University of Mary Washington - Index

University of Mary Washington - summer08 - Index

HCA Capital Division, predicts that HCA employees will
feel the same. “The complexities that rule health care
delivery today embrace many different dimensions – legal,
regulatory, financial, organizational, and others,” he said. “A
program that gives students a strong background in these
interdependent disciplines is certain to benefit them in a
variety of health care settings.”
The target audience for these new UMW programs lies in
hospitals around Fredericksburg and as far away as Culpeper,
Fauquier, and Prince William counties, as well as in physician
group practices, outpatient care centers and clinics, independent
practitioners, and other health care organizations.
Local industry representatives were consulted as UMW
faculty developed the programs, and the University’s Board
of Visitors gave its approval early this year.
About 10 Virginia universities offer certificates or degrees in
health, health care administration, or health care management,
according to the State Council of Higher Education for
Virginia. The UMW program, designed to prepare graduates
to lead in health care environments of different sizes and
structures, varies from most others because it offers health
North Carolina colleges, including The University of North
Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and UNC-Wilmington. When
the opportunity arose to develop an MBA program in health
care management at UMW, Asper jumped at the chance. “The
prospect of formulating this program from scratch greatly
appealed to me,” she said.
Fortunately, her housemates did not object to the move.
These include a 26-year-old cockatiel and two Belgian
Tervuren show dogs. A longtime dog-agility and obedience
instructor, Asper gained years of entrepreneurial experience
as owner of a company that offered training and behavior
consultation.
A business veteran familiar with small enterprises, big
corporations, and everything in between, she draws on her
diverse background in the classroom. She expects students to
emerge from the health care management programs wellprepared
to manage any setting – regardless of its size and
organizational structure.
“Health care has many different environments, from
hospitals to large group practices to independent health
practitioners,” Asper said. “We need to prepare people for all
of them.”
– Christine Neuberger
Christine Neuberger is news information coordinator
at UMW's College of Graduate and Professional Studies.
care management as an MBA concentration, Heffner said.
“The MBA is the bread and butter of the business world,
and it would offer more career options and flexibility,” added
Elaine M. Asper, the faculty member hired to design the
program and serve as the key instructor. (To learn more
about Asper, see the sidebar “Program Developer Boasts a
Healthy Collection of Credentials.”)
MBA students also benefit from working with other
business students with different professional backgrounds
and experiences, she said.
Reynolds, who enjoys taking classes with other working
adults, has a husband who helps out as she juggles demands
on her time. By balancing work and studies, she knows she’s
serving as a model for her teenage daughter, who is now a
community college student.
“It’s helpful for my daughter to see me working full time,
going to school, and keeping my grades up,” Reynolds said.
“Now my goal is to attend class full time and continue to
work full time. I do feel the need to get this done. I look
forward to seeing how my new knowledge will benefit me
in the future.” d
New GIS Opportunities Point
Students in the Right Direction
In an effort to prepare students for another fast-growing
field – geographic information science (GIS) – UMW will
begin offering a GIS certificate this fall at its College of
Graduate and Professional Studies in Stafford County. The
five-course certificate will combine GIS theory with realworld
scenarios to give students the knowledge needed to
succeed in this highly-specialized area and to prepare them
for careers in a wide range of fields, including public health,
planning, and business marketing.
Students at both the Stafford and Fredericksburg
campuses will be able to pursue the GIS certificate as part
of a bachelor’s program. UMW also will offer GIS as a sixth
area of concentration for the Bachelor of Professional
Studies, the degree-completion program available at the
Stafford campus.
The concentration or certificate, when combined with
field experience, can lead to GIS professional certification,
a credential offered by the independent, non-profit GIS
Certification Institute.
Learn more about GIS opportunities at www.umw.edu/gis.
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