Annual Report 2016-2017
Dear Friends of the School of Health Sciences,
During the academic year, great progress was made in achieving strategic outcomes in support of health equity, curricular innovations and community engagement. With the Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Health Disparities (CEEHD), support of the health equity theme was evident in student-led projects. Each department completed a program review to assure that the health equity theme was prevalent in curricular and co-curricular learning activities. Deliberate steps were taken to identify opportunities to promote technology usage in the classroom. Our faculty supported many students in completing their scholarly projects and community engagement continued to be a signature aspect of service via the mobile unit, student-led clinics and other outreach programs. Departments identified creative ways to promote study-abroad opportunities to enhance student learning about different cultures and ways to promote health equity in underserved communities in the US and in international settings.
A special acknowledgment is given to those programs that supported faculty development in competency-based education (CBE). The Department of Health Care Management and the RN to BSN program made curricular modifications that identified competencies for students to study at their own pace. Both programs were approved for CBE pilots during the next academic year. Students can potentially shorten the time to degree completion and save tuition costs.
Our students continued to be highly successful on licensure examinations reached and or exceeded national benchmarks. Over 90% of nursing students and 100% of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Students passed their licensure examinations. We were rated as the number one institution in North Carolina and number eight in the nation for graduating Black students in the Health professions.
We expanded partnerships in support of students desiring to study abroad. Our partnership with the University of the Western Cape will support students’ participation in a summer program during the summer of 2018. Similarly, our partnership with Hubei University of Chinese Medicine will provide nursing students the opportunity to study abroad. Our outreach in Egypt and Saudi Arabia is leading to opportunities for more students to enroll in online education.
We are grateful for the continued support of our donors and partners in accomplishing strategic goals
Sincerely,
Peggy Valentine, EdD. FASAHP
Dean, School of Health Sciences
