The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) has been busy recently.
At the end of February, it bid farewell to Kennard Brown, Ph.D., its longtime executive vice chancellor and COO. Then, earlier this month, the institution named Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) veteran Paul Wesolowski as its first-ever vice chancellor for strategic partnerships.
And in mid-April, it’s set to open the $45 million Delta Dental of Tennessee building.
Those are also just a few examples of what it has been up to. Here’s an inside look at some of the other decisions the flagship medical institution has made, in a UTHSC research roundup.
A new fundraiser
Less than two weeks after announcing it had hired Wesolowski, UTHSC has unveiled the name of another new leader.
The institution has tapped Brigitte Grant to be its vice chancellor for advancement. Currently the associate VP for development at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), she’ll start at UTHSC on May 1. She takes the place of Charles Deal, the vice chancellor of university advancement at the University of Tennessee at Martin, who had been serving as interim vice chancellor.
“Philanthropy is now a top priority at UTHSC,” said chancellor Dr. Peter Buckley, in a press release. “UTHSC is on our way, and Brigitte has the skills, leadership, and passion for our noble mission to lead the charge alongside her dedicated team.”
Grant had an eventful tenure at UTHealth, where she played a key role in its completion of a $500 million campaign — in part by helping the school establish over 100 new endowments and score a $25 million gift.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she joined the institution in 2019, after working as the senior associate vice chancellor of development at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Grant has also worked as the director of development at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, and she spent more than 20 years with the Children’s Home Association of Illinois.
She has a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and an MBA from Bradley University. She joins UTHSC at a time when its advancement team has significantly raised the amount the school fundraises.
Since December 2022, UTHSC has grown its fundraising by more than 331%, and it’s already eclipsed its year-end fundraising target. As UTHSC’s VP of advancement, Grant is also slated to join the UT Foundation team that supports all University of Tennessee campuses.
Three new College of Nursing partners
Wendy Likes, the dean of the College of Nursing at UTHSC, will tell you that Tennessee had a shortage of nearly 16,000 nurses in 2021.
She believes that initiatives like the Partnership Enrollment Programs (PEP), however, are a way to combat the shortage. And now, the PEP is expanding.
The College of Nursing has added three new colleges to the PEP, bringing the total to eight. The new schools are Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee; University of Tennessee Southern in Pulaski, Tennessee; and Dillard University in New Orleans. And they join Northwest Mississippi Community College, Southwest Tennessee Community College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Rhodes College, and the University of the South as members.
But what exactly does the PEP do for these schools?
It provides admission to various programs for their students, if they meet GPA meets requirements.
“These partnership programs are critical to creating streamlined approaches for individuals to enter the nursing profession to mitigate this dire shortage,” said Likes, in a press release.
The College of Nursing provides two paths to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). One is a 12-month, accelerated BSN for students who have completed a bachelor’s degree in another area of study, and one is a four-semester, traditional BSN for students who have earned a designated associate degree from another college.
Students from Lane College, Northwest Mississippi Community College, Southwest Tennessee Community College, and LeMoyne-Owen College are guaranteed admission to the traditional BSN program if they earn a 3.0 GPA, complete a designated associate degree, and have taken the needed science prerequisites. And students from Rhodes College, the University of the South, LeMoyne-Owen College, Lane College, and UT Southern are guaranteed admission to the accelerated BSN program, if they earn a 3.0 GPA, and complete a bachelor’s degree and the necessary science prerequisites.
The UT Southern PEP applies to two specific degree programs — biology and public health education — while the Dillard University PEP is specifically for students seeking advanced nursing degrees, like the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and the Ph.D. in Nursing Science.
