hall.

8. Relay emergency situations involving participants immediately to program leadership.

9. Responsible for supervising youth in compliance with U-M Children on Campus guidelines.

10. Complete U-M Children on Campus training.

11. Other tasks as assigned by the Program Director and/or Program Manager and/or Program Coordinator.

The Person

1. Must have a high level of competency in the course being facilitated as demonstrated by grades in related college coursework.

2. Have completed PUBHLTH 200 or PUBHLTH 501 by the end of the 2024-2025 Academic Year.

3. Availability to work on site during the day - typically 9:30 am - 3:00 pm, Mon.-Fri.

4. Demonstrates leadership, planning, and organizational skills.

5. Excellent oral and written communication skills.

6. Must be reliable, adaptable and conscientious in the performance of duty.

7. Commitment to increasing public health literacy in communities. 

8. Experience with mentorship of high school aged students

9. Experience with academic support for peers (e.g., tutor, GSSA, GSI)

10. Current University of Michigan student.

11. (Preferred) Currently majoring in public health, but pre-health, pre-med, sociology, psychology, a STEM field, or education field will also be considered.

Supervision Received

• Program Assistant(s) are directly supervised by the Pathways to Public Health Program Manager. The Program Director will provide secondary supervision. 

• Program Assistant (PA) continued employment is contingent upon satisfactory performance as deemed by the Program Director. There will at minimum be a weekly assessment of PA performance.

Terms of Employment

June 30 - July 2                         

• You are expected to work 4 hours per day for a total of 12 hours this week.

July 7 - July 25

• You are expected to work approximately 6 hours per day 9:30 am to 3:00 pm

• Lunch at Mosher Jordan Hall is included

• Accompany the students to various locations across campus as needed

There will be no work on July 4.

Compensation  The compensation for this position is hourly and ranges from $18 - $22 per hour depending on academic level, skills and experience. As a Program Assistant, you will be responsible for working for the entire term of employment listed above. 

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

A strength of the SPH community is its commitment to attracting, training and engaging students, faculty and staff from different backgrounds, cultures, values and perspectives. We seek to create an environment that invites and values the contributions of everyone so that we can fulfill our public health mission. Toward this end, we are committed to honest and respectful dialogue, treating everyone with dignity and respect, and managing tensions and different viewpoints with maturity, sensitivity and as growth opportunities. We view this approach to diversity as fundamental to achieving our educational, research, practice and professional development goals because it provides opportunities for us to expand our horizons, learn from each other and do our best work.  To learn more visit: https://sph.umich.edu/diversity-equity-inclusion/