This is the sixth in a 10-part series about the current and future state of each undergraduate college within Boston University after President Robert Brown and Provost David Campbell assumed their new positions.
With a new dean and expanded programs throughout the college, Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences is looking to expand its presence on campus and its prestige in the national scope.
When Dean Gloria Waters assumed the position in January 2005, she said she had specific goals that she wanted to achieve for her school, which she said corresponded with the ideas of the Sargent faculty.
“We have five nationally ranked programs at the graduate level,” she said. “We want to strengthen and grow our undergraduate programs here at Sargent.”
Waters said there has been and will continue to be major changes in the role of Sargent’s undergraduate programs as the trend in the health care professions shifts from focusing on bachelor degrees to more advanced master’s and doctorate degrees.
Physical Therapy Program Director Diane Dalton said the major changes taking place in the physical therapy program include the shift in students going out into their profession with a doctorate instead of an entry level master’s degree, which had been the trend in the past.
“We are phasing out the master’s degree program in favor of the doctorate,” she said.
Sargent, which is home to physical therapy, athletic training, occupational therapy, human physiology, nutrition and other health care-based programs, has seen an increase in its prominence at BU and nationally as individuals become more health conscious, professors say.
“The nutrition program has seen tremendous growth,” nutrition professor Joan Salge-Blake said. “We have built a very strong undergraduate program and are reaching out to students and the BU community to educate them about diet and lifestyle choices.”
Sargent has recently increased its presence around BU with last semester’s introduction of “Sargent Choice,” a food line which provides students with healthy food alternatives to dining halls and off-campus restaurants.
Waters said she is enthusiastic about Sargent’s expanding role at BU. “We are working on making Sargent a bigger part of the BU community and having the BU community embrace the school by making a contribution to the community and putting into practice the things we teach here,” she said.
The Second Annual Sargent College Healthy Lifestyle Challenge, which kicked off Oct. 3, aims to make students proactive about their eating habits and lifestyle choices.
“I think the Challenge is great,” graduate student Kristen Dionne said. “It’s a great new way to help students get healthy.”
Internally, Sargent’s strength lies in its relatively small size and excellent faculty, graduate student Jennifer Hale said.
“It’s a very small, selective school,” she said. “The college is very challenging and very competitive.”
Graduate student Katrina Griffth said the close environment makes the learning environment more specific.
“We have a very small school and it’s very tight-knit,” she said. “The faculty has a close relationship with their students. You’re not just one of a number here.”
Professors at Sargent cite the strengthening of their individual programs and having a highly motivated and selective student body as the major accomplishments of the college.
Human physiology and exercise science professor Gary Skrinar said the administrative changes and strengthening of his program in the past few years has contributed to the continued growth and success of the department.
“We could use more enrollments,” he said. “We have an excellent program for pre-med.”
Sargent junior Rachel Cloutier said Sargent is the best place to be for her future medical school plans.
“I was originally in the [College of Arts and Sciences],” she said, “but I wanted something that would get me on a faster track. This is the best place to be. The curriculum is very hands-on and it gets you in touch with people faster.”
Dalton said the faculty at Sargent is looking to develop the leaders for the future of the health care profession.
“I think the college is in the process of developing a plan for where we see ourselves in the future,” she said. “We are in the beginning stages with the new dean and new administration. I think it is the mission throughout the college to produce the leaders and innovators for the future in all health care-related fields.”
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