Fizzy Business - Regis College

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REGIS TODAY
Build, Send Forth, Do Not Hold Back
Regis College has come a long way since 9/11, when the destruction of
the World Trade Center towers in New York labeled our campus a temporary
civil defense shelter for Weston residents. In a changed world,
my own Regis education informed my message to campus the next day:
Today and in the months to come we assert more firmly our educational
mission, our commitment to understand, to teach, to act, to seek
the deeper wisdom of faith and knowledge…. Our preparation for the
new world that has overtaken us is actually already in place…. To
build and not destroy, to send forth and not hold back, to move to the
next integration….
Five years later, on August 31, 2006, the next integration was taking
shape. Regis had passed the halfway mark of this transformational
This fall Regis has the
decade, and the argument was clear: To thrive in the 21st century,
largest freshman class Regis had to grow. The “Case for Growth” became our strategic plan.
in its history.
This fall Regis has the largest freshman class in its history (300),
and nearly 90 percent of the class wants to live on campus. For the
first time in over a decade, the budget shows a bit of a surplus. Since
2007, the number of young men choosing Regis has grown, this year reaching a milestone:
Regis men constitute 30 percent of the class of 2014. The national passage of health care
reform has advanced the cause of nurse practitioners and nursing faculty, stimulating enrollment
in our master’s and doctoral programs. Enrollment in Health and Regulatory Policy,
Health Administration, and Radiography master’s programs has taken off. Recognizing our
leadership in nursing education, HRSA this year has awarded Regis College Nursing over
$900,000 in scholarships and nursing faculty loans for master’s and doctoral programs.
Faculty in our two Schools are opening fresh approaches for Regis students—pairing
sociology and religious studies in a course on spirituality and community service; examining
the theology of the workplace; matching English and theater; developing the communications
of health care; dovetailing a public health minor with myriad majors—and beginning
to embrace the interdisciplinary Pathways of Achievement that will help students reach
their professional goals. At the same time, faculty are nearing completion of an assessment
method that outlines “signature” assignments for students and helps them develop a portfolio
of accomplishments measuring their advancement.
In 2010, Regis is a co-educational, intergenerational, graduate and undergraduate campus
where women and men athletes belonging to the New England Collegiate Conference (2011)
emphasize both academic achievement and sportsmanship. A campus where the Children’s
Center, kindergarten, and Lifelong Learning program connect children, traditional-age
college students, young adults in the workforce, and seniors from the neighborhood in the
adventure of learning.
The search for a new president of the College is well underway, and a new studentcentered
Regis website is bright with the faces of undergrads and graduate students, young
and mature, diverse and multicultural women and men. The precarious 21st century finds
Regis positioned to succeed with its mission of educational excellence, service and leadership.
Mary Jane England ’59, M.D.
PRESIDENT
dear
neighbor