Message from the Dean
Dr. Richard Sowell RN, PhD, FAAN
It is my pleasure to have the opportunity to introduce you to the WellStar College of Health and Human Services. The WellStar College is a dynamic and diverse academic component of Kennesaw State University. The WellStar College of Health and Human Services is composed of three academic units, the University Wellness Center, the Global Center for Social Change, the Center for Community Health Care Services, and the University Health Clinic. However, the WellStar College is greater than a collection of units. It is a College on the move making significant contributions to excellence in education, community service (both locally and globally), and scholarship. These contributions are possible due to the strong and dedicated faculty and staff that form the essence of the College. Let me now give you a brief overview of the WellStar College and some of our many impressive achievements.
The Academic Departments
The academic units housed in the WellStar College include the Department of Human Services, the Department of Health, Physical Education, and Sport Science, and the School of Nursing. The Department of Human Services has over 400 students majoring either in the undergraduate Human Services Program or the Master of Social Work Program. The undergraduate Human Services Program prepares graduates to work in a variety of human services careers such as case management and service delivery in the non-profit sector. The Master of Social Work Program offers two clinical specializations that provide advanced training in either in Child Welfare or Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention. Additionally, the Human Services Department offers an advanced certificate in non-profit leadership through the American Humanics Program. The WellStar College boasts having one of the most active and successful American Humanics Programs in the southeastern United States. Faculty members of the Department work extensively with local non-profit organizations having obtaining resources through state and federal training grants, as well as, members of the department taking a leadership role in an international collaborative to respond to natural and manmade disasters globally focusing on persons with disabilities and special needs.
The Department of Health, Physical Education, and Sport Science (HPS) boasts over 1,200 undergraduate students majoring in Health, Exercise Science, Physical Education (P-12 Teacher Education), or Sport Management. Graduates are prepared to work in the fitness/health promotion profession, as health and physical education teachers, with major sports organizations, or to go on for advanced degrees in areas such as physical therapy and occupational therapy. In addition to offering core courses for department majors, the HPS Department offers Fitness for Living, a general educational course, to over 1,700 students each semester. A master’s degree in Applied Health and Exercise Science has been approved and will admit the first class of students in the fall of 2008. The HPS Department has developed a number of international partnerships including universities in Brazil, South Africa, and the Netherlands. Faculty members in the Department were awarded a FIPSE grant to work with partners in the U.S. and Brazil to explore obesity in youth with the aim of developing an environmental model to guide future interventions.
The third academic unit in the WellStar College is the School of Nursing. The School of Nursing has approximately 500 undergraduate and graduate students. The School of Nursing offers a generic baccalaureate RN program, an accelerated BSN program for second degree students, a RN to BSN completion option, and master’s degree programs leading to certification as a Family and/or Adult Nurse Practitioner and a MSN in Advanced Care Management and Leadership. A proposal for a doctoral program leading to a DSN in Nursing Education with a clinical focus on Health Disparities has been submitted to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents for consideration. The School of Nursing undergraduate program graduates one of the largest numbers of new BSN graduates in the State of Georgia. This production of new nurses is even more impressive realizing that the School has a student retention rate of approximately 90% and consistently has high NCLEX-RN pass rates. Additionally, the graduate nursing program graduates the largest number of new Nurse Practitioners in the state with certification rates on national examinations of 99%. The School of Nursing currently offers undergraduate programs on the Kennesaw campus and at two satellite sites in Rome, GA. and Jasper, GA. Faculty members within the School are making significant contributions in the areas of HIV/AIDS research, diabetes research and education, and Latino health. The School of Nursing is the home of Project IDEAL, a project focusing on diabetes education and prevention in the local Latino community. This initiative works closely with the College Center for Community Health Care that provides health care services in the local community to persons who have no other access to health care services. The clinic has an overall client population of approximately 2,500 with the largest group served being individuals who are working but are uninsured or under insured. The Community Health Care Clinic is a nurse managed and operated clinic that operates in collaboration with other community partners such as M.U.S.T. ministries.
The Centers
A relatively new initiative of the WellStar College is the Global Center for Social Change. Headed by the College’s Associate Dean for Global Initiatives and Community Partnerships, the Center has a number of exciting projects and partnerships. The Center for Leadership is currently funded by the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Department of Education to implement programs focusing on the support and development of persons with disabilities through sport. One such program is partnering with BlazeSports America, Inc., the legacy of the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, to work with youths with disabilities in Egypt. Additionally, the Global Center has established a partnership with the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities to develop an International Center for Disability Rights. These are just a few of the exciting programs being undertaken by the Global Center. I invite you to contact the WellStar College’s Global Center to find out more about these and other projects being implemented.
The University Wellness Center is housed in the WellStar College of Health and Human Services. The unit is responsible for developing and implementing health and wellness programs for the 20,000 plus students at KSU. The Wellness Center has developed a peer education program and works closely with Student Life to provide students with a wide variety of educational programs. Such programs include alcohol awareness programs, HIV/AIDS education and testing in conjunction with the University Clinic, dietary counseling, and violence awareness and prevention. The Wellness Center through it extensive efforts and programs are a vital component of Student Life at Kennesaw State University. Additionally, the Wellness Center operates the University Employee Fitness Center. In addition to a well equipped private gym for faculty and staff, the Center offers a number of aerobic and exercise classes to assist members in gaining and/or maintaining their highest level of physical and cardiac fitness.
Last, but certainly not least, the WellStar College operates the University Health Clinic. The WellStar College developed this clinic as a result of KSU becoming a residential campus after many years of being a commuter campus. With the advent of new housing on campus, there was a need to provide comprehensive health care services on campus. The University Health Clinic serves students, faculty, and staff with services provided to as many as a 100 patients per day. Nurse Practitioners that hold faculty status make up the primary staff of the Clinic. However, the Clinic employs a medical director and offers a variety of specialty services provided by part-time physicians. The Health Clinic staff serves as the resident experts on vaccination and preventive treatment for students and faculty that are traveling out of the United States for service and/or educational purposes. The success of the Health Clinic and the quality of the services it provides is underscored by the fact that in less than five years the clinic has outgrown its current facility and planning for a second campus clinic is underway. We are very proud of the high level of health services the Health Clinic provides for the KSU community, as well as, the educational support provided by the Clinic in the education of Nurse Practitioner graduate students.
The Future is Bright
The future of the College is bright. We are currently designing a new $60 million Health Science Building which will be the new home of the WellStar College. This state-of-the-art building will provide a quality facility that will support our dynamic faculty in achieving even great achievements in the years to come.
I have only been able to scratch the surface of the significant educational and community services provided by the WellStar College. The College represents excellence in education, community service, and applied scholarship. It is an honor to be the Dean of the WellStar College and to work with faculty and staff of over 80 professionals.
I invite you to visit and learn more about an outstanding College that will continue to make its mark on the Health and Humans services offered in Georgia, the nation and globally. Our best is still ahead of us. Come see for yourself.
