By Erin Walker, Staff Writer

Last week, Newswire spoke with President Dr. Colleen Hanycz on various on-going campus projects such as the College of Osteopathic Medicine, an auto-admit program partnership with Cincinnati State, the three-year housing program, the engineering school, a football program and the higher education enrollment crisis.  

Xavier’s College of Osteopathic Medicine is scheduled to open in 2027. It will be the first Jesuit Catholic College of Osteopathic Medicine in the world. As part of a Jesuit college, this school of medicine hopes to focus on teaching its students how to treat the whole person, just like the Jesuit value, cura personalis. The college will also eventually add almost 800 full-time students to Xavier’s campus and the Norwood community.

“For those who specifically want to study medicine, it’s a natural connection for those who are in other health fields, which, of course, makes many very strong programs in health, nursing, OT, exercise, science, all of those pieces, there is this opportunity for inter-professional education,” Hanycz said. 

Xavier has teamed up with Cincinnati State to give Cincinnati State students a direct pathway to Xavier. This program will be similar to the Ohio Transfer 36 program and will automatically recognize transfer credits. This program may not bring in a numerous number of students to Xavier right away, but the numbers are expected to increase down the road. 

“(This programming) is to allow students to build their own educational journey, to support students who are in this region, in Cincinnati and in the tri-state region in southwestern Ohio,” Hanycz said. 

The third year housing requirement was recently announced, requiring the incoming class to stay on campus during their junior year. The idea behind the three-year housing program is to increase the community on campus for juniors through special programming. This special programming will be vocational and focused on career related goals. 

“Who are you going to be? What kind of person are you going to be? We call that Ignatian vocation,” Hanycz said. “You know, what is it that you are going to do in the world to strengthen it, to bring justice, to be in solidarity, to activate reflective practices, discernment, all of those gifts of our Ignatian education. By having our students on campus in the third year, it allows us the opportunity to do that.”

Now, Xavier already has an accredited engineering and physics program and looks to expand upon it into a more broad-based engineering curriculum. The project is currently in phase one of three with the executive cabinet trying to identify certain aspects of engineering education that can make Xavier unique. 

In the foreseeable future, Xavier looks to add a football team under the Pioneer Football League. This league is under NCAA D1 programming like all Xavier’s athletics; however, it is non-scholarship. The league currently has 11 schools including Dayton, Butler and Davidson. The timeline is not clear for the program, but if it takes off, Xavier will build a new stadium on campus that can be utilized for other sports as well.

“It’s an opportunity to provide for our students more excitement on campus in the fall, to enjoy some of tailgate and athletics culture that is such a part of student life here once the basketball season begins,” Hanycz said.

Lastly, higher education programs are expected to see a decrease in enrollment due to the demographic cliff, a decline in high school graduates, including Xavier. Xavier’s plan to combat this problem is to create an environment where all students can get involved easily. Xavier already offers many clubs and athletic opportunities that students utilize. Additionally, 85% of students at Xavier have participated in a recreational sport, club, or NCAA sport. 

“Creating those communities in a way that enriches your life after Xavier, so that (when you) graduate from here, you continue to be part of these robust alumni networks,” Hancyz said.

Hancyz will be participating in a state of the semester on April 8, where she and others will listen and respond to students.