An initiative introduced by McPherson College and McPherson Hospital with a focus on community health sets out to become a new model for community health care in rural areas.  It features a new enhanced health science degree at the college with a wide variety of hands-on educational opportunities thanks to a partnership with the hospital.

Working together toward healthier communities is the goal of the partnership. The partnership will provide opportunities for student learning and community outreach with the intent to create a new model for rural community health in Kansas. There is more to a healthy community than just treating people who are sick, explained McPherson College President Michael Schneider.

“We are looking at this from a holistic, patient-centered approach to health care in rural communities,” President Schneider said. “In small communities, you need to be resourceful uncovering ways to build a healthy community. It includes everything from mentoring at-risk youth to making sure our elderly citizens are safe when they return home from a hospital stay. It also includes solving our challenges to provide good mental health support and treatment for all. This partnership will put our students out in the community working with support from McPherson Hospital to solve these challenges.”

The new degree and partnership was announced August 29 at McPherson College where Rep. Roger Marshall, M.D., spoke about the importance of working together to support rural health.

“Health care, like many industries in Kansas, struggles to find qualified employees,” said U.S. Congressman Marshall. “I served as an OBGYN for more than 25 years and understand the need to find and retain hardworking, qualified medical staff. Partnerships and educational opportunities like the one announced today are an important step in meeting the health care needs of all Kansans and creating educational opportunities for those who want to live and work in rural America.”

The joint initiative aligns the college and hospital to provide students access to its facility resources and people for internships, field experiences, observation, and clinicals. The cooperating effort offers students opportunities for real-world experiences in all aspects of health care delivery, and develops a workforce pipeline for the hospital and other health care agencies across the state as students graduate from the new program. One of the first efforts the new initiative will pursue is a survey of all the health related opportunities available for students in Central Kansas.

“The delivery of health care and the needs of consumers have changed dramatically over the years and are likely to continue,” Terri Gehring McPherson Hospital president and CEO, said. “By combining our resources, talents and expertise we have the opportunity to accomplish so much more than we can individually to address these needs.”

President Schneider add, “Our organizations face similar challenges. This partnership allows us to work together with common goals. The primary focus of the college is creating pathways to careers in community health for our students. By working with the hospital, we also have the ability to provide signature outreach programs for some of the most vulnerable populations of any community, such as at-risk youth and the elderly.”

Last year, the college conducted an environmental analysis that included community focus groups with more than 60 area health professionals and community leaders participating. The research uncovered opportunities for developing an enhanced health science degree focused on health careers as well as support for a college and hospital partnership.

“The concept of partnering makes a lot of sense,” John Worden, chief operating officer at the hospital, said. “It became clear as we discussed the possibilities that we can unite and work together in a way that improves the health care delivery model and provides educational opportunities for students.”

Over the next 10 years the U.S. Department of Labor projects a 10-20 percent growth in careers related to community health. In Kansas, community health careers in telemedicine, telehealth, behavioral health, health care administration and community health planning are in high demand. Locally, a Community Health Needs Assessment, conducted annually by the hospital, prioritized the need for more mental health resources and services.

Kansas is among states with the highest number of rural hospitals and greatest shortage of health care professionals of all types, according to the National Rural Health Association. Additionally, according to the Kansas Hospital Association, more than 25 percent of the state’s population lives in rural areas.

“In the focus groups, we observed amazing community support for both the college and hospital,” Gehring said. “Participants were excited about the potential partnership and asked how they could help. This reinforced why McPherson is such a great community. We work together with a shared vision of success.”

Curriculum for the new degree will be offered beginning in the fall of 2020. The degree is designed for students who want to study in the field of health care while participating in outstanding internship opportunities which allow them to give back to the community. For more information about the community health degree program, please contact McPherson College admissions at [email protected].

McPherson College is starting the 2018-19 academic year positioned to have the best enrollment in the history of the college. As classes begin for students, full-time equivalent enrollment is 775 and overall student retention is 80 percent, the strongest numbers ever.

“The best indicator of quality is when people keep coming back,” Michael Schneider, president of the college, said. “Our students recognize that McPherson College offers high quality academic programs that lead to success after graduation. No other schools in the Midwest report higher placement rates, and in several of our programs students are finding jobs in their field prior to graduation.”

Liz Thornton, a junior from Karval, Colorado with a student-designed major in business, communication, and theatre, appreciates having opportunities within her major that will lead to future success. Thornton plans on a career as a manager of a professional theatre company. Working as a stage manager and lighting designer beginning in her freshman year gave her valuable experience and opportunities to grow as an artist, she said.

“I get to learn while I am doing,” she added. “It’s very exciting and I don’t think I could do that anywhere else.”

Other students like Erica Almaraz, a senior from Fontana, California majoring in health science, and Angel Salmeron, a junior from Dodge City, Kansas majoring in biochemistry, both to point to quality academic programs and support from faculty and staff as reasons for their success at McPherson College.

“At a liberal arts school like McPherson College, it has helped me knowing that I have choices and options and can still graduate on time,” Almaraz said.

“I have options to succeed here,” Salmeron said. “My advisor is like a parent to me and the professors always want to help you learn and succeed. I have friends from bigger schools calling me to help them with their organic chemistry.”

