A grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of Fairfield University’s new Austin, Texas campus was held at the new facility located at 7951 Shoal Creek Blvd. The event introduced the new campus to the local community, including Texasbased Fairfield University alumni, and community partners, who toured the 21-bed simulation center, and simulated rooms for ICU, obstetrics, pediatrics, and med-surg, an operating room, home care suites and skill labs.
Featured speakers at the ribbon cutting were Fairfield University President Mark R. Nemec, PhD; Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing & Health Studies Dean Meredith Kazer, PhD, APRN, FAAN; Alumni Chaplain and Special Assistant to the President Rev. Gerald Blaszczak, S.J.; Austin Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President of Economic Development Charisse Bodisch; and Ascension Texas Chief Nursing Officer and Regional Hospital President Steven Brockman-Weber, DNP, RN, MS (HSA), FACHE, NEA-BC, CENP.
Inspired by a mission to carry forward the work of the Society of Jesus, Fairfield was animated “to come to a region where there is not a Jesuit Catholic work of higher education,” said President Nemec. “Fairfield is bringing to this community a first-class clinical education. One that brings health professionals to the highest standards of inquiry and knowledge—but it also brings with it a Jesuit way of proceeding.”
Dean Kazer expressed gratitude for the collaboration among clinical partners, the board of nursing, real estate professionals, architects, builders, program directors, faculty, staff, and students. “Because of you,” she said, “Texas is our new home.” Charisse Bodisch of the Austin Chamber of Commerce welcomed Fairfield to Austin, and highlighted the critical need for nurses in the Austin metro region.
“We anticipate the annual growth in healthcare will continue. [Growth] projections over the next five years are 2.8 percent for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations and 3.3 percent for healthcare support occupations—faster than the 2.5 percent growth in jobs overall.”
The expansion of Fairfield University and the Egan School to Texas establishes an additional nursing pathway through Fairfield University, and addresses the needs of the national healthcare system. The initial offering at the Austin campus is Fairfield Egan’s full-time, 15-month Accelerated Second Degree Nursing (SDNU) program, which provides a unique opportunity for students with a non-nursing bachelor’s degree to pursue a bachelor of science in nursing degree in an accelerated format.
The nursing curriculum at the Austin, Texas-based facility builds on the University’s successful Fairfield, Connecticut baccalaureate offerings. The first cohort of students was admitted in May 2023, with a second cohort to begin in January 2024. In addition to Ascension Seton, Fairfield Egan’s clinical partnerships include Baylor Scott & White Health, and Central Texas Veterans Health Care Systems.
Learn more at fairfield.edu/austinnursing.
