Salve Regina expanding reach of continuing education

COURTESY SALVE REGINA UNIVERSITY
CONTINUED EDUCATION: Traci Warrington, dean of professional studies at Salve Regina University, says a new Warwick facility will allow for working adults to pursue an undergraduate degree in another part of the state.
COURTESY SALVE REGINA UNIVERSITY CONTINUED EDUCATION: Traci Warrington, dean of professional studies at Salve Regina University, says a new Warwick facility will allow for working adults to pursue an undergraduate degree in another part of the state.

As dean of professional studies for Salve Regina University, Traci Warrington has spent the last two years planning for the school’s new continuing-education building, from deciding its location to final course selection. Her expertise in business, economics and marketing made her the ideal choice to head the project. Located in Warwick, the new facility will offer graduate and continuing-education courses that are always in demand. The 12,000-square-foot building is being rehabbed to fit the school’s needs and will replace a much smaller extension located at 175 Main St. in Pawtucket that will cease operations in August.
The new building will be open in the fall.

PBN: Why the new facility, and why is it in Warwick?
WARRINGTON: We started looking at it two years ago. We had a small site in Pawtucket that had only four classrooms and each one held no more than 20 students. It was a wonderful facility and it worked for us for a number of years but it reached its capacity a few years ago. When we started to look at expansion we looked at the need for additional undergraduate degrees for adults. We also looked at accessibility throughout the state and Connecticut and Massachusetts. We found that Warwick, being central to the state and near to routes 95, 295 and 4 was a good spot.

PBN: What specific opportunities are possible with the larger space?
WARRINGTON: It give us the opportunity to offer graduate courses in another part of the state, but also allows us to introduce undergraduate-degree programs for working adults in that market. Beginning in the fall we will be offering undergraduate-degree programs in accounting, business administration and marketing.
We will also be bring in a BA in a liberal-studies program specifically for people who have earned credit elsewhere and are looking to finish a degree. These four programs will be in addition to the courses we already offer.

PBN: What will be the focus of the graduate-degree programs offered in Warwick?
WARRINGTON: We will have the master’s of business administration, as well as an M.S. in management, health care and administration, an M.A. in rehabilitation counseling and an M.S. in administrative justice and homeland security. That last program has been recently reformulated and now has concentrations and a certificate of graduate studies in cyber-security and intelligence, and also in leadership and justice.

PBN: With more space now available, will the university be providing anything else at the new site aside from new classes?
WARRINGTON: We will have more classrooms but we will also have a conference room that will have greater technological capability, not only for meetings but for capstone classes for higher-level courses, where 10 or 15 students could sit around a table and discuss important issues. We will also have a seminar room and a computer lab with a separate testing center. We’ll have additional offices for administration and faculty, and a student lounge with a large kitchen. We recognize that students will need a place to stay between classes or just take a break.

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PBN: Apparently a lot of research was done prior to deciding on the location or the size of the new facility. What else was important?
WARRINGTON: We found that students were looking for courses that fit into their lives. We expect most of them to be adults that are working during the day, have families and are trying to fit education into their life. We wanted to develop some different course formats that would suit them. We are trying to find a good assortment of classroom-learning formats. There are traditional, the seven-week format, the hybrid format and some of our graduate classes are completely online. At this point most of the classes will be in the evenings but some graduate courses will meet on the weekends.
During the course of a semester we have taken courses – where it makes sense to do so – and consolidated them into seven weeks. There is also an Internet component to the class that allows for discussion. … The other thing we are excited about is that … we plan on doing some of our undergraduate courses in a hybrid format, a combination of online learning peppered with several class meetings throughout the semester.

PBN: Would you say the face of education is changing?
WARRINGTON: Yes. In addition, for students starting their undergraduate degree there, we will also have joint bachelor’s degree – master’s degree programs, so that students in the undergraduate program can apply early for the master’s degree program, take up to six credits of graduate study and apply it to their undergraduate program so they can accelerate their bachelor’s and master’s together.
We are trying to find ways that makes the most sense for adult learners to fit this into their life and accomplish their goals.

PBN: Has there been any feedback on online classes?
WARRINGTON: We’ve been offering distance education in our graduate programs for many years. Not all have the capability of online classes but several do – our MBA can be completed online, for example. For some graduate programs, however, it doesn’t make sense. Our master’s in holistic counseling, for example, is a very popular program here in Newport but would be very hard to translate online. That’s a program that’s really been engrained with the Newport campus.
There are several programs that aren’t being considered for Warwick. We have two Ph.D. programs in Newport. International relations is offered in Newport and online, and we have a master’s degree in humanities. •

INTERVIEW
Traci Warrington
POSITION: Dean of professional studies, Salve Regina University
BACKGROUND: Warrington also serves as the department chair for business studies and economics and is also a professor of marketing. She has more than 15 years teaching experience, having served as an adjunct faculty member at Emerson College and Providence College and as an associate professor of marketing at Pine Manor College. She has authored more than 10 publications, book reviews and academic case studies and has been a presenter at more than 10 national and international business conferences.
EDUCATION: Argosy University Sarasota, doctor of business administration, 2000; Johnson & Wales University, bachelor’s degree, fashion and retail management, 1989; Johnson & Wales University, bachelor’s degree, marketing, 1988; Johnson & Wales University, master’s degree, managerial technology, 1989
FIRST JOB: Supermarket deli
RESIDENCE: South Kingstown
AGE: 46

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