The 2014-2015 academic year officially began on August 25th and brought with it a distinctly new feel to the Virginia Science and Technology Campus. Innovation Hall is now home to over 180 accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing students from the GW School of Nursing (SON) and 150 pharmacy doctoral students through our partnership with Shenandoah University.
The students join our full-time graduate students from the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences (CCAS) and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) who are engaged in specialized research programs throughout the campus. These full-time daytime students participate in a variety of student activities, service clubs and community outreach programs in addition to their class and clinical or research loads.
A total of six of GW’s schools and colleges are currently offering 20 academic degree and certificate programs on Campus. These include the SON and SEAS, as well as the School of Business (SB); Graduate School of Education and Human Development (GSEHD); School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SPHHS); and the College of Professional Studies (CPS).
The Campus launched its first cohort of the successful CPS bachelor’s degree completion program in Integrated Information, Science and Technology this semester, which draws students from the regional ICT business community, as well as Northern Virginia Community College. A new GW Cyber Academy is also under construction and will open its doors to working professionals in late 2014.
The student body will continue to expand in the coming months as new programming from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences will be added in 2015 with the launch of the Post-baccalaureate Pre-medicine Certificate Program, the newly redesigned Pharmaceutical Sciences Program (formally pharmacogenomics), and additional health science programs in bioinformatics and medical lab sciences. Teaching labs for these programs are currently being constructed which will enhance the student activity and engagement throughout the VSTC.
Current enrollment growth is anticipated in the health science, information technology and cyber fields, due to program growth and new academic offerings designed to meet student interest and workforce demands.