DEPARTMENT NEWS Messages for our alumni, from the department chairs. Athletic Training (AT) Chair: Vicci Hill-Lombardi, EdD, ATC The Department of Athletic Training has experienced an amazing amount of challenges and change in the past 18 months. While we graduated 21 new AT practitioners in May, we advanced 22 to the second year of study. In July, we welcomed a small but promising class of nine new students. And while our five-year reign of 100 percent first-attempt pass rate (Classes 2014 through 2018) came to an end, we have maintained our 100 percent overall pass rate. Another area that proved challenging was the transition to the new IHSC facility. Beginning with packing up the classrooms and labs at the end of the Spring 2018 semester, we then moved during the Summer I semester, while classes were still in session on the South Orange Campus. Our incoming first-year students attended orientation during the second week in July, while we were still finding our way around the new building, figuring out how all the new technology worked, and how to now share all the common resources. However, we rapidly overcame any difficulties with the teamwork that alumni are accustomed to witnessing from the AT faculty. Also, the new facility presented an amazing amount of new opportunities – learning through Standardized Patient interactions, high-fidelity manikin simulation and state-of-the-art equipment. While all this was going on, the CAATE Self-Study was completed and submitted by July 1, 2018, and our Accreditation Site Visit took place in March 2019. The site visitors were simply amazed by the facilities that our students are able to utilize throughout their education, as well as with our interprofessional focus. Upon final review, we had zero citations and received another 10 years of CAATE accreditation. The entire faculty remains committed to pursuing scholarship. Professors Rippon and Maffucci continue to aggressively pursue their terminal degrees. Dr. Boergers presented at the NATA meeting in Las Vegas. As well, all
20 DIVERSITY & INCLUSION 2020
students in the class of 2019 were accepted via the NATA Foundation Free Communications call for research and presented posters at the NATA meeting in Las Vegas. All faculty presented at a national meeting, either NATA or ASHA.
Interprofessional Health Sciences and Health Administration (IHSA) Chair: Terrence Cahill, EdD, FACHE The MHA program continues to receive national recognition. In the latest U.S. News and World Report ranking, the SHU-MHA was tied for #43, showing a substantial positive movement of more than 20+ schools into the top 50 programs in the country. The MHA’s retention, graduation and placement rates continue to exceed 90 percent, ranking it favorably among CAHME-accredited schools. MHA core faculty received national awards and were selected to present nationally on topics ranging from online graduate education, competency assessment, professionalism and leadership, and population health. MHA students now can use their graduate coursework for eligibility requirements to apply for professional credentialing in the area of health finance, emergency health management, quality, project management and healthcare data analytics. Although our setting for the school changed last year as we relocated to the new IHS Campus, the PhD program mission remained the same, to prepare our students to join the scholarly conversation. Since the program started just over 20 years ago, we have graduated 112 PhD students. While our alumni include hospital CEOs, county health officers, regional VPs, leaders in the pharmaceutical industry and myriad healthcare clinicians, we are particularly proud that many of our alumni are full-time and adjunct faculty members at national and international colleges and universities. As a PhD in Health Sciences program, we have always attracted a very diverse group of learners. In fact, we currently have international students from China, Jamaica, Tanzania, Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait and Nigeria. Our international students have numbered as much as 15 percent of our PhD learning community. This student diversity fits well with our department’s Interprofessional Education (IPE) model. As the complexity of our program continues to increase and we pursue new opportunities to develop our learning community, we have formed an Alumni Advisory Board to help guide our future directions. We are grateful to those alumni who have volunteered to help us capitalize on the many opportunities that we have to advance the quality of our learning program.
Occupational Therapy (OT) Chair: Ruth Segal, PhD, OTR Greetings from the Department of Occupational Therapy Chair. Just over one year ago, the OT program moved from South Orange to the new state-of-the-art Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) Campus in Nutley. As we continue to settle in, we look forward to the 2019-20 academic year. This year will bring several exciting opportunities to our program, our alumni and the occupational therapy community. We are breaking new ground in OT education through our collaboration with the Simulation Center housed on the IHS Campus. Our students are utilizing Standardized Patient simulations to develop critical thinking, clinical skills and professionalism. As we continue to integrate simulation into the curriculum, we hope to partner with our alumni to help facilitate these experiences. I am confident their professional knowledge will enhance our students’ ability to develop the skills necessary for success in fieldwork and their careers. The department is also excited to announce that the 45th New Jersey Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference took place on the IHS Campus and drew over 200 attendees. Finally, on behalf of the Department of Occupational Therapy, I would like to thank our alumni who contribute to the education of our students both in the classroom and during
