+ FOCUS ON HEALTH

Theresa Wood Lavine Division 
of Professional Studies

 

Regis launches new division that features online courses to help students acquire new capabilities and enhance existing skills in numerous disciplines.

Terry Wood Levine

In December, Regis College announced the launch of 10 certificate training programs to directly address workforce and labor shortages throughout New England’s health care industry. In February, the university announced the addition of three certificates in information technology (see sidebar on page 11). The online certificate programs are offered through the newly established Theresa Wood Lavine Division of Professional Studies, named in honor of longtime leadership donor Theresa “Terry” Audette Wood Lavine ’53. Wood Lavine’s lifetime giving to Regis totaled $1.7 million, including a realized bequest intention of $1.5 million following her passing in 2021. Wood Lavine was Regis’ first Fulbright Scholar, traveling to Germany to participate in the newly launched international exchange program. In the Fall 2014 issue of Regis Today, Wood Lavine said “the Fulbright and Regis opened my eyes to the world”—and she credited her experience abroad with helping to launch a successful, 30-year career as a global consultant. Her work included negotiation, business development, and liaison for Mobil Corporation and other major international organizations primarily in Africa and the Middle East.

“Terry was an extraordinary woman, a force to be reckoned with, and she truly loved her alma mater,” says Regis President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN. “Her generosity to Regis will make an incredible difference for decades to come and I am honored that her name and legacy will forever be a part of Regis College.”

The Wood Lavine Division of Professional Studies provides students with the capabilities and skills required to fill in-demand job vacancies across the region’s hospitals and health care systems.

“For nearly 100 years, Regis College has been proud to meet the needs of the times by offering innovative learning opportunities to traditional undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students as well as those who began a degree program, but did not finish,” says Hays. “The new Division of Professional Studies reinforces our commitment to providing pathways for upward social mobility and addressing critical workforce development needs in New England and beyond.”

The United States Bureau for Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that over 176,000 workers have left the health
care industry since the COVID-19 pandemic began in February 2020. The American College of Healthcare Executives reported in February 2022 that labor and workforce shortages are now hospital CEOs’ number one concern. In New England, the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association released a report in October 2022 that stated, “The Massachusetts health care system is in crisis” due to the fact that “an estimated 19,000 acute care hospital positions are unfilled.”

These new Regis programs intend to help alleviate this crisis by directly partnering with New England health care providers on initiatives that drive talent acquisition, skills growth, and employee retention and upward mobility.

“The increasing need for individuals qualified to provide health care to those who are ill continues to challenge our health care system as the baby boomer generation continues to age, requiring advanced levels of care,” says Wael Al-Husami, MD, FACC, FACP, Regis trustee and interventional cardiologist, medical director of international health, and a senior member of the executive health team at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center. “Regis College is renowned for providing an exemplary education, especially in the nursing and health sciences fields, forming students who are prepared to serve as skilled and compassionate health care practitioners. This new Division of Professional Studies will make impactful contributions to addressing the severe workforce shortages in the health care industry throughout Massachusetts and the country.”

Regis named David Rudder, PhD, as the university’s inaugural Dean of Professional Studies, and he started in his role in January. “I look forward to working with Regis faculty, students, and industry partners to create academic programs that are rigorous, accessible, and meet the needs of the community and the workforce,” says Rudder. “As an undergraduate alumnus of a Jesuit institution, my values and the desire to be an agent for social change align with Regis College’s mission.”

 

ENROLL NOW

Regis College’s new certificate programs are open for enrollment now and offer training in ten disciplines in high demand by the region’s health care providers and three certificates in information technology:

Health Care Certificates:

  • Medical Assistant
  • Phlebotomy Technician
  • Pharmacy Technician
  • EKG Technician
  • Patient Care Technician
  • Health Unit Coordinator
  • Allied Health Professional
  • Sterile Processing Technician
  • Healthcare IT Technician
  • Physical Therapy Aide

Information Technology Certificates:

  • Cyber Security Professional
  • Data Science Career
  • Software Developer Career

More information on these and other offerings from the Theresa Wood Lavine Division of Professional Studies can be found at professionalstudies.regiscollege.edu.