It is my pleasure to introduce you to Mount Union’s new College of Natural and Health Sciences. The beautiful thing about being the Founding Dean and being new to Mount Union is that I can share some of what I have discovered that helps students “Be Exceptional.”
The College is home to natural science majors in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, environmental science, neuroscience, physics, psychology and a minor only program in sustainability.
Health science programs include undergraduate majors in exercise science, human development, and nursing, and graduate programs in physician assistant studies and physical therapy.
What makes Mount Union’s College of Natural and Health Sciences an exceptional choice to launch the next phase of an education? One thing – the faculty.
Their office doors are open – unless they are in the field, or a lab, or a clinic with our students. And students quickly learn the value of the access they have, as mentoring helps students build not just a transcript, but a resume reflecting the experiences gained from the opportunities they offer. The impacts are real; please take a second to look at few examples below.
As you can see, part of becoming ‘exceptional’ at Mount Union stems from experiential learning that is generated by faculty for students. Finally, want to draw your attention to a fundamental feature of a University of Mount Union education that I believe is extraordinary.
In addition to thoughtfully designed programs you’ll see described throughout this site, students participate in our signature Integrative Core. Too many students, family and the public feel such ‘general education’ has little value – it is simply the ‘stuff’ colleges make them do. In truth, we faculty fail to effectively demonstrate the powerful toolkit developed when studying across widely different content areas. Simply put, while a major gets graduates to their first job, the mindsets and skills developed outside of it get you promoted, as well as professionally and personally fulfilled. The IC challenges students across their 3 or 4 years to look back and forward at the same time – to figure out what they have gained and what they still need.
But most important of all, students discover what motivates them. What will become what I refer to as the ‘brain candy’ that keeps them happy and satisfied with all areas of their lives, so that like their faculty and other mentors across campus, they leave Mount Union vibrant and innovative.
College of Natural and Health Sciences Highlights
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Psychology
Mount Union psychology graduate Dr. Katrina (Hermetet '08) Lindsay was the first intern at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism. She is currently a pediatric neuropsychologist running a Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention program for children who have Tourette Syndrome. One of her professors, Dr. Sarah Torok-Gerard just coauthored a textbook on Educational Psychology.
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Exercise, Sports, and Nutrition Science
A senior exercise science major won best undergraduate poster at the International Society of Sports Nutrition conference in Las Vegas in June 2019. It was for the project Quantifying Similarities and Differences of Wearable Activity Trackers in University Students. Faculty in exercise science hold patents to improve human performance by embeding micronutrients nutrients in every day food items.
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Physics
Physics major Joseph Winiecki '18 landed a major Department Of Energy internship and spent a semester doing research at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York to improve electro-optic measurements of stimuli on their Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.
Physics graduates in the past 5 year have gone on to graduate work at The Ohio State University, Michigan State, Utah State, Cleveland State (medical physics), University of Buffalo and Miami University. Why are graduates landing in great grad programs and internships? Maybe because faculty have written multiple National Science Foundation grants to include computational physics and data science in both classes and research.
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Nature Center
Our Huston-Brumbaugh Nature Center, just a few miles down the road, purchased 69 new acres this year, to add to the existing 160, that have been set aside as a “research reserve.” The Nature Center offers a Brumbaugh Scholars program - a funded summer research internship in which students design a project to take on with a faculty member.
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Chemistry and Biochemistry
Since 2010, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has had 101 graduates (up 150% from 2000-2009). Of these:
- 23% went to medical school. This represents a 96% acceptance.
- 22% went to other professional schools in the healthcare
- 18% went into Ph.D. programs
- 13% earned their master’s degree
- 26% went to work directly in industry
Chemistry considers itself an “AND” department. 25% of our graduates were student-athletes and 15% were involved in the music or theatre programs.
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Nursing
Nursing is still a new program at Mount Union, having just graduated its 3rd class in 2019. However, its NCLEX licensure passage rates have been extraordinary, with a 98% first time pass rate and 100% overall. The program has already gained traction in the region, and our graduates have become a highly desired commodity given their reputation for compassion and curiosity.
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Graduate Programs
Mount Union’s Physician Assistant Studies Program has a first time 97% pass rate on board exams. Faculty and students are researching the best ways to teach Ultrasound techniques to PA’s, and each year faculty and students travel to Guatemala to provide primary medical and general surgical care to people in remote fishing villages during a term break.
Our PA graduates are working in every imaginable setting: in pediatric neurology, inpatient medicine, and cardiothoracic and orthopedic surgery to name but a few.