Message From the Dean

It’s no secret that the school has undergone tremendous and consistent growth during the past several years. New programs have been added, established programs have transitioned or expanded, and our student enrollment has steadily increased. Each month seems to bring with it more new faces as we rush to meet the staffing demands that come along with our growth.

Integral to sustaining this growth is the continued support and participation of our alumni. During the most recent spring and fall campaigns, increasing numbers of alumni have generously responded to our requests for financial support. It is gratifying to see that so many of you are invested in the future of the school. Your donations have enabled us to purchase equipment that our students would otherwise do without, provided scholarship opportunities and allowed students to attend conferences. In short, your continued involvement in the school has enriched the educational experience of the healthcare providers of tomorrow. Their continued success serves to benefit all of us, and with you as a model, I am confident they will become active alumni as well.

In this, our first electronic newsletter, you will have an opportunity to read more about fellow alumni and the programs from which you graduated. We are delighted to offer this information to you in electronic format, and hope you will check back with us from time to time for further updates. We’ll be adding to this edition in the next few weeks as we fine tune and expand our offerings. As we move forward, we expect to offer both Spring and Fall editions which will enable us to have frequent and regular contact with you. This new format will also provide you with a simple way to let us know what’s going on in your lives, and we hope you will take advantage of this option.

The inaugural edition of the newsletter is also an ideal time to share with you some of the more exciting undertakings of our faculty. As you will see, we have expanded our reach beyond the campus borders, as we all broaden our horizons. Several have traveled to remote corners of the globe, and their efforts have brought international recognition to themselves, the school and their professions.

During the past year, for example, Prof. Candace Golightly (CLS) visited Africa on five separate occasions, serving as an ASCP (American Society for Clinical Pathologists) representative in a collaborative program between the CDC and PEPFAR to improve laboratory testing for AIDS. Prof. Donna Costa, (OT) spent ten days in Ukraine, providing health care services to disabled children and their families, an experience in which she hopes to involve OT students in the near future.

Finally, I am proud to announce the establishment of the “International Center for the Prevention and Management of Chronic Disease”. With an emphasis on health and education, government and community intervention and social and economic sustainability through technology, the center will focus on helping governments and communities care for the increasing population of individuals with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, obesity, HIV/AIDS, and STD’s. The development of this center will enable us to address the challenges of population health and well being in reference to the global epidemic of chronic disease. Our immediate plans call for the development of strategies and policies for the prevention and management of chronic disease; to develop community based programs for the prevention and management of chronic disease; to develop educational programs to disseminate best practice, and to disseminate scientific information and outcome studies. In 2007, we expect to establish an interdisciplinary PhD program for Allied Health Professionals, Nurses, etc.

As you can see, the School of Health Technology and Management continues its pursuit of excellence in education as well as healthcare. The nation’s healthcare system continues to evolve, and we have been successful in our response to and anticipation of those changes. With your participation and encouragement, we will continue to be at the forefront and produce the healthcare leaders in whom we will entrust ourselves and our families.