Building bridges for a brighter tomorrow

Building bridges for a brighter tomorrow

Oct. 5, 2020 LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Bridge Academy at Eastern Oregon University bundles online courses to help students reach their career and educational goals. Three Bridges are open for enrollment now: Healthcare Administration, Trauma-Invested Care, and Physical Education. 

Each individual pathway is its own Bridge. These Bridges are meant for students who are interested in advancing in their careers or adding courses to a degree. Although Bridge Academy does not offer certificates of any kind, the series of courses in a Bridge are designed to provide tools to succeed in each line of work and are credit bearing. 

David Vande Pol, Executive Director of Regional Outreach and Innovation, said these courses are an opportunity for individuals who aren’t necessarily seeking a degree in higher education. 

“There are literally millions of working adults, in particular, who don’t necessarily want or need a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree. They simply need additional college courses that can enable them to advance their educational careers, their vocational careers, or career standing. We are trying to accommodate that need,” Vande Pol said.  

The Bridge Academy is focused on the idea of providing an opportunity for individuals already in the workforce who want to expand their education. For example, the Healthcare Administration Bridge is designed for healthcare professionals who want to advance their careers. The program consists of six 10-week classes that vary in credits. 

Vande Pol said he is excited to see different universities refer their students to the Bridge Academy bundles, as he feels they will be useful to a wide variety of students since all of the courses are fully online.  

“Technology has so accelerated change in our world that everyone is struggling to keep up and perhaps no one more so than higher education,” he said. “The Bridge Academy is our response to that rapid change because we are nimble enough to react to needs of students as they arise.”

For more information about EOU’s Bridge Academy, visit eou.edu/bridge-academy.

By PR Intern Emily Andrews