NEOMED, KSU Sign Shared Services Agreement
ROOTSTOWN, Ohio – The Northeast Ohio Medical University and Kent State University today signed a shared services agreement that will enable NEOMED to offer online degree programs in its College of Graduate Studies.
Under the agreement, KSU will provide technology and support services including infrastructure, instructional design, video hosting and delivery, and a course management system for NEOMED’s online courses and programs. NEOMED will maintain responsibility for all academic, administrative and financial services for those programs, including courses, content, students, faculty and admissions.
“We’ve always been a community-based medical university, and Kent State has been an engaged partner since our inception,” said Dr. Jay Gershen, president of NEOMED. “Public universities provide affordable world-class education and when they collaborate, the additional leverage makes it even more possible.”
For KSU, the agreement provides an opportunity to expand its partnership with NEOMED to better serve prospective students. For NEOMED, it means access to KSU’s technology platform to offer its new online programs effectively and efficiently.
Convenient access to world-class training is exactly what’s needed for leadership development of practicing pharmacists, NEOMED said in announcing the shared services agreement. The first completely online program will be a Health-System Pharmacy Administration Master of Science degree program. In the coming months, the online program will replace NEOMED’s current program.
“Thanks to the combined efforts of President Gershen and NEOMED College of Pharmacy Dean Rick Kasmer, this partnership will help us adapt to the changing educational needs of our health systems and our student,” said Dr. Scott Knoer, chief pharmacy officer at the Cleveland Clinic. “We have been training pharmacy students together since the inception of the NEOMED pharmacy program. This online class will help us reach more students. We will be able to more efficiently and effectively train the next generation of pharmacy leaders not only in Northeast Ohio, but potentially across the country.”
The shared services are the first between these universities since the Northeast Ohio Regional Higher Education Compact Consortium was formed among nine public colleges and universities. But the agreement adds to a list of initiatives and collaborative efforts made by both universities following affordability and efficiency in higher education recommendations from an Ohio task force in 2015.
“Ohio’s citizens deserve a public higher education system that works together, leveraging each other’s strengths to better serve our students and communities,” said Kent State President Beverly J. Warren. “This innovative online learning partnership between Kent State and NEOMED is a great example of how we can bring together complementary capabilities to offer new programs and services at a fraction of the cost.”
Pictured above: NEOMED’s NEW Center in Rootstown.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
