The top three goals for the Fordham School of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) in 2010-2011 were: to forge a new identity for the school, to develop new curricular initiatives, and to establish stronger relations with the faculty and chairs of departments at the three campuses.

Photo by Kathryn Gamble

PCS made much progress on all three of these fronts. The new identity of PCS is closely tied to its emergence as a center for new programs and educational opportunities.

Already, the school launched a new program, Professional Studies in New Media. Centered at the Westchester campus, the program will join the new bachelor of arts in business from last year. The program in new media draws on resources across different schools and departments: the Graduate School of Business Administration, the Graduate School of Education, and the areas of computer science, communication and media studies, and organizational leadership.

In the area of health sciences and management, the school has taken a modest but critically important step: the creation of a post-baccalaureate, pre-medical program. This series of courses is directed at graduates who would like to apply to medical school but lack the proper undergraduate preparation. Offered in the evening, the program’s courses are necessary for any pre-health track. The program also serves as a foundation for the school’s development of new programs in health management and health services.

In online education, the school has focused its efforts on developing an in-house online course development process under the leadership of Steve D’Agustino, Ph.D., the new director for online learning at PCS. Working with the Office of Instructional Technology and Academic Computing (Fleur Eshghi and her staff), D’Agustino has created a strong model for online course development throughout the curriculum, including core courses. The school’s initial goal is to have 15 new online courses running by the end of the 2011-2012 academic year. After that, the goal is to develop five to seven new online courses a semester. Within another year there should be at least 30 online courses available to students every semester, and this number will continue to grow. These courses fill the minute they are offered and prove to be a great attraction for prospective students—who always ask about online course offerings. These will enhance the overall appeal of PCS.

Finally, in the area of curricular changes, the school proposed a revised core curriculum for its students that will continue to undergo revision based on the helpful comments of the Arts and Sciences Council. A revised draft is scheduled to be presented in the 2011-2012 academic year.

The successful development of the school’s new identity and of these new curricular initiatives also depends upon the school’s forging stronger and clearer relations with faculty and chairs across the different schools and campuses. One extremely important step in this direction is the creation of a faculty council particular to PCS. With its new identity, its strong inter-school and inter-departmental relations, and its ambitious new programs, PCS is poised to become a flourishing and energetic school within Fordham University and, perhaps more importantly, within the larger world of non-traditional higher education.

Fordham School of Continuing and Professional Studies
At a Glance

PCS By The Numbers

Acceptance rate: 73.0 percent for fall 2010
compared to 80.2 percent in fall 2009 and
61.4 percent in fall 2005

Prestigious fellowships and awards: 1
compared to 1 and 0 in the two previous years, respectively

Number of degrees conferred: 141
124 bachelor of arts and 17 bachelor of sciences
compared to 144 in 2010 (125 BAs and 19 BSs)
compared t0 83 in 2006 (68 BAs and 15 BSs)

Total enrollment: 860 (fall 2010)
compared to 820 in fall 2009 (a 4.9 percent increase)
compared to 692 in fall 2005 (a 24.3 percent increase)

International enrollment: 16
compared to 11 in fall 2009 (a 45.5 percent increase)
compared to 8 in fall 2005 (a 100.0 percent increase)