College of Allied Health Sciences

The College of Allied Health Sciences had a boom in college enrollment last fall with a total of 1,266 undergraduate and graduate students, a significant increase to the college student total of 823 reported in autumn 2004 and 579 from autumn 2003.

Gilbert Hageman, associate dean, says distance learning will continue college growth plus address UC|21 directives to provide pathways for transfer students. In autumn 2004, the college introduced the online bachelor’s degree completion program in clinical laboratory science for students who had already completed their associate degrees. Hageman says this program addresses a “serious need” for baccalaureate-level professionals who perform laboratory procedures that help diagnose, treat and prevent diseases. “We were going to need to enroll 100 students for the program to be financially viable for the college. The program now has 375 students and we expect to eventually fill the program to 500,” he says.

The online bachelor’s completion program in health information management, added in winter 2005, is aimed at attracting students who earned their associate degree. Hageman says that in only three academic quarters the program has enrolled over 75 students.

“As part of UC|21, we want to become the college of choice for transfer students in the allied health sciences. Distance learning is a viable option for students from around the state and the country who can’t leave their jobs and their families to travel miles to a college classroom,” Hageman says. “These students are a little more focused than the traditional college student and very dedicated. Their retention is very high.”

In fall 2005, the college added a master’s degree in speech-language pathology, targeted to specific groups of Jewish women in New York and Israel. Nancy Creaghead, head of the department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, says this is an extension of past programs that have targeted a specific need to address personnel shortages in the field. This program is assisting a cohort of students in which individuals may be traveling back and forth between the U.S. and Israel. Creaghead says the distance learning format also allows faculty to adapt to the learners’ religious schedules and family needs that add to the challenges of attending classes in a traditional classroom, in addition to cultural concerns about the context of attending school. Through distance learning, Creaghead says this cohort of students is gaining expertise with their own peers in their own community.