The entire college began focusing on retention more than four years ago when it partnered with the Kansas Leadership Center to find strategic solutions to increasing student retention. Using the framework provided by the KLC, the college began exploring adaptive solutions to its retention challenge. By implementing practices that focus on the needs of students, the college began seeing results.

“We have seen a steady enrollment growth since 2014. Our enrollment this fall has increased by more than one hundred full-time students since that time,” Christi Hopkins, vice president for enrollment management, said. “We have made improvements to freshman orientation and other student support resources that have made a positive impact on our students. Our faculty and staff are focused on student success and it has really made a difference.”

There are other signs of progress on campus too. Financially, the college finished its 2018 fiscal year on budget and experienced one of the best fundraising efforts in many years. The college continues to meet the highest ratio on the U.S. Education Department’s financial-responsibility test when many schools struggle or fail to meet the department’s standards.

Several facility updates were also completed before the beginning of the academic year. Two classrooms were completed in the lower level of Melhorn Hall to accommodate the business department, and the exterior of Dotzour residence hall was repainted and new blinds were installed throughout the entire building.

McPherson College was also recently recognized by the Chronicle of Higher Education on its list of “Great Colleges to Work For.” This is the fourth year the school has appeared on the list and the third year the school has received honor roll selection. McPherson College was the only Kansas school included on the list. The Chronicle of Higher Education, the nation’s top trade publication for colleges and universities, surveyed more than 250 institutions nationwide. Only 84 institutions were selected for the “Great Colleges to Work For” list, and only 10 of those made the Honor Roll in the small-college category.

The Chronicle Names McPherson College to 2018 ‘Great College to Work For’ Honor Roll for the 3rd year in a row.

McPherson College is a great place to work and it’s been confirmed by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The 11^th annual report on The Academic Workplace named McPherson College to its “Great Colleges to Work For” for the fourth year in a row and to its Honor Roll for the third year in a row.

The Honor Roll is an elite group of institutions that are standouts within their respective enrollment sizes. McPherson College was the only Kansas college to make the Honor Roll list and the only Kansas college included on the report.

“All of us work very hard to make McPherson College a great college, and it’s exciting to be recognized again this year by one of the country’s leaders in higher education,” McPherson College President Michael Schneider said. “The fact that we’ve earned this distinction four years running – and three times been named to the Honor Roll – speaks volumes about the strong, collaborative relationships among our faculty, staff, and administration.”

President Schneider points to programs like the Horizon Faculty Fellow that encourages entrepreneurial faculty, the college’s health insurance plan that has not had a premium increase for several years, and annual pay raises, as reasons why people like working for McPherson College.

“I like that the college gives faculty freedom to design our own courses. I think we’re better teachers because we can find our own way to teach our subject,” Dr. Kim Stanley, professor and chair of modern language at McPherson College, said. “That freedom helps us to reveal our passion for our subject, so students can better connect with us and with what they’re learning.”

While this is the college’s third year on the Honor Roll, it is the college’s fourth year overall to be named to the Great Colleges to Work For list. This year, it was one of only five institutions nationwide to earn top honors in 11 or more of the report’s 12 categories, which include areas like compensation and benefits along with work and life balance.

“One of the things that attracted me to McPherson College was the fact that they were listed on the Great Colleges to Work For Honor Roll,” Khalilah Doss, vice president of student life, said. Dr. Doss oversees student experience and started working at the college prior to the fall of 2018.

“Our campus truly values the importance of faculty and staff having a healthy balance between work and home. This level of harmony is critical to my success as an employee as it allows me to do a job I love while being able to be present for my family. One of the most amazing feelings to ever have is showing up to a space that makes you feel welcomed, supported, valued and wanted. The McPherson College leadership has figured out how to create this environment for all staff and faculty.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education – one of the nation’s top trade publications for colleges and universities – surveyed 253 two-year and four-year institutions nationwide. Only 84 institutions were selected for the Great Colleges to Work For list, and only 10 of those made the Honor Roll in the small-college category.

“Making the Honor Roll for the past three years is a great accomplishment,” Brenda Stocklin-Smith, director of human resources, said. “The quality of our pool of applicants has improved, which is a direct result of being named to this prestigious list. Many of those who now apply tell me they knew of McPherson College because of this recognition.”

McPherson College was also singled out in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s special issue on the workplace in an article that focused on creating community. In the article, McPherson College was cited for its monthly campus “huddle,” which replicates a town hall meeting, and for its Campus Communicator, a weekly newsletter for faculty and staff.

“We’re all working toward the same goal—to provide a life-changing educational experience for our students—and are given a great deal of autonomy on that journey,” Ben Coffey, associate dean of students, said. “It helps that we’ve got some pretty great people here, so our colleagues become a family.”

Community is central to McPherson College’s identity, according to President Schneider. “As our college community continues to work through the challenges of an intense yet innovative strategic plan, Community by Design 2021, faculty and staff are actively implementing our plans. Community by Design drove decision making and much of the work we did over the last year. In addition, we did all of it while balancing our operating budget and maintaining our overall student retention. By working together, these plans will nurture the creative processes to sustain innovative academic ventures that will shape the future of our residential campus community.”

Great Colleges to Work For is one of the largest and most comprehensive workplace studies in higher education. For more information and to view the survey results, visit The Chronicle’s website at: https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/greatcolleges18.