Officials at St. Vincent”™s College in Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield have approved a management agreement that will make the 763-student Roman Catholic school in Bridgeport a division or subsidiary of the 8,500-student Roman Catholic university in Fairfield County.
In the first step of the management agreement, Sacred Heart will take over daily operational functions at St. Vincent”™s, whose curriculum is limited to associate degree programs in nursing, radiography and general studies and three online bachelor”™s degree completion programs in nursing, radiologic sciences and health care administration. “Sacred Heart will provide administrative oversight and staffing for admissions, IT and student affairs,” said Michael Gargano, president of St. Vincent”™s College.
“A small niche institution like St. Vincent”™s College generally does not have the financial resources to invest in infrastructure to provide administrative services,” Gargano said.
The agreement will allow St. Vincent”™s students to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees at Sacred Heart”™s College of Nursing. Sacred Heart”™s nursing students in turn will be able to access and receive training at in-patient clinical sites within St. Vincent”™s Medical Center, the Bridgeport hospital that runs St. Vincent”™s College. The medical center is owned by Ascension Health, the nation”™s largest nonprofit and Catholic health system.
“This is exciting,” said Mary Alice Donius, dean of nursing at Sacred Heart. “We are talking about developing new clinical education models. This is an opportunity to pilot ideas and work together.”
Donius said the management agreement will not include a faculty exchange between the schools, nor will Sacred Heart make changes to the St. Vincent”™s curriculum or management. “The legacy of that nursing program is critically important to the people there,” she said.
The eventual absorption of St. Vincent’s will require accreditation and regulatory approvals. For Gargano, consolidation with Sacred Heart was especially important because both schools share a Roman Catholic heritage. Sacred Heart was founded in 1963 by the Diocese of Bridgeport while St. Vincent”™s traces its roots to the Daughters of Charity in 1905.
“It is important for the college to maintain its historical mission,” Gargano said, noting the Daughters of Charity”™s initial focus on providing medical care to lower-income and immigrant communities. “We want to maintain our Catholic identity and responsibility to serve the less fortunate in the Bridgeport metropolitan area.”
