UJ PROGRAMS ON FARGO CAMPUS OFFER PROGRAMS FOR MIND AND BODY

The University of Jamestown campus in Fargo will welcome a Master of Arts in Leadership to the current successful Doctorate in Physical Therapy program in January. The university continues to grow by recognizing student needs, as well as that of business and non-profit sectors, and what will make the world a better place.

The campus in Fargo means the school continues its dedication in innovation and offerings―truly a liberal arts university.

Nancy Nuzzo, Ph.D., came from a distinguished career in Illinois to develop the new doctoral program in physical therapy. With 36 charter students, 35 of whom will graduate in the spring, she developed a team approach that means there are now 107 students from several cities and states.

The foundation and strength of the doctoral program in physical therapy provides a good model for Lonnie Pederson, director of the new Master of Arts in Leadership program, also housed at 4190 26th Ave. S., Fargo. The charter students for the leadership program will enroll in January. Both women had successful careers and were happy where they were. These new opportunities lured them to be the innovators, developers and educators for the two programs.

“Our program has an emphasis on the community,” Nuzzo said. “We are not competing with other programs. Our students must do 50 hours of community service. They work at the Family Healthcare UJPT Pro Bono Clinic, Bethany Homes, TNT Kid’s Fitness and with Kiwanis.

Students get a feel for working with all ages.

“Sometimes people think physical therapy is massage. It is not. We do soft tissue mobilization but we do so much more. The body is interconnected and our students learn how to work with the whole person,” Nuzzo said.

“We’re happy we have veterans and under-grads from many schools. UJ has a good undergraduate program,” Nuzzo said.

Students must have already earned a bachelor’s degree. At UJ they have eight semesters with 34 weeks of clinical education.

The program is working through the accreditation process and has been granted the Candidate for Accreditation Status by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Nuzzo expects a fall 2015 on-site visit.

“We have a good, thorough program,” Nuzzo said.

Education for the whole person is a theme both program directors call important.

“Leadership is a journey for the whole person,” Pederson said. “Just as students in the physical therapy program work as a team, students in leadership will help each other.

“Think of the synergy around a table with people learning, integrating, reflecting and applying new knowledge to leadership, “ Pederson said. “Leadership is an ever-evolving narrative. Now we have the right time and the right model to deliver.”

“We will have intensive, face-to-face classes and online interaction. We can accommodate busy professionals in non-profit and business environments.

“Our faculty will act as facilitators, helping pro - vide learning-filled, rich experiences,” Pederson said.

“The diverse life and work backgrounds will help us explore both the nature of leadership and the practice of leadership.”

She is an enthusiastic product of the cohort learning experience. As an adult learner, she travels almost seven hours to and from the University of St. Thomas where she is completing her doctorate.

Education and innovation are important to the foundation of both these programs.

President Robert Badal said because of new masters programs and the physical therapy doctorate degree, it was decided in 2013 to rename Jamestown College the University of Jamestown.

He said the university continues to prepare students for rapidly changing environments.

The devotion to a liberal arts education is clear with a walk through the Fargo campus.

A colorful, two-panel painting at the front door depicts people in many forms. Scenes from William Shakespeare’s “Seven Ages of Man,” a parallel that shows the link between body and mind, education and moving forward, hang just around the corner. In “As You Like It,” Shakespeare lists the stages as infancy, school boy, teenager, young man, middle aged, old man, with dotage and death as one.

The doctoral program in physical therapy and the Master of Arts in leadership both address issues in ways that makes graduates agents of change, initiating vision in an ever-changing world.

Nancy Nuzzo, nnuzzo@uj.edu; Lonnie Pederson, Lonnie.Pederson@uj.edu T. “Mic” McCrory, tmccrory@uj.edu