FAIRFIELD, Conn.—Starting this fall, all of Sacred Heart University’s St. Vincent’s College (SVC) courses will take place on SHU’s Fairfield campus on Park Avenue, a welcomed change for the college’s administrators, faculty and students.
Renovations are underway to transform space in the Main Academic Building to state-of-the- art labs and classrooms. This space was formerly occupied by SHU’s Office of the Registrar, which is now at West Campus.
St. Vincent’s College is known for its outstanding associate degree programs in nursing and radiography, as well as its array of certification programs, from brewing science to bone density imaging and certified nurse aides.
Sacred Heart acquired SVC in 2018. Students took classes at the original site in Bridgeport with the plan to move to the Fairfield campus in about two years time. Maryanne Davidson, SVC dean, said the college’s education is superb, and the move allows the SVC students to feel truly connected to the SHU student body. Students will feel the SHU spirit for which the University is known. “Students could not be more excited to participate in more campus activities,” Davidson said. “To have a designated space on campus that is ours is a wonderful thing.”
Davidson receives weekly updates as construction progresses. The SVC wing will encompass labs for radiography, nursing skills and simulations. The 30-seat radiography lab is fully functional and will work with the University’s wellness center to X-ray students in need of services. A partnership and donation from Fairfield’s Orthopaedic Specialty Group provided the wing with new, “phenomenal” equipment, Davidson said.
With classes on campus, SVC students will be a able to go to class, get a meal, find a study spot at the library and even get a workout at the Bobby Valentine Health & Recreation Center, said Davidson. “This is really a new chapter for us,” she said.
Nursing major Carlos Charles, 30, of Bronx, NY, said he is excited to move to SHU’s main campus, as he frequently went there to study with his classmates anyway. “It’s spacious, modern and equipped with top-of-the-line technology,” Charles said. “I find that everyone is friendly, welcoming and very helpful.”
Additionally, Charles looks forward to having all the necessary resources in one place and to being part of the SHU community physically. He said there is much to do and plenty of opportunities to get involved with campus life.
“My experience at St. V’s has been a great one,” Charles said. “I have met some very talented people who I am fortunate to call my friends. The professors have been consistently wonderful, helpful and accessible. I have learned so much and have had great opportunities to apply my classroom knowledge to my clinical experiences.”
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As the second-largest independent Catholic university in New England, and one of the fastest-growing in the U.S., Sacred Heart University is a national leader in shaping higher education for the 21st century. SHU offers more than 80 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs on its Fairfield, Conn., campus. Sacred Heart also has satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland and offers online programs. More than 9,000 students attend the University’s nine colleges and schools: Arts & Sciences; Communication, Media & the Arts; Social Work; Computer Science & Engineering; Health Professions; the Isabelle Farrington College of Education; the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology; the Dr. Susan L. Davis & Richard J. Henley College of Nursing; and St. Vincent’s College. Sacred Heart stands out from other Catholic institutions as it was established and led by laity. The contemporary Catholic university is rooted in the rich Catholic intellectual tradition and the liberal arts, and at the same time cultivates students to be forward thinkers who enact change—in their own lives, professions and in their communities. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its Best 385 Colleges–2020 Edition, “Best in the Northeast” and Best 252 Business Schools–2019 Edition. Sacred Heart is home to the award-winning, NPR-affiliated radio station, WSHU, a Division I athletics program and an impressive performing arts program that includes choir, band, dance and theater. www.sacredheart.edu