“In an effort to meet the area’s pharmacist shortage, we have teamed with the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy and now offer a new pre-pharmacy program,” says Dr. JoAnne M. Podis, vice president for academic affairs. “This partnership gives us an opportunity to address a specific community need for pharmacists and make a direct and positive impact.”
Other programs that have recently been launched or enhanced include political science, accounting and industrial organizational psychology. And, for the fifth consecutive year, the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers has named an Ursuline student as Baccalaureate Social Work Student of the Year.
Recently, Ursuline introduced Ohio’s only master of arts in historic preservation, which is credentialed by the National Council for Preservation Education. The National Historic Trust collaborated in developing this program, which includes an optional bridge program, enabling undergraduates to earn both a bachelor’s degree and master’s in just five years.
Ursuline’s four-year bachelor of fine arts program, which is typically offered exclusively at arts colleges, is an ideal option for students who want to become professional artists but who would also like to attend a liberal arts college. Concentrations are available in ceramics, drawing, graphic arts, metals, painting or print making.
Podis is equally energized by the Ursuline sports teams, named Champions of Character by NAIA for the past two years. “Our students play sports with integrity and ethics,” she explains. The college has recently been named a Champions of Character Program Center, one of only two programs in Ohio to have achieved this distinction.
As a Catholic liberal arts college focusing on the learning needs of women, Ursuline has one of the highest enrollments of students of color in Northeast Ohio.
To many, the greatest reward is that by graduation day, 70 percent of the Class of 2005 had found employment. The national average? Forty-five percent.
