More than 70 college and university programs offering academic studies for students interested in entering long-term care administration are featured in the first ever Vision Centre reference directory. Its publication was announced Tuesday.
“The main goal of this directory is to help raise awareness and connections, and help stakeholders find vital information about different academic programs across the country,” President and CEO Douglas Olson, PhD, told McKnight’s.
The Vision Centre: Leadership Development for Aging Services is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising the levels of higher academia offerings nationwide. The directory comes quickly on the heels of the group’s establishment as a 501(c)(3), the naming of a full-time president and CEO and the establishment of a 30-member advisory board.
One of the center’s founding goals is to help establish 25 university and college programs and 1,000 paid internships with senior housing, care and service providers, associations and industry partners.
Featuring institutions coast-to-coast, the directory will build in more detail and functionality in the weeks and months ahead, center officials said.
“One of the common questions from senior care and service organizations is who the right universities or colleges are to work with to help grow their senior living leadership talent pool, and the same is true of universities and college that are looking for the right business partners to support their academic programs,” explained Chris Mason, president and CEO of Senior Housing Managers, a Vision Centre board member, and the chair of its directory subgroup. “These are organizations that don’t necessarily connect, and we believe this will help and be used as a resource.”
The directory includes a description of each program, its student-to-faculty ratio, number of students, accreditations, partnerships, curriculum, field experience, and contact and website information.
Joining Mason in the creation of the directory were fellow committee members David Wolf, PhD, chairman and professor at Lynn University; Randy Lindner, CEO of the National Association of Boards of Examiners of Long Term Care Administration; Nancy Swanger, PhD, founding director of the Granger Cobb Institute for Senior Living at Washington State University; and Shay Van Eyl, a University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student, who worked on this project for the last six months.
What’s next
“We are not going to let perfection get in the way of progress,” said Kiki Beschorner, associate director of operations for the Vision Centre. “We know there will be updating requests to this directory information from participating universities. We also know that there will be programs that will want to be added. We know this is long overdue information for our field.”
Beyond administrative upgrades, the directory is expected to be updated twice a year.
In June, the Vision Centre will hold its fifth annual symposium in Chicago. In 2019, 20 programs were represented and two years later, the number was up to 35. Organizers’ goal is to have 50 in attendance this year. Other future activities are expected to include a faculty webinar April 12.
“We are seeing continued progress and growth in the number of sponsors that both appreciate and understand the need to change the landscape of senior living leadership education at universities across the country,” Olson said.
Last week, the Kendal Corporation became the latest contributor, pledging $75,000 toward the Vision Centre’s efforts.
The center is endorsed by eight major long-term care associations and professional groups: the American College of Health Care Administrators, the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, the American Seniors Housing Association, Argentum, LeadingAge, the NAB Foundation, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice and the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.
