Page 73 - UB Church and Shen Univ
P. 73
Volume 6 Relation of U.B/EUB Virginia Conferences to Shenandoah University Dec. 26, 2013
After several months of discussion, Senator Byrd agreed to the plan and decided to make a major
contribution to the undertaking. Several gifts were acquired from William and Til Hazel from Northern
Virginia and local businesswoman Mary Henkel. The major donation that enabled the project to move
forward was the gift by Wendall Hester of 5 acres of property along Pleasant Valley Road that ended up
being sold to the City for a value exceeding $900,000. The new home for the business school was
named Henkel Hall in honor of Winchester’s first modern female business executive, Mary Henkel, and
was finished in a year by Shockey Construction. Dr. Gilbert Teal, a former dean of business at
Connecticut State University, became Dean of the School. The excitement generated by the naming of
the building, significant gifts, and extensive publicity from the dedication ceremony, which brought state
leaders and national political figures to the campus for a second time in 2 years, was a major boost to
help increase the enrollment of business students to more than 300 persons. This program allowed for
larger class sizes and boosted the opportunity for athletic programs, since it broadened the majors for
additional students who were seeking programs of study outside the Conservatory. The business
community was pleased with the expansion of the program and began to boost their giving the College,
which in turn brought increased attention and reputation to the college. The Conservatory added a new
Music Business curriculum that was very successful in enrollment and furthered the positive growth of
enrollment of the institution.
Partnership with Winchester Medical Center. The nursing program also expanded its
enrollment after the college acquired and renovated the John Kerr School Building. With the help of the
Winchester Medical Center, led by Carl Napps and Dr. Munford Custer, member of the medical staff,
the nursing program was provided new equipment and scholarships for students who agreed to work at
the medical facility on graduation. In 1960 the diploma nursing program had initially been transferred
from the hospital to the college on its relocation to Winchester, but lack of a facility and limited
resources had prevented its expansion into a major program. Dr. Daris Small, Director of Nursing,
worked tirelessly to link the program with Winchester Hospital and was successful in expanding the
bachelors program and gained national accreditation. With business and nursing enrollments expanding,
the College portion of the institution became more balanced in size with the Conservatory and provided
new revenues to help improve salaries and spread overhead over a larger base of operations.
The broad-based cooperation between the Winchester Medical Center and later Valley Health
Systems and the College developed over 40 years. It was unusual for a large non-profit hospital
organization to partner with a private university to help educate health professionals, since the state
often provided such programs at public institutions. In this case, however, the state chose not to offer
such programs in Winchester, and the growth of the medical center was dependent on a ready pool of
health professionals to fill their ranks and serve patients. Medical Center and College leaders worked
hard to develop new ways to pay for the expensive health professions educational programs that were
desired. The partnership was absolutely essential to assist the Medical Center to find the professionals
in health professions other than medicine and to grow the Medical Center. The College needed financial
support and clinical sites for students in order to start these health-science programs.
The Medical Center and College partnership was always being shaped and reshaped by needs in
health care and by willingness of hospital leaders to provide financial support for programs that
educated more students than the hospital could utilize at any given time. For more than two decades, the
College trustees and medical leadership continued to add new programs in the health sciences and
expand enrollments in essential programs such as Nursing. Maintaining balance in the partnership was
not easy. Often the health system leaders were reluctant to share resources, and, in fact, several leases of
Davis on History of S.C., 1982-2008 63
After several months of discussion, Senator Byrd agreed to the plan and decided to make a major
contribution to the undertaking. Several gifts were acquired from William and Til Hazel from Northern
Virginia and local businesswoman Mary Henkel. The major donation that enabled the project to move
forward was the gift by Wendall Hester of 5 acres of property along Pleasant Valley Road that ended up
being sold to the City for a value exceeding $900,000. The new home for the business school was
named Henkel Hall in honor of Winchester’s first modern female business executive, Mary Henkel, and
was finished in a year by Shockey Construction. Dr. Gilbert Teal, a former dean of business at
Connecticut State University, became Dean of the School. The excitement generated by the naming of
the building, significant gifts, and extensive publicity from the dedication ceremony, which brought state
leaders and national political figures to the campus for a second time in 2 years, was a major boost to
help increase the enrollment of business students to more than 300 persons. This program allowed for
larger class sizes and boosted the opportunity for athletic programs, since it broadened the majors for
additional students who were seeking programs of study outside the Conservatory. The business
community was pleased with the expansion of the program and began to boost their giving the College,
which in turn brought increased attention and reputation to the college. The Conservatory added a new
Music Business curriculum that was very successful in enrollment and furthered the positive growth of
enrollment of the institution.
Partnership with Winchester Medical Center. The nursing program also expanded its
enrollment after the college acquired and renovated the John Kerr School Building. With the help of the
Winchester Medical Center, led by Carl Napps and Dr. Munford Custer, member of the medical staff,
the nursing program was provided new equipment and scholarships for students who agreed to work at
the medical facility on graduation. In 1960 the diploma nursing program had initially been transferred
from the hospital to the college on its relocation to Winchester, but lack of a facility and limited
resources had prevented its expansion into a major program. Dr. Daris Small, Director of Nursing,
worked tirelessly to link the program with Winchester Hospital and was successful in expanding the
bachelors program and gained national accreditation. With business and nursing enrollments expanding,
the College portion of the institution became more balanced in size with the Conservatory and provided
new revenues to help improve salaries and spread overhead over a larger base of operations.
The broad-based cooperation between the Winchester Medical Center and later Valley Health
Systems and the College developed over 40 years. It was unusual for a large non-profit hospital
organization to partner with a private university to help educate health professionals, since the state
often provided such programs at public institutions. In this case, however, the state chose not to offer
such programs in Winchester, and the growth of the medical center was dependent on a ready pool of
health professionals to fill their ranks and serve patients. Medical Center and College leaders worked
hard to develop new ways to pay for the expensive health professions educational programs that were
desired. The partnership was absolutely essential to assist the Medical Center to find the professionals
in health professions other than medicine and to grow the Medical Center. The College needed financial
support and clinical sites for students in order to start these health-science programs.
The Medical Center and College partnership was always being shaped and reshaped by needs in
health care and by willingness of hospital leaders to provide financial support for programs that
educated more students than the hospital could utilize at any given time. For more than two decades, the
College trustees and medical leadership continued to add new programs in the health sciences and
expand enrollments in essential programs such as Nursing. Maintaining balance in the partnership was
not easy. Often the health system leaders were reluctant to share resources, and, in fact, several leases of
Davis on History of S.C., 1982-2008 63
