natural state, but it remains open to the public, with the paved cart paths retained for accessibility.
Ties to health systems The university collaborates with two
major health systems: Winchester-based Valley Health and Inova, to train nurses, pharmacists and other health-care pro- fessionals. New programs announced last year at the Inova Center for Person- alized Health in Fairfax County focus on emerging fields, such as pharmacoge- nomics — the study of how genes affect a person’s response to drugs. Specialized health-care training also
includes the nursing school’s new Patient Navigation Certificate for licensed registered nurses, which is based on a program developed by Inova Health System.
The program focuses Darsch director. She says the program’s techniques
already have shown cost and health benefits for patients who are followed by a trained professional. “Patients no longer fall through the cracks,” she says by email. Fitzsimmons says such collabora-
tions are mutually beneficial for the health systems and the university. The partnerships help SU expand programs for which there are demonstrated needs, resulting in jobs for graduates and employees for health systems. SU might be best known for its con-
servatory and health programs, she says, but it also is investing more in the liberal arts in a way that cuts across majors. For example, a program might bring
in a community expert to explore human trafficking in a forum involving students from a wide range of disciplines. A busi- ness major, for example, might address the economics of the problem, while a nursing student would discuss the impact on the body, and a creative writ- ing student would write a poem. “That’s really about celebrating the
www.VirginiaBusiness.com VIRGINIA BUSINESS 77
on training nurses as “navigators” to coordinate patient care, especially for those with complex and chronic conditions, says Lisa M. Darsch, a faculty member and the program’s
breadth of learning — the opening of minds, which is the heart of liberal learn- ing,” she says.
$145.7 million impact The university has a $145.7 million
annual economic impact on Winchester and Frederick County, according to a 2016 study by the consulting firm TischlerBise. The university’s presence supports about 1,570 jobs, an increase of 230 jobs and $56.2 million in economic impact since 2010.
But Fitzsimmons says that’s not the
full story. “It’s important to say Win- chester is our home, but our backyard extends all the way to Washington,” she says.
And whether they are in a bank, a
hospital or on stage, Shenandoah alumni “are the people who keep this country going,” she says. They have “useful, rel- evant degrees” that prepare them “to do good in the world.” “I think that’s the magic of our
story.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
