Three Reasons To Replace ‘Continuing Education’ With ‘Continuous Education’

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP)’s strategic growth and expansion over the last several years has created the need for a more complex institutional identity that reflects the university’s progress. In August, TCSPP launched a significant research project with the purpose of gaining insights into strengths and opportunities for growth and improvement related to brand personality, identity, core messaging, and the university’s name. The study brought together focus groups of current and prospective students, employees, and alumni, along with TCSPP and System Office staff. The findings will support developments in the brand identity moving forward.

College websites play a crucial role in brand awareness and prospective student recruitment. To meet the needs of TCSPP’s ever-changing prospective student base and reflect the evolution of the brand, the university’s website is undergoing a rebuild this fiscal year. The website is currently in the initial phase of this effort and is on track for completion by the beginning of 2023.

The COVID-19 pandemic truly demonstrated our college and universities’ dedication to their surrounding communities. Last year, Pacific Oaks College partnered with Pasadena Unified School District to develop the CHAMP program, which provided grief counseling to parents of Norma Coombs Elementary School students. CHAMP is a prime example of POC’s dedication to the communities it serves. The program was so compelling that it was featured in a PBS SoCal article and received a mention in an article for the New York Times.

The Colleges of Law (COL) President Matthew Nehmer, Ph.D., joined the Plexuss Presidential Podcast in September. He shared his personal leadership journey as well as COL’s growth and innovation over the years. You can listen to the full episode here.

Saybrook’s annual Residential Conference was developed to foster greater community connection by bringing the entire Saybrook community together face-to-face to share new ideas, learn, and bond. At the end of August, Saybrook held its first in-person Residential Conference since 2019, allowing students, faculty, and leadership to come together since the start of the pandemic. This year’s conference truly demonstrated the passion and spirit within the Saybrook community, and students were clearly excited for this opportunity to connect in-person. Student interviews captured during the conference will serve as material for future video content and social media promotion.

The opening of the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (KansasCOM) was a historic moment for TCS as well as the Wichita and larger Kansas communities, demonstrating the power of an ambitious vision coming to life through radical cooperation and diligence. In September, the Wichita Business Journal published a phenomenal piece emphasizing the significance of KansasCOM, highlighting the excitement of the grand opening and interviewing students from the inaugural class. The full article can be viewed here.

KansasCOM’s inaugural students are now two months into medical school. In this short time, they have already completed more than 400 collective service hours, observed technology demonstrations, and participated in medical simulations. The college is now in the process of recruiting 137 students for its fall 2023 cohort, and has already received more than 3,000 applications. I am confident that KansasCOM is well poised to meet student enrollment goals and welcome another passionate and impressive class into the larger TCS community in the coming year.

Barbara Davis-Leigh, Ed.D. brings more than 15 years of experience leading domestic and international higher education organizations, and is highly skilled in strategic planning, teaching and learning, and educational operations. Prior to coming to TCS, she served as Executive Director of Academic Operations at the Arizona College of Nursing. In her role at TCS, Barbara will work to strengthen global awareness, international recruitment, partnerships, and overseas operations across the System.

Finding opportunities to positively advance community impact is a central part of the TCS mission. In September, the TCS Social Justice Committee coordinated a volunteer event in partnership with Hands on Suburban Chicago for the organization’s 35th Annual Community Paint-a-thon. A dozen members of the System Office staff came together to retouch the paint on the home of a Chicagoland citizen in need. This event was a fantastic way for participants to have a positive impact while also connecting with each other outside of the work setting. I, along with System Office employees, look forward to more opportunities to give back to the community.

TCS' Education Beyond Borders program was created out of a desire to provide students with educational experiences that emphasize the importance of global citizenship and cultural context. Registration opened in September for this year's program, which will provide students with an opportunity to explore the topic of inclusion from a global lens. The virtual course will culminate in a study abroad trip to Vancouver, Canada in February, examining the city's Equity Framework developed to aid in healing decades-long divisions. This student program will be the first opportunity to travel since the start of the pandemic and will also serve as a strong foundation for the expansion of TCS' global footprint.

TCS always aims to utilize content development, creative design, video, and dynamic communications in order to demonstrate the work our college communities do each day to empower and educate students. TCS has been honored for these efforts this year through the Content Marketing and Eddie and Ozzie awards. The Content Marketing Awards recognized KansasCOM’s prospective student email campaign with an award for automation strategy. The Eddie and Ozzie awards recognized Saybrook’s UNBOUND magazine for best article and best editorial direction, and awarded TCSPP’s INSIGHT magazine with Best Cover Design for its Winter 2022 issue.