Illustration by Kyle Talley; images via Adobe Stock
Start the Presses
VUU partners with publisher to push student success beyond the classroom
Virginia Union University is raising the scholarly bar through a new partnership with Townsend Press, which will require all graduate and undergraduate students to contribute to an official publication to get their degrees.
The mandate will take effect in the 2026-27 school year, and various forms of contribution will be allowed. Those in master’s and doctoral programs will fulfill the requirement by publishing manuscripts and dissertations. Undergraduates, however, can meet the requisite in several ways, including publishing original research or creative work, peer-reviewing, and more.
“It really runs the gamut, which is what we love so much about this opportunity for our students,” says university spokesperson Kimberly Dickerson. “It really is wide open as to how they can contribute and then get not only the credit, but the exposure to the process and more people being able to see their work.”
University leaders spearheaded the partnership with the Townsend Press division of the Sunday School Publishing Board, which is the official publisher of the National Baptist Convention and one of the nation’s largest, most established Black-owned publishing entities. The goals are to foster a culture of academic excellence beyond the classroom, expand research visibility and give students a leg up in experience as they enter the next phase of professional development.
“It is really important that we think about how we serve students holistically,” Dickerson says. “That’s the rigor in the classroom, providing socioeconomic mobility opportunities, [and] in this instance, giving them a differentiator in their learning and with employers in terms of the rigor that goes into publishing.”
Originally established in 1865 to provide educational opportunities for formerly enslaved people, VUU will be the first historically Black university to launch a partnership of this nature.
“The learning in going through the process is immeasurable,” Dickerson says. “We think it adds to the depths of knowledge that they will receive while at Virginia Union University.” —Audrey Polverari
VCU School of Nursing instructors are themselves highly qualified; Amy Burlar holds registered nurse and doctoral degrees and additional certifications. (Photo courtesy VCU School of Nursing)
Switching Lanes
Virginia Commonwealth University adds a fast-track nursing degree to meet growing demand
As career paths go, there are no sure things.
Today, nearly two-thirds of Americans view a four-year college degree as not worth the investment, according to an NBC News poll released in November: 63% agreed that graduates are more likely to leave college without specific job skills and a mountain of debt.
Except when it comes to nursing.
Thanks to an aging populace and a national shortage of registered nurses, community colleges and four-year universities can’t turn out nursing graduates fast enough. To meet the demand, many are attempting to expand their offerings and academic programs to accommodate more students.
Few colleges have been as active as Virginia Commonwealth University, which is adding a new fast-track master’s degree in nursing — 20 months of instruction for second-degree students — that begins in the fall 2026 semester. The program is geared toward late “career switchers,” explains Mark Tanner, associate dean of academic affairs for the VCU School of Nursing.
“They bring a depth of knowledge with them, from whatever they have been doing previously,” Tanner says of older students. He’s seen all sorts — engineers, attorneys, law enforcement and military officers — enter the nursing program at VCU. “It makes the profession stronger. Their perspectives are really something that helps the profession grow.”
As sure bets go, VCU’s nursing program has a “100% job placement rate,” says Alex Fisher, assistant director of recruitment for the school. VCU students also have a 97% pass rate on the NCLEX exam, the federal licensing test for RNs.
The problem? Growing classroom capacity is increasingly difficult. Virginia, in fact, has one of the largest supply-demand gaps in the country, according to the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, which projects a statewide shortage of 25,670 registered nurses for the current year. That unmet demand limits clinical opportunities — it’s harder for a shorthanded staff to take on students — as well as the number of nurses available for faculty positions. Nursing instructors often earn less than practicing RNs, which makes it difficult to grow class sizes.
Patricia A. Kinser (left), dean of the VCU School of Nursing, celebrates a graduate at the school’s December 2025 commencement ceremony. (Photo courtesy VCU School of Nursing)
“Nursing is in such high demand, many hospitals are offering five-figure signing bonuses for new nurses,” Fisher explains. Even as VCU has grown its capacity — in 2020, the school enrolled 135 first-year nursing students; this year, there are 310 — it still turned away hundreds of qualified applicants.
