College of Charleston establishes School of Health Sciences

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Health care employment is expected to grow by 16% between 2020 and 2030, faster than the average of all other occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The growth would add 2.6 million health care jobs nationwide, with 30,000 needed in South Carolina alone.

To meet demand for qualified workers not only in the region but nationwide, College of Charleston has established a School of Health Sciences.

“Most health care professions require a graduate degree, and thus undergraduate programs throughout the state serve as an essential pipeline to the graduate professional programs at MUSC,” said Dr. Zoher Kapasi, dean of the College of Health Professions at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Kapasi, College of Charleston President Andrew T. Hsu joined Suzanne Austin, the college’s executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, and David Ginn, Charleston Regional Development Alliance president and CEO, at an on-site announcement Jan. 27.

“The pandemic has certainly reinforced the notion that for human society to operate at optimal levels, we need more and more of our top minds working to improve human health,” Hsu said. “I’m pleased that the College of Charleston is taking this important step to create a new school of health sciences so that we as a state and as a society may be better-positioned and better-resourced to address future public health challenges.”

The new school will open in the fall and will provide CofC the opportunity to engage not only with other medical programs, but with local companies, businesses and economy, Hsu said.

Initial discussion of the program began in the last year as the pandemic highlighted the importance of continuing to make advancements to human health and training the next generation of health scientists and practitioners, Austin said.

“The future of higher education is and always has been about developing and delivering academic programs that enrich and improve the lives of students and society,” she said. “The college’s new School of Health Sciences will do just that by offering health science programs designed to prepare our students for careers that will improve human health.”

As the school strives to become a national university renowned for its liberal arts innovations, a health sciences program fulfills several strategic goals regarding student success, academic distinction, innovation and strategic partnerships, Austin said. In particular, the school will allow CofC even more opportunities to collaborate with MUSC to create a pipeline of students into MUSC’s academic and research programs.

“We want to develop more programs in public health care, and then we want to grow student enrollment,” Hsu said. “We have probably 700 students (pre-enrolled), and I wouldn’t be surprised if, in four years, we topped that.”

From a regional economic standpoint, Ginn said the new school makes the Lowcountry even more competitive when attracting companies and talent to the region. One of CRDA’s strategic focus areas is life sciences, and the School of Health Sciences now gives Charleston a significant advantage, he said.

“What’s so important in that sector, if you’re going to compete globally and attract the best companies in the world and the best talent, is you have to have a pipeline of workforce talent that’s not only coming out of the College of Charleston but feeding strategically into the graduate programs at Medical University of South Carolina,” Ginn said.

When classes begin this fall, students will learn in existing facilities, while officials look into building new spaces and acquiring new facilities, Hsu said.

The school is forming a group to develop proposals for the new program, Austin said. The process could take about two years, she said.

An internal search for an interim dean of the new school also will begin soon. As for other staff members, the school will hire a minimum of faculty initially based on the school’s existing public health classes, officials said. As new programs are developed, new faculty will be hired.

“This is an area that is increasingly in high demand, and it’s also an area that Charleston is growing, or at least targets for future growth,” Hsu said. “My hope is that College of Charleston will play an important role in that.”