Due to the breadth of the degrees offered, the more balanced rank of faculty members and, most importantly, the global reach of the school, the Department of Health Management and Informatics received approval to become the School of Global Health Management and Informatics. The designation is effective May 10.
“The school will strengthen our ability to train globally minded and locally engaged future leaders in healthcare.”
— Su-I Hou
The department was created in 2008 and moved to UCF Downtown in 2019 when the campus first opened. With a strong downtown presence and proximity to major healthcare partners, such as Advent Health and Orlando Health, the UCF Downtown campus gives students opportunities to immerse themselves in the healthcare industry. The location also extends community engagement and collaborations for faculty members’ research and service-learning projects.
The new school designation provides an opportunity for continued growth in the form of academic research centers or institutes.
“We’re excited because the school designation elevates our visibility and broadens our mission capacity for greater reach and impact, both locally and globally,” says Su-I Hou, interim school director and professor of health management and informatics. “Healthcare is among the fastest-growing occupations with strong job markets. The school will strengthen our ability to train globally minded and locally engaged future leaders in healthcare.”
Over the past few years, the research and academic aims have expanded to include health policy and global healthcare. A recent survey conducted by the College of Community Innovation and Education found that over 40% of the school’s faculty reported international expertise or ties to more than 50 countries across the globe.
Faculty members are experts in a range of areas, including public health, global healthcare, health policy, long-term care, healthcare leadership and health informatics. In fact, the health administration programs at UCF are one of the largest accredited programs in the country, according to the Association of University Programs in Health Administration and the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education.
Given the connections of the faculty members, the school can not only contribute to global healthcare and informatics research due to these international and interdisciplinary perspectives, but also to extending this knowledge and experience to students in the form of study abroad opportunities.
The school currently has partnerships with universities in Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Georgia, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates. Through these intercultural global exchanges and short-term study abroad programs, students learn about that country’s healthcare system and policies and are given the opportunity to compare to U.S. policies and systems.
“The new name of our School of Global Health Management and Informatics better acknowledges the reach of engagement of the community with which our faculty, staff and students work in issues related to health management, administration and informatics,” says Pamela Carroll, dean of the College of Community Innovation and Education. “We are proud of the many global connections that exist within the school today and look forward to expanding our impact further as the name, and our work, becomes even better known.”
The School of Global Health Management and Informatics has three health service administration degrees and two informatics degrees, all of which include undergraduate and graduate-level academic programs. The bachelor’s of health informatics and information management and master’s in healthcare informatics are available fully online. The school’s faculty members also support the interdisciplinary doctoral program in public affairs and the state of Florida’s first healthcare risk management licensure program.
