St. John Fisher University is launching a neuroscience program, and its first cohort of students starts in the fall.
The move comes as small colleges across the country look to expand their programming to make themselves more attractive to prospective students. Like other colleges, Fisher was able to offer the coursework through shared online courses.
Anne Marie Fallon, the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, said this new program fit squarely within the mission of the university and liberal arts education.
“When you're looking at neuroscience and the science of the brain,” she said, “it really is about a deepening of our understanding of what it means to be a human being.”
Fallon hopes these neuroscience students will be well-positioned to go on to careers in medicine, psychology, and even AI.
“We think it's a really cutting-edge enterprise,” she said. “In this world of artificial intelligence, human cognition and human intelligence is even more interesting and profound.”
Students will attend classes on campus and take online courses taught by other faculty and attended by students across the country.
Fisher partnered with a for-profit company called Rize Education to create the program and offer the online course component.
Kevin Harrington, a cofounder and CEO of Rize, said he thinks this model will help make college more affordable, better prepare students for the workforce, and lead to more “student-centered higher education.”
Beyond partnering with institutions, Rize also helps develop the curricula. Harrington said they rely on expertise from business and tech professionals, and the company’s website boasts its data-driven approach to course design.
Ultimately, students want to make decisions about where to go to school based on cultural factors, like sports programs or social offerings, he said.
“How the campus feels, or how close to home it is,” said Harrington, a Pittsford native. “What do the people seem like? Does it have a religious denomination that they believe in? You know, all those other factors.”
Separate from Rize, other universities have expanded their degree programs using online learning. Nazareth University recently launched a hybrid physician assistant master’s program.