The master’s program is essentially the same as the bachelor’s program at VCU, but with more leadership training and better access to financial aid. It’s often easier to obtain student loans for master’s degrees than for additional bachelor’s degrees.
But while money is important, Tanner says it’s not the best reason to become a nurse. Burnout is real, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A passion for helping people is a must.
“People that I see burn out the most are the people who are really only there for the money,” he says. “If that’s the only motivation, the cons can outweigh the pros.” —Scott Bass
Photo courtesy Bryant & Stratton College
Room to Grow
Bryant & Stratton College makes a midyear shift to a larger campus
Who knew a short move could make a big difference? Administrators at Bryant & Stratton did. Earlier this year, the career-focused private college migrated 2 miles north from its founding location on Hull Street Road to the multistory Marwaha Tower 1 at 101 Gateway Centre Parkway in North Chesterfield, driven by a need for a larger, updated campus.
“We had been at our former location on Hull Street Road for over 30 years, and it was important to move as we just outgrew our space,” says Bryant & Stratton Market Director Beth Murphy. She cites increasing enrollment as the main reason behind the move; since 2020, the Richmond campus of Bryant & Stratton has grown by 60%, according to the college.
The previous campus was located in an adjacent shopping center and included rented buildings. At 53,000 square feet, the Marwaha Tower location increases the college’s educational space and allows for new additions, including classrooms, study areas and simulation labs for students in the nursing and medical assistance programs.
“It is incredible technology that allows our students to have these controlled clinical experiences in the safety of the classroom, before they go out to a clinical site,” Murphy says.
With 80% of students at the Richmond campus enrolled in the nursing program — the primary driver of enrollment growth in recent years — the new facilities are designed to provide the hands-on experiences those students need before joining the workforce, Murphy notes.
“It’s not enough just to graduate nursing students; we have to make sure they’re prepared,” she says. “The majority of our graduates are staying in our area, working for our local hospitals. They’re going to be taking care of us, so we want to make sure that we’re giving them the best experience, from the classroom to their clinical experiences to the employers that they’re working with. It’s critical that they have a top-notch experience.” —Kevin Johnson
Photo courtesy Katrina Walker
Making the Grade
Virginia State University’s clinical health program earns maximum accreditation
Accreditation from the American Psychological Association is rare among historically Black colleges and universities, but a Richmond region clinical health psychology program recently earned that accolade.
“There’s a need for more African American psychologists,” says Katrina Walker, director of the clinical health program at Virginia State University in Ettrick. “We’re happy to be able to contribute to that pool.”
Walker says getting the accreditation was a “rigid, intense” and years-long process that involved several site visits. The APA also conducts reviews, including evaluating the program’s required self-study that assesses the competency of its students.
Reviews from the APA were mostly “favorable,” Walker says, and the program had no real deficits, as evidenced by the 10-year accreditation — the maximum length the association can award and an indicator of a strong program.
Available since 2008, psychology is the only Ph.D. program at VSU. Its candidate pool grew while the program was listed as an APA applicant; since receiving accreditation, Walker says, inquiries have poured in. Programs with APA accreditation are coveted more than ever by both employers and students, she adds.
“Our students were getting licensed even coming from an unaccredited program, but they had to go through a vetting process,” Walker says. “The process now is merely applying and saying they’ve graduated from an APA university.”
Ph.D. candidates at VSU will be able to participate in additional training opportunities, such as practicums and predoctoral internships. For internships, VSU students are competing for spots against psychology students nationwide, Walker says, and the new status makes them more competitive.
Although federal requirements to recognize diversity no longer apply, Walker says that as the program grows, the commitment will grow with it. “Being an HBCU, we really place emphasis on making sure our students can work with diverse populations. And we consider individual differences in our work,” she says. “We’re excited to be able to do that.” —Mia Debelevich
