New dean plans college growth

Photo by Abby Bellow

As Oklahoma Christian University expanded from three to five colleges this academic year, alumnus Jeff McCormack returned to campus as the College of Natural and Health Sciences Dean with plans of improving and growing the college.

“The sciences and health sciences were identified as a place to grow for new programs – the nursing program needed to grow and we’re looking at new health sciences-related programs as well,” Jeff said. “It was really a conversation at thinking about what the university had decided needs to happen and they asked me to help lead that.”

Jeff graduated from Oklahoma Christian in 1983 and received a doctorate from University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center before continuing on for post-doctrinal fellowships at St. Jude’s Research Hospital and Emery University.

“He has had a variety of successful experiences in all kinds of areas,” Professor Emeritus Joe McCormack, Jeff’s father, said. “He’s extremely strong academically in the sciences; he has a real eye for what’s on the future; he has had a lot of experience in raising money, which is extremely important for a private university like this. Above all, Jeff is just really a people person.”

Jeff said there are many opportunities to fulfill Oklahoma Christian’s three dominant themes of OC is Home, OC is Mission and OC Grows through the sciences.

“As a nursing student, I really like the fact that we actually have a college now, instead of just being a department,” junior Kristen Rojo said. “I think that’s going to help a lot and really be able to have room for growth more than anything.”

Senior nursing major Marci Smith said she was hoping Jeff would bring his long track record of success to the improvement of their departments.

“I’m hoping that it will improve our programs by bettering our facilities – with a nursing building – and our staff as a whole, giving us better opportunities,” Smith said. “Overall, it will help us work together as a whole and give us a better outlook on the health field.”

In response to the need for accommodating the growth in the School of Nursing, plans have been made to designate a building specifically for their programs, according to Jeff.

“One of the things that will happen this year by the summer, starting in the fall of 2015, the nursing program will be in a new facility,” Jeff said. “The brick and glass building on Benson [Road] will be the first real home for the School of Nursing.”

Other growth areas include the establishment of new health and natural science programs.

“We’re in conversation with various stakeholders within the community about what their needs are,” Jeff said. “I believe so strongly in partnership and collaboration and being a part of the community. …I want to know what Oklahoma Christian can do to serve them.”

Jeff said relationships have been built with University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Integris Health, Mercy and Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma to fund the creation of a new program.

Oklahoma Christian will have the only accredited medical laboratory science program in the Oklahoma City region of central Oklahoma and amongst Oklahoma Christian’s sister schools, according to Jeff.

“The individuals that graduate will have a specific type of accreditation that they can move in to supervisory roles within clinical laboratories,” Jeff said. “This degree that we will offer will allow individuals to move in to supervisory roles; it will allow them to advance professionally.”

The medical laboratory science program will be a three-one program, which requires three years of prerequisites and a one-year of clinical rotation cycle. During the clinical rotation cycle, students will work in different laboratories around Oklahoma to learn specific skills.

“I believe that we have the opportunity to step in and serve in an amazing way in medical missions that no one else is doing,” Jeff said. “We are already in conversations now with an organization in Honduras to actually take what we’re going to do here in medical laboratory and support them in what they’re doing in medical missions… and we can really provide a new level of support for them.”

With all of the potential changes on the horizon, Jeff said the core importance of education would remain.

“I think it’s important for us to think about the whole individual when we think about the programs that we have in place here and the graduates,” Jeff said. “I expect them to finish all of their curriculum, pass their courses and graduate. …If we’ve done all of that and we have not been able to effectively demonstrate and communicate and educate what it means to be a compassionate and caring individual based upon what we know as the life of Christ, then we failed.”

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